It's because they don't take the time or put in the effort (or perhaps have the skills, but I think this interpretation takes a significant meaning out of the book) to find out what is "true." It takes a great deal of effort to sift through the mass of information that we find on TV, in newspapers, newsmagazines, blogs, and try to find out what is true/factual. Look at the recent adventures of the Governor of Illinois. If you listen to the tapes, there seems no possibility that illegal activity was taking place; if you listen to him, this is just business as usual. Is it? The rewriting of history is another example. When I was in grammar school, all our Presidents were heroes; today we have dug up some dirt on all of them and reduced them to "ordinary" status. What is really true about these men? Am I to believe what I was told about them (original commandments) or what I am now told about them (new commandments)?
This is the germ of the idea that makes up "1984" where the past is infinitely malleable in order to serve the needs of the present.
I would rewrite your question a bit. "Why is it that we are unable to see history rewritten in front of us" and "What will be the consequences of our inability/refusal to see."
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