The wrongheaded American belief that Barack Obama could only happen here. Americans, indulging this month in our national pastime of unparalleled exceptionalism, need to rejoin the reality-based community. Pride is one thing. But telling ourselves that the Obama story could only happen in our country, in our time? That's hooey.
I am a student of history and have found myself at some of recent history's events like the first Gulf war, the reunification of Germany and the Khobar Towers bombing. That has given me a perspective of historical events and how they are similar to past history.I find fascinating how human gatherings become villages, how villages become societies, how societies become civilizations, how civilizations become empires and how empires drive history..