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RE: What makes America great? - 5/7/2007 6:19:10 PM

lighthearted

Posts: 1165
Joined: 11/26/2006
Status: offline

what first popped into my mind was the inevitable hijack by the political gadflys, and how it would prevent me from posting.

but, dammit, I love this country so much! and I really don't give a rat's behind what other people think, there is precious little that will change my view. our country is beautiful, hard work continues to prevail, and we can raise our children to believe not only in the power within them but whatever higher power we believe in.

oh yeah, and being able to find 50 different kinds of chocolate at the grocery store. love that.

_____________________________

"Thou art to me a delicious torment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 101

RE: What makes America great? - 5/7/2007 6:30:22 PM

juliaoceania

Posts: 21383
Joined: 4/19/2006
From: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

Go for it. Spill your guts here. What popped into your mind?

I have avoided this thread, because I tend to think of what could make America "greater", instead of what makes her currently "Great"

Now this topic reminds me of the various essay contests for some patriot holiday that little kids write about What Makes America Great, and the adults all gather around and listen to the "winner" as they dab tears from their eyes... that, my friend, is what makes America great..

Other things that make this country great, tire swings, swimming in a lazy river, a drive to the desert in spring when the cactus flowers are blooming, Yosemite, Stone Mountain Georgia, the sunset on the praire, Yellowstone, the lush summers of Idaho, the Pacific Ocean smell on a summer's afternoon... and I could go on and on and on.

While those things are pretty great, the people are even greater . Even the ones that I have misgivings about fascinate me. Take Snake Handlers for example.... I mean they are pretty damn great from an anthropological view. You know, the people are just wonderful here. There is something about Americans that is still somewhat charmingly naive, untouched. We are a very friendly sort of people, a very generous sort of people.

I come into contact with people that are first generation Americans often. They seem to really appreciate many things about being here, they try to somewhat assimilate while hanging on to a little of what they know... that makes America great. America would not have had the rise in innovation that we have enjoyed without wave after wave after wave of immigration... why? Because diversity brings innovation. America is diversity. That is what makes this country great. That is why I am glad I was born here. That is why I remain, because I get to know many people that are nothing like me, and that makes me feel alive.

_____________________________

Once you label me, you negate me ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Reality has a well known Liberal Bias ~ Stephen Colbert

Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 102

RE: What makes America great? - 5/7/2007 6:53:32 PM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: lighthearted

what first popped into my mind was the inevitable hijack by the political gadflys, and how it would prevent me from posting.

but, dammit, I love this country so much! and I really don't give a rat's behind what other people think, there is precious little that will change my view. our country is beautiful, hard work continues to prevail, and we can raise our children to believe not only in the power within them but whatever higher power we believe in.

oh yeah, and being able to find 50 different kinds of chocolate at the grocery store. love that.

good post. :-)

(in reply to lighthearted)

Post #: 103

RE: What makes America great? - 5/7/2007 6:55:22 PM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

Go for it. Spill your guts here. What popped into your mind?

I have avoided this thread, because I tend to think of what could make America "greater", instead of what makes her currently "Great"

Now this topic reminds me of the various essay contests for some patriot holiday that little kids write about What Makes America Great, and the adults all gather around and listen to the "winner" as they dab tears from their eyes... that, my friend, is what makes America great..

Other things that make this country great, tire swings, swimming in a lazy river, a drive to the desert in spring when the cactus flowers are blooming, Yosemite, Stone Mountain Georgia, the sunset on the praire, Yellowstone, the lush summers of Idaho, the Pacific Ocean smell on a summer's afternoon... and I could go on and on and on.

While those things are pretty great, the people are even greater . Even the ones that I have misgivings about fascinate me. Take Snake Handlers for example.... I mean they are pretty damn great from an anthropological view. You know, the people are just wonderful here. There is something about Americans that is still somewhat charmingly naive, untouched. We are a very friendly sort of people, a very generous sort of people.

I come into contact with people that are first generation Americans often. They seem to really appreciate many things about being here, they try to somewhat assimilate while hanging on to a little of what they know... that makes America great. America would not have had the rise in innovation that we have enjoyed without wave after wave after wave of immigration... why? Because diversity brings innovation. America is diversity. That is what makes this country great. That is why I am glad I was born here. That is why I remain, because I get to know many people that are nothing like me, and that makes me feel alive.

i REALLY like this post!! :-) very sentimental- poetic. very nice. refreshing. the sparkle gleams. hugs!

(in reply to juliaoceania)

Post #: 104

RE: What makes America great? - 5/7/2007 7:00:00 PM

juliaoceania

Posts: 21383
Joined: 4/19/2006
From: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Status: offline

quote:

REALLY like this post!! :-) very sentimental- poetic. very nice. refreshing. the sparkle gleams. hugs!

