The groundswell of outrage over the invasion of Iraq often cited the preemptive war as a betrayal of American ideals. The subtext of the dissent was: 'This is not who we are.' But not if you were standing where I was. It was hard to see the look in that palace tour guide's eyes when she talked about the American flag flying over the palace and not realize that ever since 1898, from time to time, this is exactly who we are.

"annexed Hawaii Puerto Rico and Guam and invaded Cuba and then the Philippines becoming a meddling self-serving militaristic international superpower practically overnight. Her writing has been publiSarah Vowelld in The Village Voice Esquire GQ Spin The New York Times Los Angeles Times and the SF Weekly and Sarah Vowell has been a regular contributor to the online magazine Salon. In 2005 Vowell served as a guest columnist for The New York Times during several weeks in July briefly filling in for Maureen Dowd.

Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27 1969) is an American author journalist essayist and social commentator. Often referred to as a "social observer" Vowell has written six nonfiction books on American history and culture most recently Unfamiliar FiSarah Vowells which was publiSarah Vowelld in 2011. She was also the voice of Violet in the animated film The Incredibles.