John Ibbitson, the Globe and Mail's Washington bureau chief, had a few thoughts on American political culture that I'll excerpt here:

... Americans love to argue, and much of what they yell at each other is crazy talk. ...

Americans argue so furiously because there is much to argue about: the health-care and immigration systems are utterly dysfunctional, and the administration and Congress are racking up trillion-dollar deficits with no clear understanding of how to bring them down.

They argue because U.S. society is cleaved by region, race and class more deeply than in Canada. But they also argue because they care. They believe their federal government matters and they have strong opinions about how that government should act.

Canada always struggled to define itself as a nation, and in recent years appears to have given up that struggle, retreating into regional isolation. What Canadian federal politician has a clear sense of what this country should look like in the 21st century?

Politics in America is loud, rude, messy and sometimes deeply weird. But at least the U.S. matters to its citizens.

Do we keep quiet because of our famous politeness? Or is it that we just don't care?

Now with that, here's a little taste of American crazy. Hear U.S. President Barack Obama described as a "long-legged, half-breed, usurper, illegal alien" -- by a black preacher ... who then goes on to predict that white people are gonna rise up with guns!