Yes I think there is undoubtedly a problem with brainwashing in the US although I do not think it is limited to the USA at all.
Although I do not think the term ´brainwashing´is a particularly helpful one, prehaps ´conspiracy of silence´ in certain issues in the press, it is a bgger problem in the UK and USA because people belive and are told that we have the freest press in the world, this may be the case but it does not mean that they dont have an agenda, they are (of course) in most cases privately owned organizations. If there is indeed a revolving door between politics and business (which I believe there is) how can privately owned media institutions be expected to ´dish the dirt´ on politicians who will be employing their CEOs next quater, or who 51% of their shareholders paied to get into office.
Mainstream press stories are increasingly constructed and ´spun´ to increase viewing figures and divert attention from unhelpful news stories especially financial ones, which are increasingly treated as the preserve of business men, things which the layperson would not understand or be intrested in.
the USA and the UK also have not only the highest adversising saturation in any society but also the most sophistocated methods. A state run media system is a crude tool, often blatant and untrustworthy. Corporate advertising saturation has however reached almost covert methods affecting every sphere of our lives. This would not be such an issue if the messages represented a plethora of views and diverse opinions but it inceasingly does not, the messages are the same, buy, consume, want, conform.
Recent yeas have seen a blurring of the line between politics and entertainment, most notably in the rise of celebrity based shows which have entertainers, ex politicians, businessmen (and women), and moral leaders clubbed togther.
In my opinion the oft cited quote runs true today, ´none are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free´.