The worst day of my political life was when President George W. Bush signed McCain-Feingold into law in the early part of his first Administration.
The reason so many people misunderstand so many issues is not that these issues are so complex, but that people do not want a factual or analytical explanation that leaves them emotionally unsatisfied. They want villains to hate and heroes to cheer - and they don't want explanations that do not give them that.