RR - Heartwarming?  Maybe you should work on getting your own weekly column in ADN.  Because you clearly have your finger on the pulse of the nation. (sarcasm alert)  This column was not about Sandy Hook, or Katrina.  It was about the dumbing down of this country, about rampant ignorance, and the pride in the lack of education that we are facing.  It was about the fact that somewhere along the way, we, as a nation, decided that "The Dukes of Hazzard" was more important than the 6pm news.  Ignorance has become a virtue, and education has become something to scorn, as if incorrect grammar and terrible spelling makes one a folk hero, instead of a third-grade dropout.  (check your use of the apostrophe -"American's" is not plural)   People in Texas did display dedication and courage in the face of adversity. And in this country, somehow, there seems to be a continuing reverence for ignorance as a virtue.  We cannot abide that reverence and and still thrive as a successful society.