>I have English, Irish, German, French-Canadian, and American Indian blood that I know about. (My grandfather's grandmother was said to be a full blooded Penobscot, although that is disputed). There is another word for it -- American. This is why my blood boils when people b***h about Hispanics, Arabs, and so on. Other than Native Americans, we all came here from somewhere else. Immigration is the history of this country. And I think without exception every new group has been subjected to discrimination. Germans, Irish, Italians, Greeks, Jews, Asians, on and on and on, were all discriminated against. Blacks, needless to say, who came here less willingly than the others. "They won't assimilate," people said. "They keep their old ways." Guess what? They did assimilate. I have some ongoing issues with the U.S. government, we're too damned powerful, but the American people never fail to inspire me, even those I disagree with. This is the most audacious experiment in democracy in world history. Don't say Greece, even though they more or less invented it. Demos kratos. They were homogeneous. We are not. We are a roaring cacophony of competing interests and viewpoints.
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>I am proud to live in a country with a black President. I am proud to live in (near) Chicago, which has a new mayor who was born in Israel. Not because they are black or Jewish per se, because it proves anyone can make it here. Your birth is not your destiny. Brains and drive will take you anywhere.
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>Not sure how much you know about Rahm Emanuel but he is an interesting character. He was a key aide to Bill Clinton, famous for his profane tirades. Supposedly he once stabbed a steak knife into a restaurant table when when the name of an opponent came up. "Dead! Dead! Dead!" One of his brothers is a doctor and the other one is a Hollywood agent who is the basis of a character on "Entourage." It won't be boring. The Daley years passed into a coma years ago so we can use a breath of fresh air.

Yeah, I'm familiar with Rohm, but I don't think y'all deserve him, even if y'all are a bunch of yankees! lol I think if he had done the things I've heard of down here, he would have ended up missing. Knowing what I know about the mob, if he isn't a part of them, he must be invisible when he wants to be. We've had a black mayor here in Memphis for decades, NBD. I don't look at skin. Experience has taught me that "good old boys" come in every flavor. Obama is one, and so is Rahm. God I miss Ronald Reagan. But, if you think about it, those kind don't come around but every few generations.