Historically, the term "American" was used to denote residents of the British colonies in North America, prior to the existence of the United States, and prior to the British conquest of the French colonies. After the Battle of Quebec, the term "American" continued to refer only to those colonies originally settled by the British, precisely those colonies which rebelled in 1776.

So there is, in fact, a sound historical argument that it's appropriate for English-language usage of the term "American" to refer to the United States of America.

This has no bearing on the ahistorical argument from logical consistency, but I bet we can distract those people with spelling reform long enough to get our point across.

Indeed. And don't forget those unenlightened people who call themselves "Columbians". You never know if they're referring to the old name for the USA or British Columbia in Canada. Hrm, I think there's a place down south of the equator, too.

And the miserable South Africans! Do they think they're the only people who live in the lower half of Africa? And those who call themselves Georgians! Which Georgia do they come from? And Dominicans! From the Dominican Republic or Dominia?

And then there's the issue of people from the isle of Lesbos!

So let me get this straight: Bush came in and stole your pension, forced the airlines to furlough, and told the HR departments of the airlines to cut salaries? Are you liberals such simpletons? The blame Bush first, and only Bush, routine is growing wearisome. Two wars, 9/11, piss-poor business models, terrible management, and a democratic congress had nothing to do with it, it was Bush's fault! But let me guess, Obama can ride in and save the day -- he'll tax the airlines higher and force them to create more jobs with less, it will be wonderful!

You libs are out to lunch, and so is Patrick and Donatelli . . .

Patrick, do you not see the irony in your complaint that "Americans" are insular and unworldly (from the previous column) and your insistence that "American" is understood the world over to refer to a US citizen???

"American" is indeed a general term that accurately refers to all 3 Americas (north, central and south). If someone told me they were "European" or "Asian" or "African" (terms that I believe are commonly in use today), I would have some rather non-specific information on their country of origin; and so it is with the term "American." Please consider adopting a more enlightened stance on this topic and use a more specific adjective (such as US) or noun (US citizen) in your writing. Refusing to do so makes you come across as hardheaded and ignorant, and I don't believe you are either of those things.

Thanks for the great column! I'll be flying over Thanksgiving (crosses fingers...), wish me luck.

They are told flat out to vote for Republicans the day they show up to be scream at by some lifer who wants to guarantee his retirement, housing allowance, subsidized food, swimming pools, tennis courts, base movie theaters, subsidized shopping for electronis at the commissary, and other garden variety assorted goodies that taxpayers shell out without blinking to the men and women who not only vote against their own intersts, but way too often, the rest of the country's too.

After all, somebody has to pay for those big military toys and somebody has to start a war to see if they work and to justify the billions.

because you can drink our water, it's pretty safe for someone who doesn't speak English, and we seldom bomb cafes and other public places where tourists gather.

Regarding the reader's post about cabotage and bailouts: Contrary to popular belief, the airlines did NOT receive bailouts after September 11th. They were granted loans, most of which were never taken up.

Patrick Smith

Patric wrote: "... our continent's geography, bookended by a pair of large oceans, makes long-distance travel difficult."

Have you heard of that new invention, the "airplane", that should allow people to travel far distances without being inconvenienced by either oceans or difficult terrain?

:)

as someone who has stopped flying. We just drove 4,000 mi. round trip rather than flying (for less than the equivalent airline fare/parking/rental car/hotel). Less stress/less irritation.

Your friend needs serious help. Every Republican president has increased the size of government and the level of debt. In the case of The Current Occupant, he's doubled the debt. Also, if he really is a Libertarian, he's throwing away his vote if votes Republican because he thinks they'll win. You throw away your vote if (1) you don't vote, or (2) if you don't vote your beliefs.

Few people know where the appellation for Jerry Brown as Governor Moonbeam comes from and, if they did, I think they would use it less derisively.

Jerry foresaw a huge explosion in telecommunications coming and wanted to prepare California for it. As governor, he tried to pass legislation to establish a communications satellite for California state and local government use. This is back in the time when few people had more than one phone line or even more than two extensions in their home. Fax machines were rare and exotic. Pagers were used by doctors and drug dealers. Car phone were expensive and didn't work all that well. Mike Royko of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote a scathing column ridiculing such a plan and laughed at the idea of bureaucrats needing more than one phone line. In the article, he called Jerry Brown Governor Moonbeam for his silly proposal.

Of course, there was an explosion in telecommunications. The satellite would have been a huge savings for the state. It would have helped with everything from faxes to Internet connections. It was all not to be, in part due to Royko's ridicule. Royko himself recognized his error and later wrote a column apologizing, but the name had stuck by then.

Governor Moonbeam was farsighted, practical, and techno-savvy, not some hazy-crazy idealist.

Patrick,

The current ban on cabotage also costs jobs. See the current DHL. As you may know DHL is a German company, and a few years ago they purchased Airborne, and American company. Because DHL is German owned, technically, DHL could not operate the Airborne airline.

While DHL has many others issues, the fact that they can't control their own airfrieght airline is one of the reasons they are scaling back so far on the domestic market. They've tried to work deals out using the UPS airline.

Just reminding you that cabatoge rules affect industries other than passenger travel.