Open Left

I'm watching a special on Hamilton as I type this.

Well, I paused it.  But, I'm back to it, here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/h...

"I also posit that he was the first true American success story--a poor immigrant, who took full advantage of the opportunities and freedoms in this country to rise from nothing to great prominence, and gave much back in return."

Totally agree.  I've read a biography of him, but the show makes this even clearer for me.  I was just thinking exactly what you wrote.

Of course, in some ways this American mythos can be a force that keeps people down when it's not founded in reality.  (See, e.g.

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/b...

.)  But that sort of optimism, in proper context, is one of the great things about this country.

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by: MattD @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 01:28:06 AM CDT