What is an American?
alohacyberian
A primer
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was
actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper
there an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so
they would know when they found one.
An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish,
Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian, Chinese,
Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In
fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only
difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them
choose.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will
answeronly to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to
speak for the government and for God.
An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of
Independence, which recognizes the God-given right of each man and woman to
the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other
nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by
the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to
enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September
11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in
Afghanistan.
An American does not have to obey the mad ravings of ignorant, ungodly
cruel, old men. American men will not be fooled into giving up their lives
to kill innocent people, so that these foolish old men may hold on to
power.
American women are free to show their beautiful faces to the world, as each
of them choose.
An American is free to criticize his government's officials when they are
wrong, in his or her own opinion. Then he is free to replace them, by
majority vote.
Americans welcome people from all lands, all cultures, all religions,
because they are not afraid. They are not afraid that their history, their
religion, their beliefs, will be overrun, or forgotten. That is because
they know they are free to hold to their religion, their beliefs, their
history, as each of them choose.
And just as Americans welcomes all, they enjoy the best that everyone has
to bring, from all over the world. The best science, the best technology,
the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best
athletes.
Americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the least. The nation
symbol of America welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of
your teeming shores, the home-less, tempest tossed. These in fact are the
people who built America. Many of them were working in the twin towers on
the morning of September 11, earning a better life for their families.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General
Tojo and Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the
history of the world. But in doing so you would just be killing yourself.
Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They
are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to
that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
So look around you. You may find more Americans in your land than you
thought were there. One day they will rise up and overthrow the old,
ignorant, tired tyrants that trouble too many lands. Then those lands too
will join the community of free and prosperous nations.
And America will welcome them.
~ Peter Ferrara, an associate professor of law at the George Mason
University School of Law, Fairfax, Virginia
--
(-:alohacyberian:-) At my website there are 3000 live cameras or
visit NASA, play games, read jokes, send greeting cards & connect
to CNN news, NBA, the White House, Academy Awards or learn all
about Hawaii, Israel and more: http://keith.martin.home.att.net/
Erica
They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds
to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
I hold to the spirit of freedom.
I am an ally of Americans but I am not a tax-paying citizen of the United
States of America.
I am not an American, I am an Australian
But above all I am simply a freedom -loving human being.
OBQ
The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic
creed but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free
men.
~John F. Kennedy
Erica
________________________
Nathanael Thompson
I seek opportunity - not security.
I want to take the calculated risk;
to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole.
I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence;
the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence
nor my dignity for a handout.
I will never cower before any master
nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit
of my creations and to face the world boldly
saying, this I have done.
All this is what it means to be an American.
--Dean Alfange
-+-
Nate Thompson
"Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is
struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be."
--William Hazlitt
"Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master."
--Sallust
"There is no high adventurousness in him, but only fear. He not only doesn't
long for liberty; he is quite unable to stand it."
--H. L. Mencken,
_Notes on Democracy_ p 49 (1926)
Neville X. Elliven
constitute the most timorous, sniveling, poltroonish,
ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever
gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end
of the middle ages." -- H.L. Mencken (1922)
"It is a peculiarity of the American mind that it
regards any excursion into the truth as an adventure
into cynicism." -- H. L. Mencken
"Americans are culturally antagonistic to being controlled,
but without a foundation in philosophical thought,
they are often advocates of some area of regulation,
control, taxation, or statism, i.e., some attempt to
control others by force. It is the reluctance to
submit to the decrees of others that is probably a
leading cause of much of the crime in America.
An unphilosophical yet independent people, oppressed,
are a people ready to explode outward in any direction
in random, useless acts of violence."
-- Mark A. Laughlin, "The Philosophy in Defense of Firearms"
"Americans are a very receptive nation; and that is
why our country has become the hot-bed of all kinds of
religious and irreligious monstrosities that ever
sprang from a human brain. There is no theory so
absurd, no doctrine so irrational, no claim so
extravagant, no fraud so transparent that it cannot
find here numerous believers and a ready market."
-- Leon Landsberg (1896)
Donna L. Bridges
<01c16bb6$497663c0$6c025f0c@KeithMartin> "alohacyberian"
<alohac...@att.net> wrote:
Does this have a date associated with it?
