America's Taken a Hammering Since 9/11, But ...

From Richard Littlejohn, at London's Daily Mail, "America's taken a hammering in the decade since 9/11. But never doubt that it can rediscover its awesome self-belief":

My family connections with the U.S. stretch back almost half a century. I’ve been a regular visitor since 1969, the year of the moon landing and Woodstock.

Although it is a vast continent, there are ties which bind all Americans from New York’s wealthy Upper East Side to the kind of tumbleweed, one-horse towns familiar from movies like The Last Picture Show.

The proud patriotism which European liberals despise and mock is both genuine and sincere. It cuts across class, religious and racial divides.

Most people in the U.S. still subscribe to the notion of American ‘exceptionalism’: the idea that theirs is a unique nation, forged from revolution; underpinned by a properly functioning democracy and the rule of law; blessed with abundant natural resources, human ingenuity and endeavour; and insulated by geography and military might ...

The American Century may have come crashing to a tragic halt on 9/11, but we must all hope the U.S. soon recovers its sense of purpose and self-belief.

I still have faith in the American capacity for ingenuity, enterprise and reinvention. The idea of American exceptionalism may be battered, but it hasn’t been extinguished.

We need a strong, confident, optimistic, outward-looking America. It’s still the planet’s last best hope. If you doubt that, imagine living in a world dominated by those bastions of liberty, China and Russia. The EU is a basket case, riddled with corruption and duplicity.

The U.S. has always emerged stronger from wars and economic depression. Despite the traumas of the past decade, it still can.

As we prepare to remember those who died on 9/11, let’s pray nothing else bad happens.

Do RTWT.

I agree with Littlejohn entirely, and the something else bad happening would be Obama's reelection, so it's not as if things are outside of our control. The GOP has work to do, and I won't be sitting on the sidelines. When the going gets rough, Americans roll up their sleeves. But sometimes it feels as though only half the nation represents heartland America, which is the repository of our historical goodness. That other half just hates our exceptionalism and wants to destroy all that has held us together for so long.

More on this later, as always ...