Generally speaking, Americans tend to fall into one of two camps when thinking of US history:
- it's the best, we're a goddam city on a hill, a shining light to all nations
- it's one composed of murder and genocide and is FUBAR

Both irritate the hell outta me.

The US is made up of humans, so it's the history of humans. As humans, we fuck up. Fairly regularly. We also can be inspired to acts of self sacrifice and courage. So it is with our 244 years of national history. There are shining moments to hang on to. And deplorable lows.

The critical thing is to admit to *both.* We have a past that is both tragic and inspiring. The key is to learn from the tragic, prevent it from happening again, and keep our course fixed on our guiding principles. Only with eyes wide open can we ever improve as a nation

These thoughts brought to you by the boredom inspired by clicking through some online course that I have to take to get access to some system that will perennially freeze up for me, but maybe will sometimes work and allow me to have more access to data

The American dream