--
DonnaB <*> shallotpeel on Yahoo 8^>
"Well, I refuse to believe the worst until I absolutely have to." -
Cass AW 8/98
alohacyberian
<9srmoa$1552e1$2...@ID-40161.news.dfncis.de>...
>
> "Americans are a very receptive nation; and that is
> why our country has become the hot-bed of all kinds of
> religious and irreligious monstrosities that ever
> sprang from a human brain. There is no theory so
> absurd, no doctrine so irrational, no claim so
> extravagant, no fraud so transparent that it cannot
> find here numerous believers and a ready market."
> -- Leon Landsberg (1896)
>
epochs, it is the rule.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche
alohacyberian
KM
OBQ:
"Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked;
leadership is defined by results not attributes."
~ Peter F. Drucker
--
(-:alohacyberian:-) At my website there are 3000 live cameras or
visit NASA, play games, read jokes, send greeting cards & connect
to CNN news, NBA, the White House, Academy Awards or learn all
about Hawaii, Israel and more: http://keith.martin.home.att.net/
Donna L. Bridges <shall...@rcn.com> wrote in article
<skc3vtgtahv2j3qdo...@4ax.com>...
John Abbe
<alohac...@att.net> wrote:
> What Is An American?
> A primer
>
> You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was
> actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper
> there an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
I heard, and felt sad hearing it, for any Americans affected, and for any
Pakistanis twisted up enough inside to act on it.
> So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so
> they would know when they found one.
>
> An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish,
> Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian, Chinese,
> Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.
Sadly, this is a good demonstration that many continue to separate
whites/Europeans from other Americans. Worse, many consider only the
former to be the "real" Americans.
Again as the list illustrates, many are also prone to ignore the native
peoples whose lands Euro-Americans stole and cultures Euro-Americans
destroyed. Native Americans, too, are Americans.
> An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
> The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of
> Independence, which recognizes the God-given right of each man and woman to
> the pursuit of happiness.
Someday our reality will reflect that ideal. In the meantime, our
prosperity also has a lot to do with our extraction of resources for
unreasonably little money from poor and weak regions of our country and
around the world; and the willingness of our lower classes to be happy
given enough bread and circuses (and the upper classes' willingness to
provide enough of both).
"If one were to take that goal out of its religious form and look merely
at its purely human side, one might state it perhaps thus: free and
responsible development of the individual, so that he may place his powers
freely and gladly in the service of all mankind."
--Albert Einstein
> An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other
> nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by
> the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to
> enable the people to win back their country.
First, we started supporting the mujahideen before the Soviet army was in
Afghanistan. In fact, we were hoping to draw the Soviets in to give them
their own Vietnam. It worked. (our National Security Adviser at the time,
Zbignew Brzezinksi, has admitted this publicly)
Then, as soon as the Soviets pulled out, so did we, leaving the country in
the chaos that allowed the Taliban to take control. Then we were happy to
remain quiet about the Taliban (and even give them money) as long as they
cracked down on drugs, and it seemed they might stabilize things enough
for us to build our oil pipelines.
Americans *are* often generous, but Afghanistan is not a very good example.
"Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to
overlook the circumstances of economic injustice that make philanthropy
necessary."
汽r. Martin Luther King, Jr.
> An American does not have to obey the mad ravings of ignorant, ungodly
> cruel, old men. American men will not be fooled into giving up their lives
> to kill innocent people, so that these foolish old men may hold on to
> power.
No one anywhere *has* to, but we are under physical threat to do so less
often than the people of many other nations. The amazing thing is, that so
many of us have obeyed and continue to obey our raving leaders anyway,
apparently willingly.
> American women are free to show their beautiful faces to the world, as each
> of them choose.
And if they aren't as pretty as the magazines tell them to be, they can
get plastic surgery (if they're wealthy or willing to go into debt).
> An American is free to criticize his government's officials when they are
> wrong, in his or her own opinion. Then he is free to replace them, by
> majority vote.
Of course, organized dissent in America is often opposed, overtly and
covertly, by the government and monied interests. We still haven't gotten
the hang of the fact that all dissent is a gift, if heard properly.
> Americans welcome people from all lands, all cultures, all religions,
> because they are not afraid.
Actually, we have strict quotas, and are in the process of making travel
for students and others into our country even more difficult. Non-citizens
are in some cases no longer offered civilian justice, but military justice
(recent Bush Executive order). Non-citizens are under attack. Are you
concerned?
