President Obama thinks everyone wants to be the USA

I think President Obama may have been trying to trump the Right’s silly claims that he never praises his country’s supposed “exceptionalism” when he said this at a Colorado campaign rally yesterday:

"...[W]e’ve still got the best workers in the world. We’ve got the best entrepreneurs in the world. We’ve got the best scientists and researchers in the world, the best colleges, and the best universities in the world," he said at a campaign rally in Colorado. "We’re still a young nation, and we’ve got the greatest diversity of talent and ingenuity, and people want to come here from every corner of the globe.

"So no matter what the naysayers tell us, no matter how dark the other side tries to make things look, the fact is there is not another country on earth that would not gladly trade places with the United States of America.”

Oh really? Well, speaking as a Canadian, all I need is a quick glance at global rankings for well-being and happiness, not to mention crime and governmental corruption, and also education and healthcare, and, well … no thanks.

Honestly, one of the reasons the rest of the world pays so much attention to the U.S. is because so much entertaining weirdness happens there (seriously, Michele Bachmann, people), and not because we’re all just green with envy. Believe me, barely a day goes by without me hearing something that makes me thank my lucky stars I was born north of the 49^th parallel north. (Well, 45^th, to be pedantic about it.)

(via @ggreenwald)

Tags: United States of American • USA • Barack Obama • American exceptionalism