♫ America, America ♫

There is nothing more motivated than the American immigrant. No one more possessed of the American dream, no one more appreciative of the liberties we take for granted. They are grateful and take great pride in their achievements no matter how minor.
There is no one more fiercely protective of America, more devoted to the idea of freedom, more focused on success than they are...
They love everything about America that we find fault in, from the fact that we can say anything we want about The United States, including about our leaders, without fear of being arrested (most of the time....The Bush administration bordered that, but I digress) to the fact that we can own HUGE PLOTS OF LAND, and be allowed to live anywhere we want.
All of us can vote, ALL OF US. Not just a few of us and ALL of us can vote without being bullied into voting differently than our opinion.
And there are more freedoms than this - this is just a few.
According to a lot of nations, we live in the democratic ideal. I know a lot of us don't believe that of ourselves but people in other countries really do see us that way. That's why when something in our government fails or shows signs of corruption, that's why they are so disappointed in us and look at you and I, not our leaders, but you and I as the bad guys.
You merely need to be around them, and hear their stories, or travel to another country to realize, we live somewhere amazing.
And if you didn't love The United States before that, you will love it afterward....

And if you do go to another country....Be aware, no one makes a hamburger like we do. Hot dogs and hamburgers are truly American as is our version of Pizza.

It's all true.

I guess what I'm getting at is that we all need to, from time to time, see our country through the eyes of an immigrant. It really is one of the few ways to really appreciate what we were merely born into, and because of that we don't appreciate the way we should. This place and what it stands for is what our grandparents and great grandparents gave up home and hearth to give us.
And sometimes it takes looking back at what they left to appreciate what we have.