Everyone calm down. As long at there is a regular vote, freedom of the press, and regular elections, the people won't be held down for long. When a politician stands up and says, "Women should be equal." and then some old school dude says "that's not Islamic," how long can that really fly in front of a glaring and curious media?
As long as there is regular elections and a free press (especially an international presence), some cleaver politician will eventually vanquish the defenders of this oppressive ideology. Just look at the history of freedom in this country. We had Martin Luther King and also the Women's Temperence Society (remember them from the 20's?) to get things fixed. Be patient. There are two truths in life. Water always finds a level and freedom always finds a way.
I am always calm.
I think the FReepers have made a number of excellent points. No one has been alarmist or unreasonable.
You might have enjoyed reading my brief post before disagreeing.
I think you're right on a number of points too, but I believe that your faith in the mainstream media is misplaced. They have demonstrated at every turn that they would undermine the freedoms we celebrate here.
No, the Islamofascists aren't likely to be terribly threatening. But they can be murderous. So too might be the nasty Islamic regimes that populate the middle east. For some time to come. These are the reasons to fight the war on terror.
We're very fortunate, of course, that the bad guys remain in the dark ages economically. It will be centuries before they have any military might.