The United States of America is the greatest nation on earth.  Not only the greatest nation presently on earth, but the greatest nation ever to appear on earth.

Is that an arrogant statement or a confident one?

I think it’s a confident statement, and hugely necessary.  How can a people be great if they don’t believe in their greatness?  How can a nation be great if it’s citizens don’t believe in it’s greatness?

If someone from Germany tells me to my face they are the greatest nation, while I might disagree, I would respect their confidence and conviction.  My reply would be simple.  “How is your nation the greatest?”  It’s not all about words, it’s also about deeds.  Put your money where your mouth is, as we say in America.

These days in the US it seems like we have more naysayers than we do even overseas.  Overseas I am likely to debate someone as to why my nation is the greatest, but in the US I’m more likely to have to  debate over whether or not we are the worst nation ever to exist.

We have a big problem in that there are many many Americans who hate America.  They hate that we are powerful and that we are influential.  They want an America that is “humble” and “knows it’s place.”

I would argue that this is already true.

We are humble, and we do know our place.  We generally temper our strength, while at the same time we know we’re strong.  After 9/11, we didn’t re-institute the draft and go to war with every Muslim nation.  Instead, we went after al Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan and finished the job in Iraq that we should have finished back in 1991.

If you know your history, then you’ll remember that, after WWII, we were the most powerful nation on earth by far.  While most of Europe and Asia lay in ruins, the US was on a roll both economically and militarily.  We controlled the seas with our ships, the air with our planes, and our troops were all over the world.  We had 16 million men under arms by the end of WWII.  And we were the only nation with the atom bomb.

So did the US take the next logical step and take control over the shattered nations of the earth?  No.

Instead, we brought our troops home, helped rebuild Europe and Asia, and  got back to the business of democracy and prosperity.  The word “meek” is defined as “strength under control.”  After WWII, and for ever decade since, we have demonstrated that we are indeed a meek, if misunderstood, nation.

Yet not a perfect one.

If I told you that you use only about 20% of your brain, would you conclude that it’s worthless and want to get rid of it?  If your leg were only about 50% functional, would you cut it off?

So the United States is not perfect.  You could argue that we’re not even close.  I would agree with that argument.

But we are still the greatest.  We have a long way to go, but we’re closer now than we were when 100 years ago.

We’re freer, wealthier, more powerful, and more influential than ever.  Even with an economy that is in somewhat of a downturn, the world still looks to the US for leadership.

Not perfect, but still the greatest nation.

In November of this year we will select a new president to lead this greatest of nations.  While I believe both candidates can lead, I also believe that one of them is more ready to lead.

While I believe that Senator Obama is a great man and a great candidate, I think that Senator McCain is ready for the job.  Senator Obama is hoping to become president on the force of his charisma, Senator McCain hopes to become president on the force of his experience.

Senator Obama wants us to have faith in him, Senator McCain wants us to have confidence in him.  That’s the kicker for me.

My faith is in God only.  My confidence is in McCain.

On my way to work this morning (I ride a bus between Annapolis and DC every morning), Julie IM’d me with this cute little story regarding my youngest daughter, Marleigh, who is 5-years-old:

Marleigh is funny….she asked me how much Mikaela’s baby bed was….so i verified that she was asking about the crib. I told her $300-$400 and she put her hand up to her mouth (like, “oh, no”) and I asked her what was wrong….she said, “I was just wondering what if I changed my mind and wanted to have babies” I told her not to worry that we would buy her a crib—she was happy with that.

You see, she has been insistent that she was never going to get married and we have been always replied with an answer like, “that will be your choice honey.”  What made her suddenly think about marriage, babies, and cribs, I have NO idea.

Personally, my plan once the girls get to be dating age — which I’m thinking will be age 24 or 25 –  is to buy a shotgun and put it in a glass case with a little sign that says “Break In Case of Boyfriend.”  There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to be “Jack Byrnes” crazy.  Byrnes is the father played by Robert De Niro in “Meet The Parents.”  You know, the one who gives Focker (Ben Stiller) the lie detector test and has his friends at the CIA run a background check?

That will be me.  You know, background checks are not that expensive these days.