It always amuses me when we hear "that's not who we are as a nation"

[paleotn]

20. Who are "we" anyway? In reality, we're a conglomeration of different peoples....

tied together by a common language. I use to add a basic set of common ideas to that, but roughly 30% of "we" have ditched the old, American ethos and opted for an unholy amalgam of theocracy and fascism. Mainly because they fear loosing control of everything to other segments of "we." "Who we are as a nation" really depends on who you're talking to. Not since the Civil War have the differences between "who we are" been greater. Maybe even worse than the Civil War. We're at an inflection point in the experiment, with the final outcome still much in doubt.

Sometimes I hope our experiment in self governance survives. Other times I feel that a divorce is the best outcome, Vlad Putin's fantasy be damned.