Appreciating America more from farther away

Appreciating America more from farther away

Mark Davis
Dallas Morning News
Friday, June 25, 2010

For a continent I criticize regularly, Europe sure gets a lot of my travel dollars. While nearly all of its countries need severe lessons on how to govern themselves, the history, culture and people across the Atlantic always make for an invigorating draw.

This year's sojourn to Rome and Tuscany started aboard British Airways, where flight attendants handed out the day's U.K. newspapers. One offered a jolting headline regarding the BP oil spill, which through American lenses is a domestic environmental story first and a political story close behind.

But to the Brits, it has become a matter of pride. "Stand Up For Your Country, Mr. Cameron!" shouted a Daily Mail headline, walloping new Prime Minister David Cameron for insufficiently defending a company whose stock affects 1 in 7 British pensioners.

Brits also appear to be cooling toward a U.S. president whom they thought just scrumptious a mere year ago. While admitting that BP has a great responsibility ahead, they feel that bullying and finger-pointing are not helpful to the spill resolution or to relations between our nations.

With DVRs humming at home to capture newscasts and the trusty Internet saving a cache of newspaper articles, I then blissfully unplugged from the news to immerse myself in Italy, our latest favorite Euro-destination.

Rome has a reputation of filth and impenetrability that is simply not deserved. Police and street-sweepers are everywhere, and the traffic was no worse than any other European capital, an admittedly scary standard.

That traffic is composed of crappy little cars that cost absurd amounts, all powered by gas costing more than $5 per gallon, stoking my gratitude for what's left of American free markets and my passion to keep U.S. taxes from launching into the Euro-stratosphere.

Familiar Roman sights are riveting when they are in front of your face. The Trevi fountain, completed just before the American Revolution, is a youngster compared to the nearby Pantheon and Colosseum, built soon after the time of Christ.

And how should the Colosseum strike the visitor? Should we revel in the ancient history and remarkable construction or take serious pause at the barbaric things that passed for entertainment during its heyday? Walking west to the ruins of the Forum, the visitor must admit that while ancient Rome operated under the rough sensibilities of two millennia ago, it also gave birth to some of the cultural and political behaviors we still follow.

Driving into Tuscany was surreal, with a beautiful painting opening up around every curve of the winding roads. We wandered into a small town square in Montepulciano where a big-screen TV attracted hundreds of locals who sprang from folding chairs for each promising moment in Italy's World Cup opener against Paraguay.

The 1-1 tie was less than these partisans wanted as they filtered onto the narrow, thousand-year-old streets to resume their lives, all so vastly different from mine.

And that's what makes such a journey enriching. We all should try to spend time around people whose very existence is a sharp contrast from our own. It broadens our horizons while bolstering the appreciation we should have for our American blessings.

That said, there was something about Italy that struck me in the context of what America has become. Whether in Rome or Milan or some tiny Tuscan town, virtually everyone is Italian and Catholic. I know diversity is part of what makes America special, but there is something delicious about occasionally finding a homogeneity free of the skirmishes between races and religions.

This is not just my glee at finding a nation filled with fellow Caucasian Christians. I would make the same observation about an Asian or African nation filled with people who share neither my faith nor my race.

I imagine the reaction I would get upon arriving in any such country demanding that its culture bend to my language and religion. But it's just that kind of brazenness on constant display in an America where too many immigrants have it precisely backward.

It is previous generations of new arrivals who made America great by assimilating to their new home, rather than expecting it to bend to them.

Much is made of the Obama agenda's seeming attempt to turn America into Europe. I envision 21/2 additional years of fighting this. Europe will always be a place I like to visit. An America devoted to free markets and personal liberty is where I want to live.

Mark Davis is heard weekdays from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on WBAP 820 Radio in Ft. Worth

Surely to raise Matt's cackles.

TexasBlue wrote:But to the Brits, it has become a matter of pride. "Stand Up For Your Country, Mr. Cameron!" shouted a Daily Mail headline, walloping new Prime Minister David Cameron for insufficiently defending a company whose stock affects 1 in 7 British pensioners.

lol, that is The Daily Mail for you. I think Cameron intends to get an explanation for why Obama seems to be blaming this country as a cheap shot for the oil spill.

TexasBlue wrote:Brits also appear to be cooling toward a U.S. president whom they thought just scrumptious a mere year ago.

