1930s Redux?

In an article partially reproduced in Power Line British writer Melanie Phillips examines at length the effect the media has had on the British public and its reaction to Islamic terror. It is quite interesting to note the parallels between the reactions Ms. Phillips documents and public opinion in Great Britain in the period 1931-37 toward Nazi Germany. It is significant as well that the British malaise of the 1930's (which may have had more to do with the rise of the totalitarians and everything that has happened since, including Islamic terrorism) was largely a creation of the British media elite of the day, namely Sir John Reith of the BBC, Geoffrey Dawson of the Times of London and, early in the period, Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook. Those media personalities, probably more powerful in their day, than any MSM figure now, shaped British foreign policy and gave rise to the appeasement movement, which peaked at the time of the Munich sell-out of Czechoslovakia.

Let's hope we don't see history repeat itself.