If not a sacred cow, it should be at least a revered bull. I like StanUzbeck's somewhat balanced comment. Yes, the US does have its faults - sometimes overly jingoistic, and, compared to Europe at least, food is not anywhere near as good (either nutritionally or from the standpoint of taste), people don't know how to relax and enjoy life they way they should, and there tends to be too much of an emphasis on consumerism,to name some. On the other hand, we do have a tendency to be well organized, have decent medical care (better than most other countries), we are not overtaxed (well, I guess that's a pretty relative issue), we generally are a results oriented society, and we do have a sense of community and civic spirit that is envied by many other nations. Until relatively recently, our mass media was pretty truthful and did not pursue political agendas, and our politicians were nowhere near as corrupt or corruptible as those in other countries, but, alas, I fear that both the media and poiticians are beginning to show symptons of internationalization (i.e., they are getting more like the Europeans inasmuch as the truth seems to suffer much more than it did). I'd like to point out, however that those RIA reviewers who just lambaste the US for all of its supposed evils (racism and opression seem to jump to the fore, as well as corporate wrongdoing), this self-flagellation seems in large part unjustified (at least in my view). Racism here is less pronounced (believe it or not) than it is in most other parts of the world - the Europeans certainly are no strangers to it. Reigious intolerance basically does not exist here in the US - more than can be said in many, if not most, other parts of the world. Some Americans go on about how the US opresses others - that's one that could be argued, and I won't go into a long (or even a short) discourse on that. Corporate scandals I can't defend - theyre wrong, but again, there are plenty to go around around the world (I know, it doesn't excuse what happens here, and I don't hold that it does). Overall, those who really have nothing but criticism for the US in a way remind me of repentant Catholics on a guilt trip (calling to mind, and often exaggerating,all of their sins). If that remark doesn't raise a howl of anguish, I'm not sure what would! Anyway, yep, the US is somewhat of a sacred cow, but I do believe that there is room for criticism, even though I think it ought to be balanced.