Not for his political views as I'm sure some Americans no doubt think, but because increasingly he is being seen as a man of "style over substance". I guess you Americans say "he talks the talk, but he don't walk the walk".

TexasBlue wrote:That traffic is composed of crappy little cars that cost absurd amounts, all powered by gas costing more than $5 per gallon, stoking my gratitude for what's left of American free markets and my passion to keep U.S. taxes from launching into the Euro-stratosphere.

The reason, I think, that your petrol is so cheap, is because of the oil lobby having so much power over your market.

TexasBlue wrote:I know diversity is part of what makes America special, but there is something delicious about occasionally finding a homogeneity free of the skirmishes between races and religions.

This guy has the blinkers on. Italy is not a religious harmony. The Italian government and the Vatican always seem to be at loggerheads these days with Pope Rant-zinger getting annoyed at every new law. It may seem like a harmony on the streets, but Italy is becoming more secular and the Vatican wants it to be more theocratic.

TexasBlue wrote:Much is made of the Obama agenda's seeming attempt to turn America into Europe. I envision 21/2 additional years of fighting this. Europe will always be a place I like to visit. An America devoted to free markets and personal liberty is where I want to live.

Well I guess that is where we and you differ. We expect governments to protect us from the destructiveness of corporate greed. You won't find many over here who want free market capitalism, many people here abhor it as much as you abhor social democracy.

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:lol, that is The Daily Mail for you. I think Cameron intends to get an explanation for why Obama seems to be blaming this country as a cheap shot for the oil spill.

From what i've seen of all your major newspapers is exactly what he said regarding the Mail.

Is the Daily Mail a silly paper or something?

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:Not for his political views as I'm sure some Americans no doubt think, but because increasingly he is being seen as a man of "style over substance". I guess you Americans say "he talks the talk, but he don't walk the walk".

That's how we see it here.... style over substance and his political views.

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:The reason, I think, that your petrol is so cheap, is because of the oil lobby having so much power over your market.

What our gov't takes varies by state. Here's combined with the fed and each state;


From what i've read, gas itself sn''t that high over there. It's what your Almighty Governments take. At some point, people have to say 'enough', imo.

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:This guy has the blinkers on. Italy is not a religious harmony. The Italian government and the Vatican always seem to be at loggerheads these days with Pope Rant-zinger getting annoyed at every new law. It may seem like a harmony on the streets, but Italy is becoming more secular and the Vatican wants it to be more theocratic.

What he means is the shit we see here in America vs over there.

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:Well I guess that is where we and you differ. We expect governments to protect us from the destructiveness of corporate greed. You won't find many over here who want free market capitalism, many people here abhor it as much as you abhor social democracy.

We have laws already. Gov't is too far in bed with certain corporations to do anything. I've seen you say that conservatives blame Obama for the recession. It's not true. They (and i) don't blame him one bit for what he inherited. What we do blame him for creating the atmosphere to allow it to linger as long as it has. Past recessions were over by this point.

And again, the collapse was caused by many things. But a large amount was caused by Wall Street and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Fannie/Freddie are, in part, programs to allow poorer people to buy homes. Of course, the media ignores how the Democrats haven't allowed regulation of that group. Even the new Financial Bill had nothing to further regulate them. But hey.... people will find out more come this fall. The free media ride for Democrats is over.

TexasBlue wrote:Is the Daily Mail a silly paper or something?

It is the most right wing paper we have and is treated with a large degree of derision for blaming everything in immigrants, homosexuals and Facebook. It supports creationism, homeopathy and is the climate sceptic newspaper. Their science reporting divides things into two groups: Things that cause cancer and things that cure it.

TexasBlue wrote:From what i've read, gas itself sn''t that high over there. It's what your Almighty Governments take. At some point, people have to say 'enough', imo.

We did in 2000 when Blair's government just kept putting fuel tax up and up and up. Refineries were blockaded and most people couldn't get petrol anywhere for two weeks.

TexasBlue wrote:What he means is the shit we see here in America vs over there.

Well opinion pieces like this are always selective because they just want to appeal to the presupposed prejudices of the people who intend to read it.

TexasBlue wrote:We have laws already. Gov't is too far in bed with certain corporations to do anything.

The thing is with that, you can vote out a bad government but you have no say over the coporations that want to patent the air you breathe and charge you for the privelege.

