The things we should thank America for

[Konovalov]

I read this excellent opinion piece from a newspaper back home that I thought I'd share here:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...1-7583,00.html

* Freedom of speech: Americans didn't invent it, but they embrace it more than any nation on earth. At every level of US society, it is empowering.
* Freedom of inquiry: It brought down one president (Nixon), nearly got another (Clinton) and remains the most important element of the checks and balances a decent democracy needs in order to improve itself.
* Cultural and religious tolerance: The US is truly the world's great melting pot. Just take a trip on the New York subway. It's not uncommon to hear five or six different languages spoken in one short journey. And guess what? Nobody cares. For religion, try a Mormon running for president. Could it happen anywhere else?
* Baseball: An acquired taste, but a game of wonderful nuance and sublime skill that is a worthy rival of cricket. One of life's great joys is a sunny afternoon at Yankee Stadium - with a couple of beers, of course.
* The Marshall Plan: Unlike the Bush-Cheney cock-up in Iraq, this was a horses-for-courses foreign policy founded in common sense. The result is the thriving Europe we see today.
* Muhammad Ali: Fighter, poet, patriot and one of the inspiring figures of modern history. "Ain't no Viet Cong ever called me ******," he said. Did anyone in the 20th century make a more profound observation?

Anything else that could be added to the above?

So thank you America and also happy Thanksgiving Day to all the Americans on this board for tomorrow. Thought I'd get in a day early.