Frankly, mjd, your contention that everyone should remember all the details of a highly newsworthy event years after it occurred is laughable, and simply serves to demonstrate your desperation to proclaim the likelihood of a US government conspiracy. Here are two examples that thoroughly disprove your contention:
From time to time, over the last 12 years, polls have been taken asking a sample of Americans to name as many justices of the United States Supreme Court as they can. The results have been fairly dismal; in the first poll taken, more people were able to name the original Three Stooges
WP than were able to name three or more (out of nine) Supreme Court justices.
Two results are particularly on point here. First is the case of Justice Clarence Thomas. In 1991, George Bush the Elder nominated Clarence Thomas to fill the seat of retiring justice Thurgood Marshall. Thomas's nomination was controversial to begin with; many considered him unqualified, and felt that Bush had merely selected Thomas because he is black and conservative (Marshall was black and liberal). Toward the end of Thomas's confirmation hearings, however, a former subordinate, Anita Hill, came forward with sensational charges that Thomas had sexually harassed her. Thomas categorically denied the allegations, and both of them (along with supporting witnesses) testifed before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hill's testimony was extremely graphic, including much crude language which she attributed to Thomas. The hearings were broadcast live on national television, and network news programs repeated the highlights. The controversy was a huge news story; everyone was talking about it. Eventually Thomas was narrowly confirmed by the United States Senate, as Hill and her supporters had failed to make a sufficiently convincing case.
Now, four years after Thomas was confirmed, the "Supreme Court/Three Stooges" poll was taken. What percentage of Americans do you suppose could name Clarence Thomas as a justice of the United States Supreme Court? Only 30% could. Bear in mind that the "mainstream media" regularly reports on Supreme Court decisions, often including discussions of which justices voted to uphold or to overturn lower-court rulings. Was Thomas a victim of the "propaganda model," or do people simply tend to forget "yesterday's news" over time?
In a similar vein, the current Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts, was confirmed in September 2005. What is particularly noteworthy is that Roberts was originally nominated by Bush the Younger to fill the seat of retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, but after the sudden death of then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Bush withdrew Roberts' nomination and renominated him to become the next Chief Justice.
This was a major news story at the time, but just three months later, only 16% of Americans could name Roberts as a Supreme Court justice.
Source of poll numbers.