There have been lines being drawn around this question throughout our history, both within it and outside of it, of course.
Devil or Angel?
How about "Angvil"
"There really is this child-like need in American mainstream political discourse constantly to believe that we are fault-free and that when there is hostility directed at us from other parts of the world, it is always baffling and unjustified and crazy and malicious. And the accompanying cartoon-like belief is that anyone who has hostility towards the U.S. is some demented, crazed, Hitler-like monster.
"It really ought not be that difficult to understand that a country which rules the world by military force; invades, bombs and occupies other countries far more than anyone else; overthrows other countries' governments -- including their democratically elected ones -- and openly debates what other governments it should change; and issues endless lectures to the world about the evils of tyranny and nuclear weapons while constantly violating those sermons (and encouraging our allies to do so) with actions, is going to trigger rather intense and substantial hostility around the world, particularly in those regions where we are doing the invading, bombing, occupying and controlling. As George Washington explained quite clearly a couple hundred years ago, that is precisely why it is so ill-advised to engage in that behavior."
"The idea that we are the source of all Good in the world and that all anti-American anger is irrational is just the opposite side of the same Manichean coin that holds that the U.S. is the principal source of evil in the world. But while the latter form of irrational moralism is relegated to the fringes (at least in American politics), the former predominates in virtually all political discussions. On an individual level, most people have little difficulty understanding that a refusal to recognize one's own faults is one of the most self-destructive attributes a person can possess. But when it comes to the U.S. collectively, recognizing America's faults -- the actions we take to trigger anti-American animus -- is virtually prohibited."
The Nike Air Native N7
(Caitlin Schwerin - Stormy)
For a few years I've been driving by two gas stations on opposite corners accross the street from each other. One is a BP station, the other a Conoco/Union 76. Their gas prices have never ever been different from each other. They go up and down in sync. The little capitalist/mba in me thinks "chicken shits" 85 percent of the times I drive by them. And I drive by them a lot. It's like a mini-mart gasoline micro-cartel on those corners.
(LEONARD COHEN BY JONI MITCHELL)
... at the lake after the game. Be there!