"When Hitler attacked the Jews, I was not a Jew, therefore, I was not
concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic,
and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions
and industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not
concerned. Then, Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church蟻nd there
was nobody left to be concerned."
--Martin Niemoller, 14 October 1968, Congressional Record p. 31636
> They are not afraid that their history, their
> religion, their beliefs, will be overrun, or forgotten.
Many Americans are terrified that their kids might learn something other
than the English language, Christian religion, and Western culture.
> Americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the least. The nation
> symbol of America welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of
> your teeming shores, the home-less, tempest tossed.
That's the image, but in fact we accept few refugees.
> These in fact are the
> people who built America.
Ignoring the African slave labor of course. American history has many
elements that do not fit our mythology and are left out.
> So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General
> Tojo and Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the
> history of the world. But in doing so you would just be killing yourself.
> Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They
> are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to
> that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
The amazing thing is that so many Americans believe this, and so few
actually know anything about what is going on in the rest of the world.
I believe there is a universal spirit of humanity that many Americans
believe in, and their hearts would break and behaviors change if they knew
the reality of what's out there, what our government and corporations are
complicit in, and they had a clear image of what they could do to help
change it.
> So look around you. You may find more Americans in your land than you
> thought were there. One day they will rise up and overthrow the old,
> ignorant, tired tyrants that trouble too many lands. Then those lands too
> will join the community of free and prosperous nations.
>
> And America will welcome them.
I look forward to the day when that revolution takes place everywhere,
inclusing America; it can succeed only if it is not a coercive
overthrowing, but a nonviolent movement in the spirit of Gandhi and King
(and so many others) that helps enough of those who dominate to see the
truth, find their compassion, and act from it.
"We must always seek to ally ourselves with that part of the enemy that
knows what is right."
--Gandhi
> ~ Peter Ferrara, an associate professor of law at the George Mason
> University School of Law, Fairfax, Virginia
I hope it's clear that i do not hate America (most of the time :). I just
want us all to see the whole picture, and work to make the reality better
than it is, closer to the ideals that too many mistakenly believe are
already real.
John
====
ObQuotes:
"Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and
gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then, for the
second time in the history of the world, (hu)mankind will have discovered
fire."
--Teilhard de Chardin
--
-----===>> AbbeNormal <<===----- | ..:::..
toward some edges of the multi- | .::::::*::::.
dimensional normal curve | ..::::*::::::::::..
http://www.ourpla.net/cgi-bin/pikie.cgi |....::::::::::::::::::::::*....
Daniel P. B. Smith
joh...@DIESPAMourpla.net (John Abbe) wrote:
> In article <01c16bb6$497663c0$6c025f0c@KeithMartin>, "alohacyberian"
> <alohac...@att.net> wrote:
>
> > So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is,
> > so
> > they would know when they found one.
> >
> > An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish,
> > Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian,
> > Chinese,
> > Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.
>
> Sadly, this is a good demonstration that many continue to separate
> whites/Europeans from other Americans. Worse, many consider only the
> former to be the "real" Americans.
>
> Again as the list illustrates, many are also prone to ignore the native
> peoples whose lands Euro-Americans stole and cultures Euro-Americans
> destroyed. Native Americans, too, are Americans.
I feel extremely uncomfortable with the strange and sudden emergence of
the word "homeland" to describe the United States. I can't think of any
_denotative_ difference between "homeland security" and the perfectly
good term "civil defense." Why the new coinage?
What is a "homeland?"
The dictionary definition (AHD4) of "homeland" is "1. One's native land.
2. A state, region, or territory that is closely identified with a
particular people or ethnic group. 3. Any of the ten regions designated
by South Africa in the 1970s as semiautonomous territorial states for
the Black population. The Black homelands were dissolved and
reincorporated into South Africa by the 1994 constitution." Very
unpleasant.
Based on the definition of the word, for whom is the United States the
"homeland?"
The word certainly excludes naturalized citizens. Thus, the United
States was not the "homeland" of Irving Berlin, author of "God Bless
America."
And do we not feel an unpleasant aura of definition 2 about the word?
If this is the meaning that is intended, then who are the "particular
people or ethnic group" with which the United States is felt to be
"closely identified?"
