I find it oddly comforting that regardless of any manipulation in the press, when confronted with this latest salacious story, by and large the public says "meh".

When pressured to join the tarring they fight back.

When it comes to reasoned debate, the voices of restrain (in my limited experience) win.

More encouraging is the growing outrage, maybe crossing a tipping point, at the vast web of crimes people with actual power and an actual impact on the country have perpetrated, hopefully resulting in some legal action against people who have *gasp!* actually committed a crime.