IndyTexas is one of my favorite posters on this forum, but this post was just awful:
No, no, yes. I don't think someone who was not born here or born abroad to American parents will ever have the "institutional understanding" of who we are as a nation and our history and values. The POTUS is the head of state and must exemplify our shared history and values. If we were a parliamentary democracy, I would be fine with a foreign-born PM and an "all-American" president.
Someone whose family did not live in America in the mid-20th century really doesn't "get" our fraught understanding of race and the role it plays in society, for example. A lot of first and second generation immigrants (including some in this forum) just don't get it and never will. The same goes for other quirky Americanisms like the role of guns in society, and the place of religion in public and private life.
