The USA remains the sole superpower at this moment in time. Looking back on history, I don't remember a whole lot of "America Sucks" sentiment before WW2, other than from countries we were fighting at the time. But once we were on top, yes, we've been like the guest of honor at an international roast...everyone bitches and moans about winners and rich people. "Damned Americans have too much power and money and freedom." Well, fine. Let them complain. Better to take the high road and continue to behave in the way Gordon Sinclair so admired.

We are a nation of immigrants. Currently, many of us also consider the rising flood of immigrants to be enemies of the nation. And Brian has the excellent point, bolstered by historical examples, that unabated immigration problems often lead to the downfalls of such nations. The laws we pass and uphold will decide the immigration problem, probably much more than who is elected president. If you've ever played the game Risk, you grasp the futility of building a wall around the USA. Better to enforce the law and close the loopholes. This will be more the work of legislature than of a president...and we can play individual roles in that process in our home towns by actively involving ourselves in the civic process of politics.

Consider this as we worry about our side winning or losing the next presidential election: the best thing the USA has ever done for itself was to draft a very forward-thinking Constitution. The amendment process is very, very difficult to achieve...and that is a Good Thing. So, every time we have a political sea change, when a Carter replaces a Ford, when a Reagan replaces a Carter, when a Clinton replaces a Bush...that very different set of opinions is still beholden to the constitution.

That's our safety net. That's why I wouldn't freak out and move to another country like staunch members of one side always seem to declare they will do should the crazy other side win the next election...like little kids taking their ball away and refusing to play anymore... It's the constitution. It's the trunk of the tree that allows the branches to sway this way and that.

But beware of people who passionately wish to change that constitution, or to buck it out of fear and the need for self-protection. That's the cowardly beginning of an untimely end.

http://www.soundclick.com/MarkKaufman