I believe it's true. But it certainly isn't good news for America. It's not good news because eternal vigilance is simply too high a price for most Americans today. They're not willing to pay that much for liberty. I mean, think about it.
Vigilance means paying attention to what's happening in the world.
It means trying to understand what's happening. One might even have to get up off the couch, turn off the TV for a few minutes, and think. Really, that's asking too much of the average American voter. Surely, if anything important comes up, someone he can trust, like Tom Brokaw or Dan Rather or Peter Jennings will warn him about it and tell him exactly what opinion he should have on it. The fact is, he has put off his own responsibility for vigilance onto the mass media.