"He used to talk about the letter he received from a man who said, ''You can go and live in Turkey, but you can't become Turkish. You can go and live in Japan, but you can't become Japanese. You can go to live in Germany or France, but you can't become German or French.'' But the man said that anyone from any corner of the world could come to America and become an American."

Arnold on Reagan. What a great way of describing America's place in the world. And it's true. Despite all the race-baiting, and the supposed anti-Muslim angst in the country, if you come here from anywhere and are willing to accept our laws (and in some places that pander to illegal immigrants, you don't even have to respect our laws), you can be as American as anyone. I work with a number of people who were born elsewhere and don't even speak very good English, but they are trying to learn, and I don't think of them as foreigners at all, merely as Americans in training.