US citizens don't need a valid passport to leave the country. That said, I agree with the advice to get a new one at a passport agency office before leaving, just in case. I've always had very good experiences at US embassies and consulates abroad, and with the passport agencies here except for the one in Miami, when they refused to give me a 48-page book at my last renewal "because we're out of inserts".
Phlying, what's you're beef? You sound like the stereotypical guy who wonders why he's always singled out without realizing he's acting out and thus causing himself to be singled out in the first place. I've lived in a number of countries and still travel internationally a half-dozen times a year and have never really heard anything bad about service for US citizens at embassies and consulates. From foreign nationals trying to get visas, sure, and from US guys trying to get visas for girlfriends and such, absolutely. But for routine stuff like passport renewals, page additions and passport replacements after theft or losing it, it's usually very smooth sailing.