A claim that today is "more dishonest" than times in the past is also tough to substantiate.
It's like how PBS has been pounding in its promos for the last few months that "We're a country divided like never before." Well, not really.
Yes, American politics is terrible now, but it's nothing like back in the 1800's. Posting some of the campaign literature that was distributed back then would get you banned from any modern electronic medium today.