TexasBlue wrote:I've seen you say that conservatives blame Obama for the recession. It's not true. They (and i) don't blame him one bit for what he inherited. What we do blame him for creating the atmosphere to allow it to linger as long as it has. Past recessions were over by this point.

This recession is different from those in the 1970s, 80s and 90s because it has affected all levels of society. Many here blame the lack of regulation on greedy corporations for causing the collapse and prove that point in this paragraph...

TexasBlue wrote:And again, the collapse was caused by many things. But a large amount was caused by Wall Street and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Fannie/Freddie are, in part, programs to allow poorer people to buy homes. Of course, the media ignores how the Democrats haven't allowed regulation of that group. Even the new Financial Bill had nothing to further regulate them. But hey.... people will find out more come this fall. The free media ride for Democrats is over.

How can free market capitalism be the cure for this recession when that philosophy and the unfettered greed was the very cause of the worst recession in seven decades?

It is the most right wing paper we have and is treated with a large degree of derision for blaming everything in immigrants, homosexuals and Facebook. It supports creationism, homeopathy and is the climate sceptic newspaper. Their science reporting divides things into two groups: Things that cause cancer and things that cure it.

It is? I never paid much mind personally.

We did in 2000 when Blair's government just kept putting fuel tax up and up and up. Refineries were blockaded and most people couldn't get petrol anywhere for two weeks.

Good for you people then. Over here, people just pay and grumble. But some day people are going to say enough is enough. The problem is taxing the shit out of people and not getting the investment back. The gov'ts here (states and fed) take all this gas tax and we still have shitty roads and bridges. Then they want more to fix the roads. I always ask where the fucking money went to start with. I never get a straight answer.... ever.

Well opinion pieces like this are always selective because they just want to appeal to the presupposed prejudices of the people who intend to read it.

I know you dislike opinion pieces but i love them. I read left and right wing opinion pieces all the time. I love reading letters to editors in newspapers because it tells me what people are thinking rather than what the media is "telling" me. The media here is very corrupt and unreliable. I subscribe to an e-mail that shows bias daily in our media. It's not that they're (media) lying... it's that they're not telling you the whole story. That part pisses me off to no end. Thank God (no pun intended) for the internet.

Now, i know opinion pieces can be just that; opinion. But many also throw the facts in during their rants. Of course, spending on who you're reading, one can get a slanted opinion. But that's.. ahem... opinion.

The thing is with that, you can vote out a bad government but you have no say over the coporations that want to patent the air you breathe and charge you for the privelege.

Nobody here in the USA ever says to let corporations have their way. Nobody. There's not anything one can find that shows some saying to let them run unfettered. But there has to be reasonable regulations and not the kind that stifles business and growth. This administration is doing just that.

This recession is different from those in the 1970s, 80s and 90s because it has affected all levels of society. Many here blame the lack of regulation on greedy corporations for causing the collapse and prove that point in this paragraph...

Allowing Fannie and Freddie to force banks to sell homes to people who otherwise couldn't afford them is insane. That's what the Community Reinvestment Act was all about. It's been in place since 1977 (Carter). Bush tried to get congress to start looking hard at Fannie/Freddie. Dems controlled it at that time, i believe, and they balked at it. if they didn't control it, then they had enough of a majority to stop that in it's tracks. Either way, the Dems did stop it. Then we got the housing melt down.

Then we had banks selling investments (mortgages) and washing their hands of it. They knew that this property had shitty value but that bank bought the package and this bank washed it's hands. It didn't used to be like that. It's been going on for the last 20 years. The chickens have come home to roost.

How can free market capitalism be the cure for this recession when that philosophy and the unfettered greed was the very cause of the worst recession in seven decades?

You keep talking unfettered greed. Get away from that. What's not going to fix this recession here in the US is taxes that are getting ready to rise. End of the Bush cuts, end of the "death" tax, new taxes with the health care bill. There's quite a list. I can drudge them up if you like.

This president isn't compatible with the free market. Bill Clinton was. He was a different kind of Democrat. So was JFK.

TexasBlue wrote:Good for you people then. Over here, people just pay and grumble. But some day people are going to say enough is enough. The problem is taxing the shit out of people and not getting the investment back. The gov'ts here (states and fed) take all this gas tax and we still have shitty roads and bridges. Then they want more to fix the roads. I always ask where the fucking money went to start with. I never get a straight answer.... ever.

