QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 7:01 P.M. ET:  We've written before that some of the most astute observations about American politics are being by British reporters.  There was a bit of a lull for some months, but I've noticed that the Brit scribes are sharpening their pencils once more.  Consider, and ponder, this, from Janet Daley of London's Telegraph:

When David Cameron visits the United States this week, he will find a country whose national political argument has become more like our own in Britain than probably he – and certainly I – would ever have imagined. For America has learned, thanks to Barack Obama's crash course in European-style government, about the titanic force of class differences. The president's determination to transform the US into a social democracy, complete with a centrally run healthcare programme and a redistributive tax system, has collided rather magnificently with America's history as a nation of displaced people who were prepared to risk their futures on a bid to be free from the power of the state.

Wonderful, wonderful.  That is a great description of what is happening, and it reflects the growing belief of many Americans, as reflected in polls, that Mr. Obama has socialist (read that "not quite American") leanings. 

A good friend said to me today that Europe is emerging from the socialist tunnel, disillusioned by what socialism has brought.  We are just entering it.  Instinctively, Americans know that socialism will collide with the American character.  But what if we are led by people who reject that character?  That may be the most significant question Americans have to answer in the political days, and elections, ahead.

July 17, 2010