Thanks.  I did enjoy the article.  It did not surprise me that Mead describes the perspective as Jacksonian.  It is very much in keeping with the old Scots motto, nemo me impune lacessit, or no one injures me with impunity which has been expressed in many different ways including the Gadsden flag.  It is an interesting relic from a culture that very often finds itself on the losing side of historic conflicts.  They can accept losing but not without a fight. 

Thought you might be interested in a follow up to the article.  Apparently Andrew Sullivan expressed his disagreement with it so Mead responded with Flogged By The Dish.  I especially liked this part:

But it interests us that Mr. Sullivan, a man who normally (and correctly in our view) believes that humans should strive to understand and celebrate diversity and tolerate and embrace difference and non-conformity gets all bent out of shape when anybody tries to approach certain made-in-America subcultures and religions with the same tools he would automatically use to understand people in other parts of the world.