We have had poor roads since January when we had the coldest winter and the heaviest snowfall for decades. It got so cold and the ice so compact that it damaged a lot of our roads. They are not doing a bad job on filling in the potholes but petrol costs (though dropping at the moment) are at their highest prices for two years or more.

TexasBlue wrote:I know you dislike opinion pieces but i love them. I read left and right wing opinion pieces all the time.

Can I just emphasise that I do not discriminate between left and right opinion pieces, I distrust both equally. The problem is, they are written by journalists with an agenda and because they have an agenda, they are going to present to you data which is most favourable to the position they are claiming, and ignoring that inconvenient contradictory evidence.

TexasBlue wrote:I love reading letters to editors in newspapers because it tells me what people are thinking rather than what the media is "telling" me.

When I read that sort of thing I usually end up shaking my head in despair at the bullshit a lot of people come out with.

TexasBlue wrote:I subscribe to an e-mail that shows bias daily in our media. It's not that they're (media) lying... it's that they're not telling you the whole story.

What makes you think that columnists are exempt? Personally, I think those hacks are the worst kind in the media and do the most damage.

TexasBlue wrote:Nobody here in the USA ever says to let corporations have their way.

It feels that way when I hear hardcore capitalistas banging on about free market capitalism and deregulating business still despite what has happened over the last two years.

TexasBlue wrote:You keep talking unfettered greed.

I can't get away from it because I truly feel that unfettered greed, letting corporations do what they damn well please, has brought the world to its knees. The money to pay off national debts have to come from somewhere. It seems that no government is going to win, neither in Europe nor over there, at attempting to tackle these enormous deficits.

We have had poor roads since January when we had the coldest winter and the heaviest snowfall for decades. It got so cold and the ice so compact that it damaged a lot of our roads. They are not doing a bad job on filling in the potholes but petrol costs (though dropping at the moment) are at their highest prices for two years or more.

We get that every year in Minnesota. It's a part of living here. But not in the UK, of course. We also have to have plows to clear the roads in the winter. That's the cost of living as far north as we do. Nobody in this state ever decries taxes for purposes such as those, btw.

Funny... when i lived in Texas, people would laugh at how a 3 inch snow would shut down the DFW area. Well, duh. No plows. Then they'd say that we need to have snow plows for when that happens. Then i'd tell them that would be crazy since it it snows about once a year if even that down there. Then it's gone within a day anyway.

Can I just emphasise that I do not discriminate between left and right opinion pieces, I distrust both equally. The problem is, they are written by journalists with an agenda and because they have an agenda, they are going to present to you data which is most favourable to the position they are claiming, and ignoring that inconvenient contradictory evidence.

I like opinion because it throws things at you that the news anchors on t.v. seem to miss. I read both left and right opinions, btw. I guess it comes down to personal preference.

It would be silly for me to post news in here since we get it right away anyhow. Therefore....

When I read that sort of thing I usually end up shaking my head in despair at the bullshit a lot of people come out with.

Yeah, but what i enjoy is seeing what other people are thinking. I get a kick out of letters to the newspapers.

What makes you think that columnists are exempt? Personally, I think those hacks are the worst kind in the media and do the most damage.

I was talking about news anchors on t.v., whether they're Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC (<---the worst) or the BBC. I can read a column by Paul Krugman of the NYT paper. He's an economic professor but very left wing. So, if i read his shit i have to keep that in mind instead of just facts.

It feels that way when I hear hardcore capitalistas banging on about free market capitalism and deregulating business still despite what has happened over the last two years.

Some can come off that way. There's some who pop off at the mouth without thinking, to. That goes for both sides.

can't get away from it because I truly feel that unfettered greed, letting corporations do what they damn well please, has brought the world to its knees. The money to pay off national debts have to come from somewhere. It seems that no government is going to win, neither in Europe nor over there, at attempting to tackle these enormous deficits.

Greed sure did cause a lot of it. But you must know that the gov't here caused much of it by politicians being in bed with corporate greedheads. I've seen reports of both Dems and Repubs with their pants down on that. So, these people look the other way as long as they get their money for reelection. Massive regulations here have also caused many greedheads to do things that otherwise wouldn't have happened to begin with.

In short, i can agree to an extent but also that i know that our politicians are all about money and are part of the problem. Then it manifested across the globe.

