Is the general public showing it's tacit approval?
I think they are, but not intentionally. A lot of Americans are just not involved. They go about their daily life and do little more than bitch and complain about how things are (or are becoming). It has always been this way (at least for many many years), but the difference is that I see a big movement in right-wing religions getting involved in government and politics, and *the rest of us* are just now starting to look around and say WTF?
Albert Einstein said that Americans will put with anything provided it doesn't block traffic! I think this so true! Americans have to feel it (what "it" is) impact their daily lives enough before most of us will even feel complelled to do anything about it.