[expatpat]

The fact is that we won’t get serious until some major loss occurs. We didn’t get serious until Pearl Harbor, the Brits didn’t get serious until Dunkirk. There was a short spell of seriousness after 9/11 but Americans have a short attention span....

[GBA]

You’re right about the short attention span. For us to pay and then maintain attention, we need a 9-11 level event or larger once every 3 to 5 years unless we are doing something like we are in Iraq and Afghanistan. I wonder if nuking a city or two would wake us up? I hope we never find out. I'm sure there are many, many people working very hard to keep us from having an absolute police state, but we do seem pretty lax about security.