The world as seen by Republicans, in a land of myth and amnesia

US conservatives are increasingly keen to interpret their country's woes primarily in terms of threats from abroad

Gary Younge
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 July 2012 15.30 EDT

The dramatic turning point in the career of Will McAvoy, the once inoffensive network anchor in the new hit drama The Newsroom, comes when he's asked to explain why America is the best country in the world.

McAvoy tries to dodge the question. But when pushed he sheds his milquetoast persona to deliver a tirade.

"There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world," he yells at a stunned audience. "We're seventh in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality [and] third in median household income … When you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about – Yosemite?"

In melancholic tones McAvoy then opines: "We sure used to be," before going on to mourn the loss of the nation's moral purpose, innovative prowess and consensual possibilities.

(More here.)