Here is the poem Caroline Kennedy read with Stephan Colbert some time ago.

I like Americans[1,2]

By Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1924

You may say what you will, they are the nicest people in the world.

They sleep with their windows open.

Their bathtubs are never dry.

They are not grown up yet. They still believe in Santa Claus.

They are terribly in earnest.

But they laugh at everything

I like Americans.

They give the matches free

I like Americans.

They are the only men in the world, the sight of whom in their shirt-sleeves is not rumpled, embryonic and agonizing

I like Americans.

They carry such pretty umbrellas.

The Avenue de l’Opera on a rainy day is just an avenue on a rainy day.

But Fifth Avenue on a rainy day is an old-fashioned garden under a shower

They are always rocking the boat.

I like Americans.

They either shoot the whole nickel, or give up the bones.

You may say what you will, they are the nicest people in the world.

http://cameraluc.blogspot.com/2011/04/i ... icans.html

I like Americans for their sense of mirth as evidenced by

http://news.yahoo.com/not-just-science- ... 57853.html

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (AP) — Astronomers say a bit of science fiction is now reality. They've spotted a planet orbiting two suns.

They are calling the new planet Tatooine after the fictional body in the "Star Wars" films that boasts a double sunset."

Okay, they are from California but, let's face it - what other national would do such a thing.

I like Americans, warts and all.

Moi

Add your likes. Ok.

I like your posts, but I don't have a lot of time to be here for a while. I will make it when I can...

Your friend and mine...

Oo are zeez Americans?

A good question, actually. The American identity has continually been reinvented. Every generation since its founding, America has changed with new waves of immigration. The "old" folks who had been here a brief while despaired of the new arrivals who, they were sure, would ruin it all. How comical now to see the grandchildren of immigrants lock their doors because "those people" have arrived, spoiling things.

So who are Americans? I think we're people who believe in second chances and fresh beginnings. We're terrible conformists and tolerant of diversity, both at the same time. We cherish liberty, and like to be told what to do. We're emotional people who've given more sway to reason than other peoples. We're pragmatic materialists and moral zealots. We're egalitarians who believe we're better than those around us. We're proudly righteous but we'll do most anything for a buck. We pursue peace aggressively and by armed force.

We're strong enough to contain paradoxes.

Here's a poem by Carl Sandburg called "Chicago." He wrote it about that city, but I've always thought it fitted our whole country.

HOG Butcher for the World,

Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,

Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;

Stormy, husky, brawling,

City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I

have seen your painted women under the gas lamps

luring the farm boys.

And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it

is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to

kill again.

And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the

faces of women and children I have seen the marks

of wanton hunger.

And having answered so I turn once more to those who

sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer

and say to them:

Come and show me another city with lifted head singing

so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on

job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the

little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning

as a savage pitted against the wilderness,

Bareheaded,

Shoveling,

Wrecking,

Planning,

Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with

white teeth,

Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young

man laughs,

Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has

never lost a battle,

Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.

and under his ribs the heart of the people,

Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of

Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog

Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with

Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Please keep in mind in this post that my comments is based on being one of the small percentage of people who not only survive, but thrive in other lands and cultures. I don't mean that as good or bad, just that it tints the outlook in ways that other people might not agree with. Having said that, here goes. Americans and Canadians are interchangeable, aside from the occassional 'eh.' Aussies individually are either the absolute greatest or the biggest blowhard bullying assholes you will find.

The rest of the world has this innate cynical sense of things.

My take is a big difference is that we come from a northern Europpean political tradition. Right or wrong, our ancestors came to stay. We elect our officials from among ourselves and look to them to represent our interests. We want to be free to be us.

The rest of the world is based either on family heritage, fighting ability or money. Example - the King of Spain granted huge tracts to a few people who paid for that by selling the rights to do things (like collect taxes or be law enforcement) to the highest bidder who paid for their investment by subbing out to the highest bidders who in turn . . . . . The end result is that their world works by paying cops, politicians, etc. courtesy of their Spanish heritage.

When presented with something, in every culture and race there are a certain number of people who are genetically programmed to ask 'Why?' and some programmed to ask 'Why not?' The northern European tradition better allows the 'why not?' crowd to develop their ideas and abilities instead of hiding it under a facade of cynicism. The size of our countries and the size of our economies certainly allows us more reach than most other countries have.

I tell everyone that I am just me and may not accurately reflect other individual Americans or Americans as a country. Having said that, it is my take that people are usually indifferent or favorably inclined to Americans. One of my more interesting stints was a couple of months with desert bedouins in an Arab country. I did not try to hide being American in either dress or in any way. During that time there were two people who were pissy about me being American. One was a cop at a check point, but the cop right behind him reached past the pissy one to shake my hand for being American. The other was a convenience store clerk. The proper question to ask about that experience is whether the occassional pissy cop or convenience store clerk exist only in that country or exist worldwide. I feel like I was treated better on the whole for being American than an Arab would be treated in the United States. Having said that, there is always the cautionary statement that there is a teeny tiny percentage of people everywhere who will kill others because they are White, Black, Muslim, Christian or whatever. Thankfully I have not been in that situation, but it does happen. I worry more about situational awareness while driving than that some fruitcake will ruin my day.