The American government is, and always has been, apparently, a bunch of idiots.

Via BoingBoing - Old FBI memo: "It's a Wonderful Life" is commie propaganda:

FBI documents from 1947 show that government officials once believed the Christmas movie classic "It's a Wonderful Life" was Communist propaganda.

...According to Professor John Noakes of Franklin and Marshall College, the FBI thought Life smeared American values such as wealth and free enterprise while glorifying anti-American values such as the triumph of the common man.