American History 101

"Why, we have gotten into a mess, a quagmire from which each fresh step renders the difficulty of extrication immensely greater. I'm sure I wish I could see what we were getting out of it, and all it means to us as a nation."

Which quagmire is this quote referring to? Iraq? -- nope, too easy. Vietnam? -- nuh-uh -- even easier. California? -- hee-hee. The Philippines? You are correct, sir!
And who said it? Mark Twain, of course.
If you knew this little piece of American history than you're way ahead of that knucklehead we call George W. Bush. President Less-Sense-than-God-gave-a-donut said this last week: "America is proud of its part in the great story of the Filipino people."
Proud?!? Amy Kaplan, at the L.A. Times explains why proud is not what America is.

Nearly 5,000 American soldiers died, and historians estimate that 250,000 Filipinos perished — 20,000 were killed in combat and the vast majority died from disease and starvation. The U.S. Army burned villages and fields, massacred civilians and herded the residents of entire provinces into concentration camps.

Can someone get this man a tutor? And while you're up, could you get me an aspirin?