TexasBlue wrote:In short, i can agree to an extent but also that i know that our politicians are all about money and are part of the problem. Then it manifested across the globe.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not the start of the recession, that was the collapse of the Iceland banks. Those two American investors collapsing was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Those were the straws globally but was a deal breaker here. Within 4 months of Fannie, i was out of a job. So, from a US perspective, it was a major deal. The housing thing manifested into that. All the banks, as i said, washing their hands of lousy investments.

Well that was going on all over the world. I had an archaeology contract early summer 2008 before the FMs collapsed. I was laid off by the contractor after my two months because there wasn't enough work. Yet eight months before that archaeology contractors couldn't get enough diggers to fulfill all their contracts so they had to give paid work to people who hadn't even graduated. Most of the archaeology contractors that went bust had already shed a lot of jobs before your two banks collapsed.

You see, I don't understand why people assume that only Americans have been affected by this recession and that Obama should have sorted it out by now. I'm not defending him, but this is a global recession and the worst one since the Great Depression. How anyone can think it can be on the shoulders of any one man to sort it out in no time is beyond me, and I would be saying the same if you had a Republican President.

The same people who claim to want a global economy, and pro globalisation, can't have it both ways and claim that America's economy is and ought to be apart from the rest of the global economy.

You see, I don't understand why people assume that only Americans have been affected by this recession and that Obama should have sorted it out by now. I'm not defending him, but this is a global recession and the worst one since the Great Depression. How anyone can think it can be on the shoulders of any one man to sort it out in no time is beyond me, and I would be saying the same if you had a Republican President.

Nobody thinks this is relegated to just us. Anyone who does lives in a coffee cup. As far as it happening under a Repub versus a Dem is a good question. It's the policies. Since you live in the UK, you're not aware (justly so) about some of the politics attached to this recession. We had a stimulus bill last year to fix the economy. It didn't. It was so full of pork to special interest groups and wasteful project spending that it's not surprising to me at all as to why it didn't work. This is what people criticize here. Obama stepped into a piece of shit and mishandled it immensely. That's my gripe. He's put politics and ideology over getting this recession to be done with. I can put up a list of things he's done to supposedly fix this economy and everything about those things that have backfired big time. I can show you where money from that stimulus bill have gone to unstimulating projects (payoffs).

Yeah, it's global. But there's things that have happened that have made our economy slow to recover while other world economies are doing much better than ours.

The same people who claim to want a global economy, and pro globalisation, can't have it both ways and claim that America's economy is and ought to be apart from the rest of the global economy.

Nobody is suggesting such a thing.

TexasBlue wrote:Nobody thinks this is relegated to just us. Anyone who does lives in a coffee cup.

Well that is the impression I'm getting from a lot of people, on SP too.

TexasBlue wrote:We had a stimulus bill last year to fix the economy. It didn't.

Well we had taxpayers money put aside for bailing out the high street banks. They are now turning over a profit. Parliament overwhelmingly agreed that efforts should now be made to claw that money back (they were loans, not handouts) with windfall taxes and demands that those loans be paid back. And why not? They are turning a profit now.

TexasBlue wrote:It was so full of pork to special interest groups and wasteful project spending that it's not surprising to me at all as to why it didn't work.

I guess I need to look into the Stimulus Bill myself. I admit I haven't, mostly because the issue didn't really interest me.

TexasBlue wrote:Yeah, it's global. But there's things that have happened that have made our economy slow to recover while other world economies are doing much better than ours.

Like who? We are experiencing growth now, but not much.

TexasBlue wrote:Nobody is suggesting such a thing.

They don't realise they are doing it most of the time.

Well that is the impression I'm getting from a lot of people, on SP too.

Then they're closed minded. But i haven't seen anything over there from anyone saying that we're the only ones.

Well we had taxpayers money put aside for bailing out the high street banks. They are now turning over a profit. Parliament overwhelmingly agreed that efforts should now be made to claw that money back (they were loans, not handouts) with windfall taxes and demands that those loans be paid back. And why not? They are turning a profit now.

We had bailouts also. But many people have come out against it. There's been Democrats that voted for it that lost their primary a few weeks ago. so, it isn't relegated to conservatives. Dems don't like it either.

But with all that, the bailouts helped the banks here, too. And some have paid the stuff back, which is good.

My point is the stimulus bill we had. It didn't go to small business like it should have. It went to Democrat special interests and projects. The bill is a failure and has been proven as such.