--
Daniel P. B. Smith
Email address: dpbs...@world.std.com
"Lifetime forwarding" address: dpbs...@alum.mit.edu
The Pied Typer
>
> In <01c16bb6$497663c0$6c025f0c@KeithMartin>, alohac...@att.net wrote:
>
> > American women are free to show their beautiful faces to the world, as each
> > of them choose.
>
> And if they aren't as pretty as the magazines tell them to be, they can
> get plastic surgery (if they're wealthy or willing to go into debt).
Granting that "beautiful" is condescending, I'm still waiting for the day
when American women are free to show their beautiful breasts to the world,
as each of them chooses.
Different countries, different taboos . . . and different justifications . . .
and different punishments . . . in short, different ways of life. It can be
healthy to see, if we all drop our attitude of superiority.
-:-
There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a
willingness to contemplate what is happening.
--H. Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, "The
Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects"
Us . . .
and them . . .
and after all we're only ordinary men. . . .
--Roger Waters, "Us and Them"
--
Col. G. L. Sicherman
home: col...@mail.monmouth.com
work: gsic...@elity.com
web: <http://www.monmouth.com/~colonel/>
Tom
> And do we not feel an unpleasant aura of definition 2 about the word?
> If this is the meaning that is intended, then who are the "particular
> people or ethnic group" with which the United States is felt to be
> "closely identified?"
Well, if you put it that way, I suppose it's my red-skinned, stone-age
ancestors.
Tom Parsons (1/8 Chickasaw)
--
--
t...@panix.com | A man who does not think for himself
| does not think at all.
http://www.panix.com/~twp | --Oscar Wilde
conal
> What Is An American?
> A primer
"Jingoism: an aggressive attitude combining excessive patriotism and
contempt for other countries." (Oxford Study Dictionary)
Daniel P. B. Smith
<co...@hil21.demon.co.uk> wrote:
... after a British song popular during the Russian/Turk War of 1877:
We don't want to fight but by jingo if we do
We've got the ships,we've got the men
And got the money too
We've fought the bear before
And while we're Britons true
The Russians shall not have Constantinople.
Paul Marrane
Pied Typer) wrote:
> Granting that "beautiful" is condescending, I'm still waiting for the day
> when American women are free to show their beautiful breasts to the
> world, as each of them chooses.
Boy O boy! If only them dames would! Wouldn't that be somethin'? Yessir!
You said it!
Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave vibration each way free;
Oh, how that glittering taketh me!
--Robert Herrick
Yeah, let's see 'em vibrate!
<drool>
>
> Different countries, different taboos . . . and different justifications
> . . .
> and different punishments . . . in short, different ways of life. It can
> be
> healthy to see, if we all drop our attitude of superiority.
--
Paul Marrane What's green, hangs on the wall, and whistles? A
paul_m...@hotmail.com red herring. But it isn't green! Well, you could
paint it green. But it doesn't hang on the wall!
What, there's a law you can't hang it on the wall?
But it doesn't whistle! Nu, so it doesn't whistle.
conal
B. Smith <dpbs...@bellatlantic.net> writes
>In article <0ZWsKlAMYU$7E...@hil21.demon.co.uk>, conal
><co...@hil21.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> In article <01c16bb6$497663c0$6c025f0c@KeithMartin>, alohacyberian
>> <alohac...@att.net> writes
>> > What Is An American?
>> > A primer
>>
>> "Jingoism: an aggressive attitude combining excessive patriotism and
>> contempt for other countries." (Oxford Study Dictionary)
>
>... after a British song popular during the Russian/Turk War of 1877:
>
> We don't want to fight but by jingo if we do
> We've got the ships,we've got the men
> And got the money too
> We've fought the bear before
> And while we're Britons true
> The Russians shall not have Constantinople.
Music hall song of 1878 "We don't want to fight" by G.W. Hunt.
I assume it also alludes to the British contribution to the Crimean
debacle. Interesting how imperialists, traditional and modern, like to
give the image of reluctant aggression.
The Sanity Inspector
shared with usenet this thought:
>Music hall song of 1878 "We don't want to fight" by G.W. Hunt.
>I assume it also alludes to the British contribution to the Crimean
>debacle. Interesting how imperialists, traditional and modern, like to
>give the image of reluctant aggression.
And how patriphobes still affect to be voices of conscience.
Obquote:
The idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone, all centuries
but this and every country but his own.