Thanks... blushing....

But I forgot, I love that people can argue about what makes America great and what makes it ungreat too....(taking my tongue out of my cheek now)...

_____________________________

Once you label me, you negate me ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Reality has a well known Liberal Bias ~ Stephen Colbert

Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 105

RE: What makes America great? - 5/7/2007 7:28:08 PM

UtopianRanger

Posts: 3251
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

Go for it. Spill your guts here. What popped into your mind?

Easy - The country was born of rugged individualism, not the collective.

- R

_____________________________

"If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do... the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."

-General George S. Patton

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 106

RE: What makes America great? - 5/7/2007 8:07:17 PM

dcnovice

Posts: 37282
Joined: 8/2/2006
Status: offline

quote:

The Declaration of Independence was a 1776 Continental Congress version of the Iraq war resolution.

That comparison seems a bit of stretch.

_____________________________

No matter how cynical you become,
it's never enough to keep up.

JANE WAGNER, THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF
INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

(in reply to Mercnbeth)

Post #: 107

RE: What makes America great? - 5/7/2007 8:44:14 PM

dcnovice

Posts: 37282
Joined: 8/2/2006
Status: offline

quote:

What makes America great?

(in no particular order)

-- The ability to march in front of the White House while voicing total disagreement with the policies of the current occupant (whoever it is).

-- The Marshall Plan

-- National parks ("The best idea America ever had," according to a British diplomat)

-- Generations of immigrants

-- Separation of church and state

-- Having a national holiday devoted to MLK (How many countries honor their reformers that way?)

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

-- Being a place where a refugee kid can grow up to go to Harvard

-- The Smithsonian

-- Freedom of the press

-- Jonas Salk's refusal to patent his polio vaccine because he felt it belonged to "the people"

-- Girl Scout cookies

-- Walt Whitman

-- John Adams's accepting defeat and leaving office after the election of 1800 (We take it for granted that leaders abide by election results, even when they dislike them, but in many places that's not the case.)

-- John Adams's defending the redcoats who fired in the Boston Massacre because he believed that everyone had the right to counsel and a fair trial

-- The New Deal (It probably didn't cure the macroeconomic depression, but it relieved misery for millions of people.)

-- Being able to find Mother Jones and National Review on the same newstand

-- Casablanca

-- "Lafayette, we are here."

-- Twelve-step programs

-- The Wright brothers

-- The NYC skyline

-- The Berlin airlift

-- Public libraries

-- Volunteer firefighters

-- Cole Porter

-- Apple Computer

-- The Miranda rights

-- Batman with Adam West

-- National Geographic

-- Public television

-- Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

_____________________________

No matter how cynical you become,
it's never enough to keep up.

JANE WAGNER, THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF
INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

(in reply to dcnovice)

Post #: 108

RE: What makes America great? - 5/7/2007 11:28:50 PM

Sinergy

Posts: 9383
Joined: 4/26/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: lighthearted

what first popped into my mind was the inevitable hijack by the political gadflys, and how it would prevent me from posting.

but, dammit, I love this country so much! and I really don't give a rat's behind what other people think, there is precious little that will change my view. our country is beautiful, hard work continues to prevail, and we can raise our children to believe not only in the power within them but whatever higher power we believe in.

oh yeah, and being able to find 50 different kinds of chocolate at the grocery store. love that.

Have you ever eaten Australian chocolate?

Safe word now. Save yourself from a life of longing and torment and regret.

Sinergy

_____________________________

"There is a fine line between clever and stupid"
David St. Hubbins "This Is Spinal Tap"

"Every so often you let a word or phrase out and you want to catch it and bring it back. You cant do that, it is gone, gone forever." J. Danforth Quayle

(in reply to lighthearted)

Post #: 109

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 4:03:16 AM

Griswold

Posts: 2739
Joined: 2/12/2007
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin

quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol
(as if there were sturgeons around these parts lmao!)

um....we fish for sturgeon right here in Michigan.

My sturgeon isn't on my medical plan.

(in reply to mistoferin)

Post #: 110

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 7:59:38 AM

popeye1250

Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline

I've always been real big on "A Free Press."
I read a lot and that's one thing we have that some countries don't have.
And it serves as a checks and balance system on those in public office.

(in reply to Griswold)

Post #: 111

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 10:36:23 AM

caitlyn

Posts: 3473
Joined: 12/22/2004
Status: offline

What makes America great, is that you can come on a message forum and discover your meaning in life.

I used to wander around aimlessly ... what was all this college for ... why was I working so hard, and what was the objective. To what end, would this all end?

