in the middle of the night

In the midst of all the dreary economic news and tales of scandal, we should also remember that most things in America still work pretty well.

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“This is a good time to remember who we are…. We are the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, the leading industrial power of the world, and the wealthiest nation in the world…. We are the oldest continuing democracy in the world, operating, since March 4, 1789, under a vibrant and enduring constitution that was formed by geniuses and is revered, still, coast to coast. We don’t make refugees; we admit them. When the rich of the world get sick, they come here to be treated, and when their children come of age, they send them here to our universities. We have a supple political system open to reform, and a wildly diverse culture that has moments of stress but plenty of give.

…while terrible challenges face us—improving a sick public education system, ending the easy-money culture, rebuilding the economy—we are building from an extraordinary, brilliant and enduring base.”

- Peggy Noonan, Who We (Still) Are, WSJ, 12/20/08, p. A15