We are just not a nice country anymore. I mean, we have state-sponsored torture. We invade other countries because we’re worried they might be a threat. We treat minorities of one sort or another like second class citizens and argue about whether they should have the same rights as others. People around the world now revile us, riot in the streets, and target our citizens for kidnapping and murder.
Remember years ago when people wanted to be like America?
Paul Harvey, that doddering old ass, is due to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom next week. Well, considering how the Bush White House hands out medals to people who have done far worse, it’s not surprising. But let me remind you just what Paul Harvey said to get on my list:
“We didn’t come this far because we’re made of sugar candy. Once upon a time, we elbowed our way onto and across this continent by giving smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans. That was biological warfare. And we used every other weapon we could get our hands on to grab this land from whomever.
“And we grew prosperous. And yes, we greased the skids with the sweat of slaves. So it goes with most great nation-states, which—feeling guilty about their savage pasts—eventually civilize themselves out of business and wind up invaded and ultimately dominated by the lean, hungry up-and-coming who are not made of sugar candy.”
