The problem isn't that there are more idiots (there aren't), or less respect for facts (there isn't), or even that "these people" have more access to the means to make their voices heard (which they unequivocally do). The problem is that the mainstream media now bows to such people. There was a time when media and communications were dominated by intellectuals who had some respect for the rules of discourse. Dimwits like Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter would never have survived publicly going up against people like Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite. The mainstream media now caters to the idea that opinion is equal to fact, and so much airtime is dedicated to that principle that it's now effectively become true.
What's sad is that the media does this not because the people in charge believe it, but because the majority of the public (who are, and always have been idiots) believe it, and would rather see reflections of themselves and their pre-existing notions than actually be informed. The fact that the public debate has been openly hijacked by dunderheads encourages the common man to believe that this form of debate is acceptable, and in fact, preferable.
So yes, there were always this many ignorant people, and they always wallowed in their ignorance. But until now, they weren't publicly celebrated and seen as a model for debate and thought. Hell, intellectualism is now openly vilified.
