What Makes America The Greatest Country in The World?

I am a big Aaron Sorkin fan, enjoying most of the stuff he puts out there, including the opening scene from his HBO series, "The Newsroom," where "sorority girl" asked him the above question.  In fact, my wife Tracy and I saw Sorkin's production of, "To Kill a Mockingbird" on Broadway a few months ago.  Loved it.  But even though Jeff Daniels was great as Atticus Finch, it was Celia Keenan-Bolger who stole the stage as Scout.

Living in the age of identity politics today means not only people separating themselves out due to certain political ideologies, but innocent bystanders being lumped into those groups based on what party they belong to.  Or where they live.  Don't believe me?  Try driving a car with California plates in Idaho, or some other state where folks believe California residency means alignment with Gavin Newsom. Yeah, I am a conservative, but note that my favorite show was "The West Wing." 

Tracy and I saw Brandi Carlile three times in the past few years and absolutely love her music; and actually, we really like her as well. If there is anyone on the opposite side of the political spectrum from me, it is Brandi Carlile.  But after the show below, (how 'bout them seats!) where she was interviewed at the Grammy Museum before for about 30 minutes, and hearing her sing songs like, "By The Way, I Forgive You," "The Mother," and "Fulton County Jane," it became clear that despite our differences, there is much more we have in common than not.  But you wouldn't know that if you believe the media.     

So what makes America great?  Check out the below picture of a hard fought tilt on the pitch last weekend.  Those little 5 year olds had their coaches on the field coaching, substituting players in, officiating, tying shoelaces, high fiving, encouraging kids get up to keep playing after falling, and creating an atmosphere where the kids enjoyed the heck out of the game.  My daughter Courtney is in the black, and she is coaching her #2 while pregnant with #5.  The opposing coach also had a bun cookin', and she had an injured leg, so she limped around the field.

This sort of thing is replicated all over the country, with moms and dads and others getting off work early, going to meetings, hosting practices, and creating sunshine.  I could not help but think that America's greatness is related to what I saw on Saturday.

Of course, I may be just a dad proud of his little girl coaching her little girl, but I am ok with that bias.