yeah, I read it this morning, it's really moving and beautiful. thankfully, for all the jingo fuckheads who just use the "land of opportunity" thing to bash on their heads anybody who even dares to think that maybe, just maybe, other ways of life deserve as much respect and dignity as the American one, well, all those fuckers notwithstanding, there is a very real and still present kernel of truth at the heart of all the self-congratulation.
for so many people the USA still is a land of opportunity, and for many others a (relatively) safe haven from oppression. the USA is the beautiful invention of wise, enlightened men* -- stories like this one make exactly that point. grazie giovanni for the post.


*(most of them slave owners, yeah, OK, fuck you)

America, that land that never was, yet must be - Langston Hughes

(true, we've never come close to living our ideals, but I think we've got the right ones. There's a Mitch Ryder song called "Fun City" about Detroit, where he sings 'I'm sick of all the crap I gotta take in this town, if I didn't love it, I'd burn it to the ground." I know how ya feel, Mitch)

Awesome story. I wish more American citizens took their citizenship as seriously as naturalized citizens do.