Is spin and proganganda(sp?)replacing substance in politics?

Not necessarily.

I think that Americans (myself included) still have our mommies cut up our food when it comes to ingesting international events.

When you're fed convenient bite-sized "talking points" and don't bother looking harder it all starts sounding like spin and propaganda.

I've noticed on this forum that people outside of America are often better versed on our politics and the implications of our policies.