America behaves as badly as anyone else, using the excuse "they made us do it". And since America has more power, it is the best bully.

My point is that Americans are protected from, forget and ignore knowledge of it's sins. How many people believe Ollie North and the CIA distributed cocaine to American users to finance their illegal and unconstitutional killing of people in Central America? None, heads in the sand. Yet it's painfully true.

Americans resent people like me, have to try to corner me into calling it the Great Satan because I point out we have a very dark side which is ignored.

We have done enormously wonderful things. Our improvement in civil rights is super, we have cut back on cigarette smoking, we treated the Japanese and Germans after WWII comparatively well, and many others. And we spend incredible amounts on the military with no credible threat. For what reason? To protect American interests! What American interests? So we can have cheap gas?

Nope, it's the fact that Americans believe the US IS Norman Rockwell and Reader's Digest and doesn't acknowledge the dark side at all, except to say "they made me do it". How much time did Calley get for Mi Lai? How much time in the slam for the premeditated murder of over 200 civilians? Guess.

That's my issue. But I suppose people would feel better if I said that Head Start feeds breakfast to poor people and isn't that wonderful without adding that the whole program costs less than one useless bomber. And is constantly threatened by the right wing. (B-2 bomber - 737 million EACH in 1997 dollars. EACH.) Shouldn't have added that, should I?! Because the US does give a free breakfast to some kids. Which is a good thing.

Nope. The US is good, AND there is a dark, dark side. Which Americans can't see in a Norman Rockwell painting or Reader's Digest magazine, and therefore doesn't exist for them.