ARTICLE: "America the Fertile," by Nicholas Eberstadt, Washington Post, 6 May 2007, p. B7.

Great piece on what keeps America so exceptional. This theme was a big one in Stuart Varney's opening keynote at a Richmond Events CIO conference where I speak today as the other keynoter. Varney bragged about being both an immigrant and father of six. I may someday lay claim to six kids, and at least half will be immigrants. So I guess it works either way. Other than that, I'd just like Stuart's bank account (when he took over "Moneyline," CNN made him sell all his stocks--just before the tech crash). Big point of this piece: the US moves dramatically away from rest of Old Core, or West, first and foremost in demographics (which, as Varney pointed out. keeps us young and accepting of change). We just keep adding people (immigration) and having babies (not just immigrants, but our core stock of "Anglos" or "whites" are much higher in fertility than Europe or Japan). By 2025, Eberstadt points out, Europe will be shrinking and we'll still be adding almost 3m a year. We'll have the highest growth rate then among developed countries and sport one of the lowest median ages. We'll also be the only sizable developed country where the kids still outnumber seniors. The kicker:

Such trends might reinforce U.S. international prominence--even though the divergence in demographic profiles between the United States and the other developed countries may also portend an era of diminishing affinities between the United States and its historical Western allies.

Bingo! Another guy connects the dots on that one. So with whom does America align itself in this frontier age of globalization? You know the answer.