Now I know ... I'm on the path to becoming a political gadfly. I feel so motivated now ... I think I will stop at Starbucks and get a triple expresso before my afternoon class.

(in reply to popeye1250)

Post #: 112

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 10:42:06 AM

michaelOfGeorgia

Posts: 4253
Status: offline

quote:

What makes America great?

you tell us and then we'll all know

_____________________________

Are we having fun, yet?

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 113

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 10:47:23 AM

michaelOfGeorgia

Posts: 4253
Status: offline

Where else can you vote for someone that's going to make matters worse...and keep voting them in? Where else can you get away with commiting a crime AFTER being arrested and put on trial. And where else can the rich get richer off the backs of the poor and push them out on the streets to live in cardboard boxes. Oh, and where else ddo you have to be rich in orfer to get medical attention?

_____________________________

Are we having fun, yet?

(in reply to michaelOfGeorgia)

Post #: 114

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 10:56:52 AM

Sinergy

Posts: 9383
Joined: 4/26/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: michaelOfGeorgia

Where else can you vote for someone that's going to make matters worse...and keep voting them in?

I did not vote for Bush.

Sinergy

_____________________________

"There is a fine line between clever and stupid"
David St. Hubbins "This Is Spinal Tap"

"Every so often you let a word or phrase out and you want to catch it and bring it back. You cant do that, it is gone, gone forever." J. Danforth Quayle

(in reply to michaelOfGeorgia)

Post #: 115

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 10:57:43 AM

michaelOfGeorgia

Posts: 4253
Status: offline

neither did i

_____________________________

Are we having fun, yet?

(in reply to Sinergy)

Post #: 116

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 12:19:19 PM

popeye1250

Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: caitlyn

What makes America great, is that you can come on a message forum and discover your meaning in life.

I used to wander around aimlessly ... what was all this college for ... why was I working so hard, and what was the objective. To what end, would this all end?

Now I know ... I'm on the path to becoming a political gadfly. I feel so motivated now ... I think I will stop at Starbucks and get a triple expresso before my afternoon class.

Caitlyn, have you thought about journalism?
I think it would be fun to be a political reporter for a T.V. station or a Newspaper!
Exposing scandals, "following the money" etc.
Look up one of the best political reporters going, Howie Carr, some of his articles are hillarious, "Bum Kissers", "Coat Holders" , "Public Payroll Patriots" "The Dreaded Private Sector", etc, he's got a way with words!

(in reply to caitlyn)

Post #: 117

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 12:32:55 PM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: michaelOfGeorgia

quote:

What makes America great?

you tell us and then we'll all know

the power and uadacity to dream. the sky is the limit. lets not forget- America being great doesnt mean that country A,B,C is NOT great.

There isnt any problem America cant solve- if it collcetively unleashed its immense talents, capacities.

Most of us live better then kings did in the olden days.

Look out the window- there it is. I dont mean blind bots patriotism. I mean the triumph of the human spirit- which strectes beyond teh geogrphic boundaries of the USA.

2000-2007 we have been so bent on bush- that we forgotten that bush isnt America; WE ARE!

Keep the hope alive-

(in reply to michaelOfGeorgia)

Post #: 118

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 12:35:24 PM

Mercnbeth

Posts: 11766
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: michaelOfGeorgia

neither did i

Yes you did.

If I recall, you were proud to state you didn't vote; providing a plurality for the victor.

(in reply to michaelOfGeorgia)

Post #: 119

RE: What makes America great? - 5/8/2007 1:23:05 PM

daddysprop247

Posts: 1712
Joined: 6/24/2005
From: DC Metro area
Status: offline

hmm, well when i first saw this topic in the list, i thought of the zillion and one reasons to hate and be ashamed of america, and couldn't really think of much that makes america great. it seems that every positive must come with a disclaimer. however for the sake of staying positive, as that was pahunkboy's intention with this thread, i'll leave the disclaimers out of this one (you can just think them to yourselves).

the food. the mingling of cultures and regional diversity in this country has created what i personally believe is the yummiest dishes on earth. new orleans gumbo, virginia country ham, new england clam bakes, maryland blue crab, alaskan wild salmon grilled on cedar planks, southern fish fries with catfish and perch fried so crisp you can eat the skins, mississippi mud pies, sweet potato pie, collard greens, and fried green tomatoes, mmm mmm mmm!!! so yes, the food is awesome.

the free press system.

public libraries.

National Parks (altho there should be more, but i digress)

the distinctly american music....jazz, blues...Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, and hundreds of others.

public sanitation...sewer systems and such.

clean drinking water.

religious freedom.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

(in reply to Mercnbeth)

Post #: 120

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