We are a self-deprecating people, us Americans. If something goes wrong in a foreign country, we blame our lack of culture, class, or interesting accent. The first words we learn in any foreign language are pardon, excuse me, I'm sorry, and I'm very, very sorry. We apologize constantly, and for no reason at all. And sometimes - worst of all - we apologize for being American. Personally, I'm tired of it.

This weekend, my quirky little group of UA students went on an excursion to Normandy. We drove around in a big dumb bus. We stared out of the window with blank expressions wondering why no one waved back when we shook our palms to and fro. It took five hours to get to Normandy, and we passed the time by telling dumb jokes about our dumb friends, and we wandered around ancient abbeys and graveyards flogging ourselves for being so blaringly stupid.