From the Cantor Announcement thread-
"The faithful are not idiots who don't know what is going on at mass."

There's a supremely Bill Paxton line from the film "ALIENS" that bubbled up when I read this line. (Caution, I mean neither to discredit M.Jackson Osborn or to imply a contrary opinion to his.) In the first combat scene of that film between the Marines and the aliens, the Marines retreat to safety. In response to his captain's apparent befuddlement and inability to lead, Paxton's character cries out "I don't know if you've been keeping up with current events, but we just got our *sses kicked."
To be fair, I feel that "the faithful" in the quote requires some sort of qualifier: the "faithful" where Mr. Osborn worships; the faithful who are evidently and apparently fully engaged in the rituals of liturgy universally, etc.
In the real world that I observe daily and weekly, locally and elsewhere, the "faithful" certainly are not idiots, but they are severely and systematically malnourished in their intellectual comprehension of the practice of the faith, when you encounter massive dysfunction at both the group and individual levels at liturgy, or in personal encounters.
How else can we explain the utterly demonstrable poll numbers that indicate only a minority of RC's confidence in the Real Presence over the last few decades? How else can you explain the laissez faire attitudes that even very churched RC's demonstrate regarding the Sunday Obligation? How else can we explain the other un-catholic social outcomes in modern culture, such as the overwhelming majority of RC presidential votes last November cast for Mr. Obama?
I watched Archbishop Burke on "The World Over" this last episode lay it all out for all to see clearly. We've got hard data on which bishops in this nation have put forth missives to their flocks on various ecclesial concerns, and moreso, how many HAVE NOT.
Father Z's first reflection, post ND graduation, was basically a reiteration of "save the Liturgy, save the world."
But if and when we musicians wade into our RCIA and RE programs, you will find at the culmination of these one or two year "finishing" programs, many adults and adolescents who cannot articulate the basics of our catechism, articulate the sequence of ritual actions, much less theological understanding of our rituals, etc. You can find many 15-17 year olds who, a month before their "participation" in their own Confirmations, have never been to confession. And Lord help us all, are unable to formulate an answer of "why not?" to that reality.
Rather than drag this post out as I'm wont to do- I simply chalk this up to a lack of oversight and accountability. Should a priest or a bishop complain after one of these culminating sacramental liturgies about this or that, do you think they hold up mirrors and look into their own eyes, or is more likely that fingers are pointed towards some scapegoat nebulae and words such as "Well, things could be worse." are muttered and then the whole affair forgotten until the next year comes 'round.
I am not pointing my bony finger of indignation at anyone or group in particular. I do believe that we who are stewards of the faith in various capacities should not assume, presume, bloviate or denigrate the sensibilities and personhood of the "faithful." We should teach them the fullness of truth as we know it to be in our domains; and somehow "demand" the same of all the leadership, lay and clerical, to be so bold and thorough.