The Promise of Aquinas' Theology?

One of the interesting things during several of the question and answer sessions at yesterday's Colin Gunton conference was the concern about how Thomas Aquinas, more so in the States, is fast-becoming for some the theologian above all theologians. For some Aquinas is becoming the last word in an argument: Aquinas says it, so it must be so. Several people seemed worried, while I think a lot of people, like me, were not what all the fuss was about. I don't think it is because they believe Aquinas to be a bad theologian, but just that he shouldn't be lifted above others as the touchstone of orthodoxy.