Says Amos: Let me remind you that there is only one nation on this planet which was actually conceived in liberty, built as best as could be imagined to protect liberty and to balance liberty so that it was widespread.

Actually, no. For some strange reason some folks in the U.S. think that they invented Constitutions, and hold the patent on democracy. Not true. In fact, Iceland beat them to the punch by quite some time on these (not to mention the Greek democracies). And the idea that balancing "liberty" without balancing opporunity would seem quaint to some.

Says Amos: There is only one nation on this planet that prays regularly to the Infinite that its good be "crowned with brotherhood". That publically commits itself to be the land of the free. These are not trifles or hypocritical gestures, no matter how short we fall of these aims.

Actually, that's not true (in either respect). More rather provincial and hubristic thinking. But were it true that we pray "regularly to the Infinite that its good be 'crowned with brotherhod'", I'm still not sure that's a feather in its cap. There are plenty of places where people fervently pray for what is "good". They sometimes have a different opinion of what "good" should be sought.

Says Amos: I am not trying to retreat into jingoistic palliatives, here; I am trying to point out what it is that gives the United States its flavor and informs its decisions, for the most part.

True to some extent. But the jingoism here (or at least the blinkered take on the rest of the world) _is_ apparent here. While we pride ourselves on what we think important, and exalt these things, they come at a price. I don't say that the price isn't worth it; just that others have reached different decisions, and some are not the worse off for it.

Yet to me, the recent events have shown perhaps an ominous willingness on our part to throw those very freedoms and those very ideals away, when times get hard. Perhaps we say the words with more fervour nowadays, bt I'm not sure we really exalt these things as much as we think we do.

Sincerely,

-- Arne Langsetmo