There has been some mention of the USA's contribution to winning WW2/saving the world from fascism/gratefulness of Western Europe etc.

And of course it's clear that the USA played a major, irreplaceable role in defeating the Axis.

But consider these numbers, courtesy Wikipedia, about the number of lives various Allied countries lost in WW2. (Lots more on that site)

Note particularly the loss as a percentage of the total 1939 population of each country

USA: 1939 population 131,028,000, total war dead 418,500 (military 416,800, civilian 1,700) Percentage of population died 0.32%

Canada: 1939 population 11,267,000, total war dead 45,300 (all military) Percentage of population died 0.40%

Australia: 1939 population 6,998,000, total war dead 40,100 (military 39,400, civilian 700) Percentage of population died 0.57%

UK: 1939 population 47,760,000, total war dead 450,400 (military 382,600, civilian 67,800) Percentage of population died 0.94%

None of these countries were invaded or occupied; other countries that were, either partially (USSR) or completely (USSR) had much higher death rates, particularly civilian.

Remember too that the British Empire fought WW2 for more than 2 years before Pearl Harbor, and stood alone against Germany after the fall of France.

This is not meant to diminish anyone's contribution to victory, only to give a balanced view.

Poco writes: "How back do we need to go before we undo the "destruction" wrought on us by the current pols?"

At least 8 years. 28 years would be right, too.

Poco: "Back to the days when the democrat party was the party of the south? Of the "good ole boys" in white hoods. Oh yeah, things have changed all right, but lets go back to those "good times" before GWB, RR, and all that."

You're forgetting the most important part of that history: It wasn't GWB, RR, nor the GOP who opposed segregation and put an end to it. That was done by other Democrats like LBJ (who, with all his faults, was adamantly pro-civil-rights).

Poco: "Speaking of which, do you recall that famous line "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" made by that famous evil republican(?), George Wallace?"

Yes - I'm old enough to remember when that was current news. I also remember who it was that forced desegregation on his state.

Poco: "You folks from Canadia might bone up on your history too."

I'm not from Canada, though I do admire them and think we here in the USA could learn a lot from Canadians. I'm a red-blooded home-grown all-American, who thinks we can do a lot better than we've been doing for the past 8 years.

And I do know enough history to know you're simply wrong, Poco.

Look up when slavery was officially outlawed in Canada, when Canadian women got the vote, how many Canadians are without health insurance, and what percentage of Canadians are murdered each year. Compare with the same statistics in the USA.

isn't whether the USA can accept/elect a black president.

It's whether we can accept/elect a smart president.

--

Way back in the 1970s, Firesign Theatre did a routine where it was revealed that The President did not really exist at all, but was simply a computer-generated hologram, manipulated by unseen folks who actually ran things. And the people were completely deceived by the whole arrangement.

Except for the hologram part, they got the post-1980 future right.

Obama & Co. are "Worker" who have been trying to convince folks that the Future Fair is not what it seems.

"I think we're all Bozos on this bus"

Yes, Truman had a high school education. But that was at a time when just finishing high school was a very big deal. Millions of Americans born when he was didn't even enter high school, let alone finish it.

More important, remember that HST only became president because FDR died in office in 1945. HST was narrowly elected for a second term in 1948 (recall famous picture of him holding a newspaper with the erroneous headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN").

Others can debate how good a president HST really was, but it should be remembered that, in his time, there were a lot of folks who didn't like him, or the job he did.

HST's presidency ended more than 55 years ago, too.