Ken,
I just want to share a quote from Friedman. I think I am still standing on the same alignment with Friedman in his attitude toward American ideal and the Bush administration. America is a country of hope, and I believe, hope together with faith is the only sure thing in this life.
"Every other word out of this administration's mouth now is "terror" or "terrorism." We have stopped exporting hope, the most important commodity America has. We now export only fear, so we end up importing everyone else's fears right back.
Yes, America faces real threats, and this administration, to its credit, has been serious about confronting them. But America also has many more friends, actual and potential, and nurturing them is also part of our national security. We cannot spend so much time talking about our enemies that we forget to listen to our friends, because without them, ultimately, we cannot win either a war of terrorism or a war of ideas." - 'On Listening' by Thomas Friedman, New York Times, Oct 16, 2003.