The US has always been a conglomeration of 'radically different cultures." That is one of our strengths, while for many nations it is indeed a source of weakness. Why? Because of the unique form of governance we possess and the shared belief that to some degree all of those radically different cultures have in that system. Most countries don't have that.

This is what Ray misses as well with his condemnation of our politicians and political structures. Fortunately for America and Americans we are possessed of a system of governance we can believe in and that we believe we possess reasonable control over, even when, especially when, we find little to believe in in the politicians who actually man the system.

While I believe our founders intended the Executive to be far less powerful than under the current system; and the Congress to be far more powerful than under the current system, they intended all to be answerable to an armed and informed populace that felt itself free to express its concerns in print, or in large gatherings, and with the full trust that their vote would come as scheduled and count. It makes for a messy, inefficient system, constantly tripping over various "checks and balances." Nowhere near as efficient as found in places where the populace is largely left out of the equation, or where one small part of government is allowed to dominate over the rest.

Personally I take great comfort in the inefficiency. Because efficiency of government is the enemy of stability of that which is governed. We are learning this Soooooo slowly in Afghanistan, where we swooped in and put in place all manner of highly efficient systems, such as the outrageous (to Afghans and foreigners alike) amount of power vested in the President under their current constitution. Such as US controlled and ran CT operations and prisons. Very efficient, yet horribly destructive of the very stability used to rationalize both. The examples go on and on.

Embrace messy politics. Embrace inefficient COIN that lends to host nation legitimacy and sovereignty rather than robbing from the same. From such inefficiency comes stability. It's a crazy world. Finding that balance of just enough control to keep the country on the road, that's the trick.