@eee @Rocket If public opinion didn't matter elites could do whatever hair-brained schemes they desire.

It's a bit trickier to prove that something *doesn't* happen, of course, But a simple example is the whole 'Brat' thing, where they tried to push this framing of Kamallama that felt flat and was just deep sixed.

Another older example is "limited fallout" - where governments slowly reveal truth in order to assuage people.

We are kind of seeing that now with the covid stuff.