Small universe

For many across the country this was not a good day. In fact, if you said to them: "Happy 4th of July!", they might smack you upside the head-if they had enough energy left over from coping with record heat without power, air conditioning or fans while they dig their belongings out from underneath fallen trees. In their small universe, things suck beyond belief. Yet, when you see them interviewed on television, they say things like" Oh it can always get worse, at least we have food" or "we're all keeping an eye out in the neighborhood for people who need extra help."

That's the spirit of the country I whose birthday I want to celebrate, not this pathetic pre-election, bickering one which will, in all likelihood, continue after the election.

Warts and all, still a pretty darn fabulous place to live if you can avoid all the crap fast food and ignore the fact that a lot of countries hate our guts because of past administrations' foreign policies.

Happy Birthday America, you're alright.

The Scottish innovations series continues tomorrow, it didn't seem patriotic to talk about how awesome Scotland is on America's birthday, in case she was sensitive about that sort of thing.