It is nearly July 4th, and I think we should take a look at one of the things that prove that our nation is the greatest in the world. Our country produces the best scientists and engineers in the world, in copious amounts... and a lucky few of them made the two rovers that we follow so avidly...

Think about it- we sent two mobile rovers to a planet that we knew so little about, a planet that had such a high 'death rate' for missions... both rovers had a flawless landing and deployment... The rovers were designed here for an alien environment... fine dust, nearly nonexistant atmosphere, nearly unknown terrain, radiation, they were solar powered on a planet that gets less light from the sun than earth. Oh and they were supposed to drive around this alien planet for 90 days....

The rovers are still going on flawlessly well beyond their planned lifetime, sending us more data than all previous missions to mars combined- data that answers long asked questions- they have shown us pictures that are breath taking... Ours is the only country on the planet that could have done this, the USA has, by far, done more to bring the world to the 21st century than all other nations combined- our investment in research and technology has dwarfed that of other nations and the entire world has benifited... The US is the best thing that has ever happened to humanity... and NO that is NOT a patriotic exaggeration... We unleashed democracy on the world, and we have been pulling humanity forward for the past century and a half...

Life saving drugs? We developed the vast majority... Advances in communication? Ditto... Tech that makes life more comfortable? ditto... knowledge about the universe? NAME ONE OTHER COUNTRY that has done one tenth what the US has done to advance humanity's knowledge of the universe - from the subatomic to the cosmological scale-
The only humans to walk on the moon wer americans transported by american technology...
Worldwide we are aknowledged as THE place to go for education in technical fields... so much so that we are being blamed for the 'brain drain' of other countries- they send us their best minds for education and many choose to stay here- this is the one international offense america has done that I am proud of...

Name ONE country that has such a diversity of cultures... this diversity in viewpoints also helps us in our sciences... This is a fact that I have observed many times- I knew a turkish student that for some reason was able to see quantum physics as 'just common sense' (I got an A in most of my quantum physics classes, but this guy was so beyond me that it was creepy- it was all intuitive to him...)

Don't get me wrong- we have our flaws- starting wars without justification is just one... but the above makes me proud - The world would be a MUCH more unpleasant, and primative place. There is a lot of ill will against us in the world- some of it is jealousy, some of it is due tour arrogant abuse of our power... but even our detractors must admit that their lives are better because of the USA... Many millions are alive today because of what we have done...

So, when I criticize our nations actions, keep in mind I think we are the greatest nation that has ever existed- I only criticize when I think we are betraying that greatness... I honestly think the US is the best hope for all humanity...

END OF RAMBLE