We are all caught up in the VA scandal and that's understandable.  It is the latest of the scandals that President Obama apparently learned about by watching the nightly news. Add the tepid recovery, the lack of spine in dealing with our adversaries and everything else that seems to be going wrong at the same time. It's enough to make many of us worry about the future of the land we love. It is also a concern for people who live outside the US.  We never hear from them but they are talking too. Over the last couple of years, I've heard from friends in Latin America about the state of dysfunction in the US government.  They call me by phone or send me an email.  A friend from Central America said:   "And they call us a banana republic"? A professor in Colombia is frustrated:  "Is President Obama paying attention" An old college friend in Brazil said:  "Is President Obama going to...(Read Full Post)