Every now and then we fall apart?

Cunning Realist has an interesting discussion about periods of mass hysteria. Is this one? There seems to be minimal outrage over an administration that seeks more and more power. The NSA's non-court-ordered wiretaps are the latest episode. Is the concentration of authority justified because we are at war, or will we look back on this as a time of unjustified hysteria?

CR also reminds us that it was the NSA, ironically(?), which two weeks ago revealed that the Gulf of Tonkin incident - the casus belli for Vietnam - was a hoax. Yet it inspired the Congress to give President Johnson a blank check.

Will history view John Yoo as a person with the correct perspective, considering the security dilemma we face? If there is another major attack, will we wish we had been more vigilant in preventing it?