I'd disagree, I would put it down to weapons not democratic conciousness. Gadaffi had the money and guns to destroy as much of his population as was necessary to maintain control: large scale protests CAN be destroyed by firepower, it's a sad reality (Tianamen Square being a particularly good example, or the Prague Spring, or the poor people in Bahrain). Also, to call it just a NATO operation is really very insulting to the Libyans. NATO shouldered none of the "hard work" of ground fighting and taking the towns, the Misratans and the Berbers from the hills fought incredibly effectively given their lack of training and I think it's important to remember that.
As to the remaining cities: if you see the messages from people who've fled the fighting, Dimos, most of them didn't actually know what was going on. In Sirte the people haven't been told that Tripoli has fallen. Even so most of them are being prevented from escaping by Gadaffi's fighters.
...so a few people are loyal, but it's not on a tribal basis. It's essentially a few military brigades who believe that there is nothing left for them in a new democratic Libya.
