A source of my current angst regarding our country's moment of intolerance, the specter of the rest of the world seeing the darker side of our national soul as the only "real" America has led me back a couple years to the album Scarsick by the Swedish band Pain of Salvation. Dedicated to George W. Bush, the albums is a concept piece giving an outsiders view of our country. I do not consider it "anti-American"; rather, I consider it an attempted wake-up call to the United States. Hearing the voice of someone outside saying, in essence, that we can be better than we have been, is both a moment of judgment and an opportunity to redeem ourselves.
If we have the courage to hear the word.
Here's "America".
