that it's impossible not to think, 'but under Trump, the US...'
In some senses, it's nice to see the pulpit isn't there any more. I do hope the annoying self-congratulation disappears. The US ought to strive for greatness, but it should never consider itself leader of the free world [defining everyone else as followers], the greatest country on earth [defining all other countries as less great] etc. The senate never was the world's greatest deliberative body any more than the world series is anything but an American-only sporting event. The US isn't the world's oldest democracy (except by self-serving definitions). It isn't a shining city on a hill, or a beacon for the whole world. It isn't exceptional. It faces the same issues all countries do.
It is a country like other ones. It is not better, nor is it worse than many others. Like every country, it makes mistakes. But it also has its own charms and its own character. It does some wonderful things. Let them all be what they are, without obnoxious comparisons or boastfulness.
It will make America so much greater and more appealing if it can wait for praise from others instead of praising itself. It isn't an insult to say America is normal. It's a sort of welcome. To the lot of humanity. To the human condition. To human hopes and desires. To dharma.
Trump was the embodiment of the America that wants retirement. Time to retire it and to aim to become "the humblest country on earth"! Now that would be a great thing.
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