Please welcome VietPundit to the Purser's List.
He even brought his own boat!
He closes his "About Me" post with this gem:
"What’s my politics? It’s hard to put a political label on someone nowadays, but I would say I’m a conservative with libertarian leanings on social issues. We'll talk more about the issues later in this blog. One thing you should know, though: I love this country dearly, and I am extremely grateful, beyond words, for everything that she has given me, my family, and millions of other Vietnamese-Americans."
When people ask me why I was once a Marine, I tell them it was payback. You can't choose parents or where you are born, but I scored at the top on both counts. Grateful doesn't begin to cover the emotion.
America works as the result of a shared dream. The Magnificent Experiment manifests itself independent of clan, tribe, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, region, sports affiliation, union membership, or tendency to put anything but branch water in bourbon.
Back when I was visiting all those foreign places on the Gray Ship Tour Line, I always got a variation of the same liberty briefing: "Respect the culture you are about to encounter - they may act or behave in ways that completely surprise you." It was usually delivered by a foreign service type stationed in the area.
Dude - Mr. Embassy man - did you never visit Los Angeles? Or Polish Chicago? Never got a speeding ticket in Macon County, Georgia? There's no country on the planet with more different flavors of people than right here in America. And most of us, if only unconsciously, understand that step one of being an American is allowing elbow room. It costs nothing, and usually keeps things pretty interesting.
Welcome aboard, sir.
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