[DaUR]

That's simplistic and short-sighted. People usually talk butterflies, and then turn around and commit horrors, while your crowd will be gazing at the butterflies.

The smooth-spoken actor Obama has successfully branded himself a liberal champion, and now receives the same (similarly fake) adulation on the left as Reagan on the right. When people think "Obama", they think of the smile or nuances speeches (all appearance).

They don't think about the only things that really matter, actions. Obama used espionage laws to imprison journalists. Where was the outrage in the media? People now are calling Trump dictatorial and anti-1A, when all he's done is criticized news outlets in tweets, never (yet) used laws to limit freedom of the press.

This is just an example. Reputation, in the public consciousness, is based on appearances, and you can see how cancerous that becomes, and how easily manipulated it makes you. People not judging others solely by what they do is why democracy is so weakened today.

[maxerickson]

Leakers were aggressively pursued. Conceded.

James Risen (a journalist for the New York Times) was threatened with jail if he refused to identify a source. The government did not end up jailing him.

Which journalists were jailed?

[DaUR]

You're totally right. Sources were. Journalists were surveilled (not just through bulk collection, but specifically) to have their sources revealed. The jailing of journalists, though, is now within the President's power[0], which is a disgrace no matter who the president is.

Meanwhile, the appearances crowd was nowhere to be found, and only a small minority actually looked behind the curtain.

[0]: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/sunday/if-donald-...