I guess I need to look into the Stimulus Bill myself. I admit I haven't, mostly because the issue didn't really interest me.

That's the divide between us and you Europeans (or Brits). Much of our own internal workings don't interest the other... unless it impacts the both of us.

Like who? We are experiencing growth now, but not much.

A year old but.....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/aug/17/japan-beats-recession-exports

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/13/france-germany-exit-reces_n_258366.html

They don't realise they are doing it most of the time.

People know that the world is tied at the hip economically. I hope you're not confusing that with those who don't want a one-world economy. I fall into that category. There's people who want that, Not many but they're out there.

TexasBlue wrote:Appreciating America more from farther away

Mark Davis
Dallas Morning News
Friday, June 25, 2010

For a continent I criticize regularly, Europe sure gets a lot of my travel dollars. While nearly all of its countries need severe lessons on how to govern themselves, the history, culture and people across the Atlantic always make for an invigorating draw.

Says somebody from a country that is in a deep recession yet still looks down upon financial reform, has joined the modern world with modern Health Care just a couple of months ago, and has some of the worst statistics among the modern world.
Not to mention the fact the European politics are a lot more diverse and complicated. We don't have the 2 Party System, we have several parties who stand for several things, to make sure all the people are represented.

TexasBlue wrote:

Rome has a reputation of filth and impenetrability that is simply not deserved. Police and street-sweepers are everywhere, and the traffic was no worse than any other European capital, an admittedly scary standard.

That's new to me coming from the country whose citizens make up most of Italy's tourism industry.

TexasBlue wrote:

That traffic is composed of crappy little cars that cost absurd amounts, all powered by gas costing more than $5 per gallon, stoking my gratitude for what's left of American free markets and my passion to keep U.S. taxes from launching into the Euro-stratosphere.

That's to keep fuel consumption to a minimum. Most European countries realize that oil is a finite resource. And those "crappy little cars" are built because that's what the people want. Don't believe me, check out some of the cars Ford builds for the European market:

http://www.ford.de/Pkw-Modelle

All of them get more than 35 miles per gallon.

TexasBlue wrote:

And how should the Colosseum strike the visitor? Should we revel in the ancient history and remarkable construction or take serious pause at the barbaric things that passed for entertainment during its heyday?

Do you also take a moment and think about all the Native Americans killed when walking around what used to be Native American territory?
What kind of a question is that?

TexasBlue wrote:

And that's what makes such a journey enriching. We all should try to spend time around people whose very existence is a sharp contrast from our own. It broadens our horizons while bolstering the appreciation we should have for our American blessings.

Is he trying to make it sound like that's the "town TV" that everybody comes to watch since they don't have their own? Italians are just as blessed as Americans, and they wander around those thousand year old streets because they've been re-done and are still main streets.

TexasBlue wrote:

That said, there was something about Italy that struck me in the context of what America has become. Whether in Rome or Milan or some tiny Tuscan town, virtually everyone is Italian and Catholic. I know diversity is part of what makes America special, but there is something delicious about occasionally finding a homogeneity free of the skirmishes between races and religions.

Come to Germany where Protestants and Catholics are about 50-50 and you won't see any skirmishes either.

TexasBlue wrote:

This is not just my glee at finding a nation filled with fellow Caucasian Christians. I would make the same observation about an Asian or African nation filled with people who share neither my faith nor my race.

Those "fellow Caucasian Christians" were ridiculed and considered dirt when they first came to the US.

TexasBlue wrote:

I imagine the reaction I would get upon arriving in any such country demanding that its culture bend to my language and religion. But it's just that kind of brazenness on constant display in an America where too many immigrants have it precisely backward.

Who is demanding Americans to speak another language and bend its culture? If anything, it's American tourists that get frustrated when you don't understand their English, especially when they're using slang words and are speaking way too fast.

TexasBlue wrote:

It is previous generations of new arrivals who made America great by assimilating to their new home, rather than expecting it to bend to them.

Not really... that's why there are plenty of Chinatowns, Little Italy, Little Havanas, etc. around.

TexasBlue wrote:

Much is made of the Obama agenda's seeming attempt to turn America into Europe. I envision 21/2 additional years of fighting this. Europe will always be a place I like to visit. An America devoted to free markets and personal liberty is where I want to live.

Maybe you should try it the other way around and see that Europe has the same devotian to free markets and personal liberty with a twist of devotion to taking care of its citizens.