qwerty: I agree with your assessment of Naomi Wolf. She is a very self-aggrandizing post-feminist author (“The Beauty Myth”), and is especially noted for her sloppy scholarship and temper tantrums when questioned about her “facts”.

I also agree with your overall view of the strength of the US to survive some pretty serious privations and come out intact.

That being said, there are some aspects to the Patriot Acts (I and II) that concern me. There are also some NSA programs out there (Carnivore and Echelon) that are worrisome, too. There is a new level of intrusiveness out there, and it is not all directly attrituable to Dubya (Clinton was responsible for implementing the one NSA program in 1994).

As far as an informed citizenry goes: Hell, most high school kids can’t even find Europe on a map.