[Andrew Blair]

Alright, I will admit that both the Secretary of Commerce and a senator on Saturday did make some aggressive comments regarding America, though I feel that much of that was not meant to bash other countries, but rather to encourage the majority of the community: American youth. They spoke at a competition which is highly regarded as the organization which is making huge progress towards bringing in the next generation of engineers, most of whom were American. Perhaps some comments could've been edited, but for the most part, they were accurate and *not* demeaning. They were speaking in America, to mostly americans, and intended to encourage this majority who will build america

Secondly, I would like to note one of the major driving points Dean created FIRST for. Yes, FIRST has exploded, and as a result other nations have joined in, but the original purpose, that we still see integrated into FIRST speeches by FIRST founders, is that FIRST will bring America back to greatness. At kickoff we hear speeches citing stats regarding the number of U.S. versus American engineering degrees. We hear about Americans making it to the moon and accomplishing great things in the past, and that we are the next generation to create these wonders. Dean himself made the point, though carefully, that industrialized nations, have a huge new amount of competitors.

Tact and courtesy are always important on the international stage, but we must remember: FIRST is not an internationally devoted competition, in the sense that it's run out of America, with mostly American money, and with mostly American interests. In truth, major U.S. contributors (NASA, GM, Ford, Delphi, Google, GE, etc...) expect their money to return to them in a tangible way, and not just by making the whole world smarter. They want America smarter.

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone from other countries, but FIRST is, at it's roots, american. However, a huge amount amount of growth has been generously encouraged by new countries, and for this, we are very grateful. Our community is always ready to welcome new members, even from different countries, but regardless, we still intend to serve our original purposes. Though ready to help others, Americans should stay intensly proud of what they have.