We forgive. We hate.
They are two polarizing traits that distinguish humans from all other species.
In America, we are exceptional at both, and that is the paradox in “The Land of Dreams.”
We watch news footage of kangaroo leadership and human atrocities in far-flung places and convince ourselves that we are an advanced and reasoned society as we sign checks to the needy, walk racetracks for cancer, build homes for the poor and so on.
All of it, though, conceals an ugly American truth – like a waterway masking a nasty shore.
We are the world’s best at punishment.