American Fatalism

The question makes for customary newspaper fodder July 4 and other national holidays, although to me it's a 365-day fixation more interesting than inquiries into the meaning of life or the existence of god: What does it mean to be an American? The most reassuring answer is that there'd better never be an answer: American identity is best left elusive, less sure of itself than of its endless possibilities. Which is what makes the certainty of recent answers-when the question was posed to local newspaper readers-the more disquieting.