Being unrepentant is different from forgetting. You said "America is allowed to forget", but that just isn't true. We are constantly reminded. It gets shoved do

Being unrepentant is different from forgetting. You said "America is allowed to forget", but that just isn't true. We are constantly reminded. It gets shoved down our throats all the time by self-loathing types, and most of us reject the guilt trip. Mostly, the rest of the world is far more awful, and we are thus justified in our national pride. The whole thing is like an original-sin (inherited, as from Adam and Eve) version of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-criticism#Communism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-criticism#Communism Groups that fail to build a large enough hill of skulls end up being part of a hill of skulls. There is no shame in being on the winning team, but there is plenty of shame if you undermine the success of your team and thus snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.