Hey, kendall, 'bout that "great state" thing... *grins* Texans are quite certain that their state -is- better than everyone else's. And I guess it -is- a form of nationalism, but not to a degree that it's dangerous, I don't think. There's nothing wrong with thinking your state is the best; if you didn't, you'd move.

And to speak to your remark on "pride" in heritage--I'm not proud of it in the same way in which I'm proud of getting second place in the knot-tying competition. It's not the same as pride in an accomplishment. Unfortunately, at the moment, I'm not able to wrap my mind around exactly what I -do- mean...I'll get back here when I figure it out.