Wusses don't speak for America: Your Say

From the nation's reaction to the Ebola outbreak to Hollywood's cowardly response to threats from hackers, has America lost its backbone? Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

It's not fair to say America is full of wusses. It isn't the people of this nation acting like wusses, but our leaders and institutions ("Wussy nation: Our view").

Academia, the entertainment industry, panicked government health officials — the examples in USA TODAY's editorial are the reactions of our so-called leaders, not of the people. And the diagnosis is that this is in part because we've lost faith in our institutions? Maybe this kind of behavior is why we've lost faith in our institutions.

— Michael Pope

Tough people tackle the unfairness of life head on. Wimps complain a lot and say life shouldn't be unfair. Doesn't every parent tell his kid that "life isn't always fair"? That's true, and will never change. The winners in life accept that and vow to succeed anyway. The losers in life just pout a lot, vote for politicians who will nurture their grievance and give them stuff they haven't earned.

— Eric Liskey

The leadership does not cause us to be wusses. We choose our leaders. They represent us, literally. Maybe many of us are wusses because we let a profit-seeking news media scare us in order to sell advertising. If it bleeds, it leads. And we allow it to happen to ourselves.

Don't let fear run your life. Make up your mind to run your own life. Ignore the things that are out of your control. Focus on the things you can control.

— Doug Reed

Just because a small number of people with large bullhorns scream, whine and cry at the drop of a hat doesn't mean the mass of us do.

— Tim Maguire