First of all thank you for taking the time to respond – I think it is important to hear all sides of the story, whether one agrees or not. It gives one a better perspective and more insight. I don’t necessarily have to consider an American’s response as sophomoric as I am well aware that there many kinds of Americans – which is precisely one of the great things about your country.

I don’t lump all Americans into one heap of “rot” etc. I was referring to those elements in the political system who really do have their own greedy agendas and are not that concerned about the welfare of people like yourself who love your country.

Which brings me to your point about “really American”. Being born and raised all your life in America might not always mean that one is molded in the image that you personally might like. For example there are many who are born in ghettos of certain ethnic cultures who maintain their language and traditions. Does that fit the bill? Then there are those, like perhaps yourself, who are descended from settlers – so perhaps one might even posit that all non-Native Americans are in fact one huge ghetto. It starts to get a bit absurd. The present America is what it is, complex and heterogenous. You can try and deny that but it is a fact.

As to the world being naive about Obama, I have no argument with that, I even state it in my post. Regarding Martin Luther King, he was assassinated in public, yes by a lone gunman, but the intent was clearly to make it public.

Lessons in history regarding Israel I think we both could benefit from. However you totally disregard how the state was founded in the first place, the terrorist tactics employed in it’s founding, and the history of disempowerment that the Israelis have carried out against the Palestinian people.

Many nations have paid dearly for their freedom, many nations have been violated by more powerful ones in the name of some idealism.

Best regards,

Rio

PS: I am not that much of a chauvinist. I strive to be more of a universalist.

As an American it is our constitutional right for civic movement and dissent even if we are the rot and insidious players that so distress you over your concern for our president’s visions and hopes to shape our country into one that most Americans will no longer recognize.

Part of the problem for Americans, who did not vote for this man, is that he is truly not American. Now I am not a birth-er, I know he was born in Hawaii, but he grew up in your neighborhood, instead of playing baseball in the sandlot, he was going to mosque. It is a bitter pill for a lot of us to take. He wants to be a citizen of the world not an American. Most of us want red blooded, flag waving, freedom loving people holding the highest office in our nation.

In my humble opinion, it is the world that is naive believing that Obama is the answer to it’s problems. The love and admiration the world has for him is solely based on the conceived notion that GW Bush was dumb, and evil when in fact he protected this nation from an enemy that is forcing it’s dark-ages beliefs on the world by spreading hate for all those who do not worship at the feet of a pedophile prophet.

As for the “public assassination” of Martin Luther King, let me remind you that he was murdered by a lone gunman. It was not a white man conspiracy to have him killed. I admire, as most Americas do, what MLK stood for. Our country is the least racial country in the world. I have traveled outside the the US and have been shocked by blatant bigotry in other nations that sneer at the US while all the while treating others (different races/religions) with disdain.

As for the way Israel treats Palestine…perhaps you need a refresher course on history. It was the Jews that opened the door to the Palestinians. The Jews wanted to live and work side by side with them, but Arab nations convinced the Palestinians to trust them and side with them and they would force the Jews into the ocean…well as history played out it was the Jews who stood strong and protected their homeland from an enemy that was bent on killing them. After that ill fated war, the Arab nations turned their backs on the Palestinians leaving them refugees and now use them to further their own goals at destroying Israel. Why does no one ask these rich Arab nations why they do not help the Palestinians? It is much easier to blame the Jews and the United States and most of all Bush.

Pity the world that truly does not know freedom or the price our nation has paid to remain the one shining light in the darkness.

I too am a chauvinist…I love my country and thank god that I was born here!