I saw this online this morning. For some reason it has crystalized much of my own thinking about what it means to be an American in the world right now.

A woman had a brief encounter with a concierge in New York last week:

As he ushered us into us cab in the morning, he admitted that he was less concerned about whether his taxes go up or down than he was about our standing in the world. It turns out he works part of the year in Ghana, coaching a soccer team.

“You used to drive through the streets and see posters everywhere of Osama bin Laden,” he told us. “He was the first person people felt represented them in the world.” Now all of the posters have been replaced — with posters of Obama. “It makes them feel completely differently about America that a half-African black man could be elected president of this country.”