They appear to have it together unless you're suggesting they're obligated to ineffectually martyr themselves for an apathetic population who won't help them.

This is what Americans have bragged about for years, though. The greatest and most free country in the world that could never possibly fall to a dictatorship because the people were armed and would rise up in rebellion. They loved to talk about their violent civil war past, as if some of that bravado still existed inside them. They loved to denigrate the citizens of more authoritarian states: "Why don't they just fight back? Are they stupid or cowards?".

Yes, if the rest of the world takes Americans at their word then we do expect them to die for the mythology of their country. It's what they repeatedly said they'd do right up until the actual moment came, then they went quiet and either sulked or pretended they were fine with the house burning down.