American Views Abroad

....So America is not the secure fortress we grew up imaging. What protects us is what has protected us for 230 years: our magnificent isolation. After the disasters of the 20th century, Europe put nationalism aside and adopted civilization, but we have oceans on either side, so if the president turns out to be a shallow, jingoistic fool with a small, rigid agenda and little knowledge of the world, we expect to survive it somehow. Life goes on. It's hard for Americans to visualize the collapse of our country. It's as unthinkable as one's own demise.

www.commondreams.org/views06/0907-26.htm