Not to be a scrooge about this, but Terry Teachout's point is a bit bizarre:
Jack Fowler's posting made me smile. I'm just three months younger than NR, and it certainly never occurred to me when I picked up my first issue more than half a lifetime ago that my name would be on the cover of the 50th-anniversary issue. It's nice when dreams come true, but it's even nicer when good things happen of which your young self would never have dared to dream. Excuse the cliché, but only in America....
Why do folks insist on crediting "America" for things totally unspecific to our country? Do contributors not get their names printed on magazine covers in Britain? I mean, as an aspiring writer, I think Teachout's experience is very cool, but, like many things credited to some ephemeral surfeit of opportunity specific to this country, it's a personal accomplishment, not something facilitated by the state.
Update: From Allen K. in comments:
Jay Leno, of all people, took on this sacred cow sometime during Bush 41. Some baby had fallen down a well and a great deal of effort was spent finding her and getting her out. "Only in America" claimed GHWB. "What, the Swiss would have let her die?" asked Leno. "`Foolishness! It is not cost-effective to save this child!'"
