An eloquent and well-reasoned reply.
Neither am I interested in hastening the hardening of chains on my wrists and ankles. Unlike our forebears in WWI and WWII, we have a well-earned cynicism toward the Fed. I'm sometimes told that I'm "ate up with it".
However.............we have a bit of a secret weapon on our side this time: the basic American aversion to inconvenience and the Almighty Dollar. Please allow me to explain...
We all put up with tanks and APC's in airports (I know I know..........fat load of good they'll do against some individual maniacs carrying suitcases..........), obscenely long lines in those same airports, etc., etc. while we're at war with an enemy who's obviously hell-bent on destroying our country and our culture.
BUT.................
........as soon as it looks like we've won this thing (when will that be? when the media say so...........sad, but true.....), then John and Janie Citizen will NOT put up with these long lines, the uniformed guys in cammo and toting M-16's, etc., in their airports. They'll stop travelling; the airlines will suffer even more / once again, and there will be hearings, talking heads on TV questioning the need for this continued "military presence", etc. The airlines will win. The military will be gone, security will (hopefully) be improved by a combination of better technology and better-trained security personnel, and the public will tire of this war-time footing and scream for "normalcy".
One thing you can count on with Americans: Interfere with their "convenience", and you'll have Hell to pay when you can no longer justify inconveniencing them.