Webb here.
Emerging shyly from my corner, while leaving my dunce cap on the stool.
What I commented on about the E S A was my opinion, and as a citizen in a democracy, I have a right to that opinion. I have no plans to retract what I wrote and anyone in the PM Community who wishes to refute what I wrote can do that in The Lounge, can they not?
What was wrong of me was I let my emotions get the better of me, and went off the deep end. It was the wrong forum in which to voice my opinion, and for that I sincerely apologize to one and all. I still believe that if there is ever going to be any real change in attitudes in the E S A the Americans must search their souls and find how to "appeal to the better angles of their nature." (No quip here about whether or not those "better angles" even exist.)
Curiously enough I am ending this Mia Culpa with the surprisingly sensible and correct, in my opinion, quote from an American of the past:
"Every reform was once a private opinion". That from Ralph Waldo Emerson.
All for now. I will quietly return to my stool, in my corner. Until the next time. And we all know that with neighbours like the citizens of the E S A to our south, there will definitely be a next time.
DW
PS: Search the 'Net for the opinion of British author D H Lawrence on American democracy. The year in which Lawrence's opinion was quoted was 1923. Now, knowing that, try to convince yourself that anything has gotten better, attitude wise, for the Americans of today. DW
