American Exceptionalism

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    The Citizenship Claim That Forgot Canada Exists

    ByBrick Tungsten

    I was ready to raise the victory spatula when I heard the claim that America is the only country with birthright citizenship. That is bold freedom math, even for a man delivering a sermon from the front porch. You cannot declare yourself the lone grill master while Canada and Mexico are standing beside the cooler with a similar recipe.

    America does not become less great because other countries use a comparable citizenship approach. That is not surrender; that is called having neighbors. The real self-own is turning a policy into a national trophy, then discovering the comparison includes about three dozen countries, including Canada, Mexico, and much of South America. The exact rules may not be identical, but that is plenty of company for a claim of being alone. Hand Canada a plate, Mexico the tongs, and let the map eat. The only thing uniquely American here is forgetting to check the backyard before announcing you are the lone grill master.

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    America Is Not the Only Country That Knows Where the Mailbox Is

    ByHarlan Quill

    I trust a filing cabinet, a deadline, and a clerk who can count before I trust a national myth. The claim attributed to Trump—that America is the only country using mail-in ballots—runs into Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, all listed as countries that use them. Not under identical laws or with identical procedures, certainly. But arithmetic is a stubborn deputy. One country is not the same as several.

    A ballot does not become more secure because it crosses the border wearing a little flag hat. It needs eligibility rules, verification, deadlines, chain-of-custody procedures, and workers who know which drawer is which. That is the whole administrative question. If the system works, it works. If it fails, identify the failure and fix it. Declaring the mailbox uniquely American is not a policy; it is a filing error with excellent posture.

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