The litmus tests

Slate has a good article about the kind of insightful commentary that makes Peggy Noonan such a valued contributor at the Wall Street Journal. My favorite bit:

But I digress. Of [American History], Noonan continues:

"John McCain carries it in his bones. Mr. McCain learned it in school, in the Naval Academy, and, literally, at grandpa's knee. Mrs. Clinton learned at least its importance in her long slog through Arkansas, circa 1977-92."

Please note the presumption that it is impossible to acquire affection for the history of the United States in the states of Illinois, Massachusetts, or Connecticut, where Hillary Clinton lived before she lived in Arkansas. Conservatives long ago managed to establish as unchallengeable fact that the real America cannot be found in the places where a majority of its population resides.

The really upsetting thing about Noonan's commentary is the implication that Barack Obama, as a consequence of his "differentness", has a duty to prove his patriotism to us that Clinton and McCain do not have. All three of these people have devoted their lives to this country and made great sacrifices in its service; shouldn't that be proof enough?