- W. S. Gilbert
--
bruce
The dignified don't even enter in the game.
--The Jam
Graham J Weeks
Marrane <paul_m...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In article <9tj2f7$avp$1...@shell.monmouth.com>, col...@monmouth.com (The
> Pied Typer) wrote:
>
> > Granting that "beautiful" is condescending, I'm still waiting for the day
> > when American women are free to show their beautiful breasts to the
> > world, as each of them chooses.
>
> Boy O boy! If only them dames would! Wouldn't that be somethin'? Yessir!
> You said it!
>
> Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
> That brave vibration each way free;
> Oh, how that glittering taketh me!
>
> --Robert Herrick
>
> Yeah, let's see 'em vibrate!
> <drool>
>
It appears the attraction to Herrick was Julia clothed or is she unrobed
after Next,? I think it was written in pre-bra days.
Upon Julia's Clothes
Whenas in silks my Julia goes,
Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows
That liquefaction of her clothes.
Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave vibration each way free,
Oh, how that glittering taketh me!
But here she is definitely unrobed.
Have ye beheld (with much delight)
A red rose peeping through a white?
Or else a cherry (double graced)
Within a lily? Centre placed?
Or ever marked the pretty beam
A strawberry shows half drowned in cream?
Or seen rich rubies blushing through
A pure smooth pearl, and orient too?
So like to this, nay all the rest,
Is each neat niplet of her breast.
Robert Herrick, Upon the Nipples of Julia's Breast
--
Graham J Weeks M.R.Pharm.S.
http://www.weeks-g.dircon.co.uk/ My homepage of quotations
http://www.grace.org.uk/churches/ealing.html Our church
-------------------------------------------------
Warning: the Internet may contain traces of nuts.
-------------------------------------------------
Graham J Weeks
>
> Granting that "beautiful" is condescending, I'm still waiting for the day
> when American women are free to show their beautiful breasts to the world,
> as each of them chooses.
>
B is for Breasts
Of which ladies have two;
Once prized for the function,
Now for the view.
Robert Paul Smith, "From A to Z" in And Another Thing
William C Waterhouse
choll...@mindspring.com (The Sanity Inspector) writes:
>..
> >Music hall song of 1878 "We don't want to fight" by G.W. Hunt.
> >I assume it also alludes to the British contribution to the Crimean
> >debacle. Interesting how imperialists, traditional and modern, like to
> >give the image of reluctant aggression.
>
> And how patriphobes still affect to be voices of conscience.
Gladstone, who was the main opponent of the "Jingos", certainly
was a devout Christian and tried to be a voice of conscience.
But I see no evidence that he was afraid of his father (which
is what "patriphobe" would mean if it meant anything).
William C. Waterhouse
Penn State
ObQuote: "I ascend a steepening path with a burden ever gathering
weight. The Almighty seems to sustain and spare me for
some purpose of His own, deeply unworthy as I know myself
to be. Glory be to His name."
--- Gladstone, diary entry from 29 Dec. 1868 (a few
weeks after he became Prime Minister). Quoted
in A. Wood, Nineteenth Century Britain, p. 286.
Erica
> is what "patriphobe" would mean if it meant anything).
Pater, peccavi.<s>
OBQ
Ubi bene, ibi patria.
~Pacuvius, Teucer
Erica
______________________________
Donna L. Bridges
than where anybody is. This is what makes America what it is." -
Gertrude Stein [1874-1946] American writer
--
DonnaB <*> shallotpeel on Yahoo 8^>
"It takes three or four women to get each man into, through, and out
of this world." - Louisa May Alcott
What is a Colonel?
>
> In <3bffd1f1...@news.mindspring>, choll...@mindspring.com writes:
> >
> > And how patriphobes still affect to be voices of conscience.
>
> Gladstone, who was the main opponent of the "Jingos", certainly
> was a devout Christian and tried to be a voice of conscience.
> But I see no evidence that he was afraid of his father (which
> is what "patriphobe" would mean if it meant anything).
The right wing has had very mixed results with coining epithets!
Let us charitably assume that Bruce did not coin this one. It is
dishonest and dangerous to characterize dissenters as haters of their
country. While I love my country, I don't admire it.
-:-
Of the many unforeseen consequences of typography, the
emergence of nationalism is, perhaps, the most familiar.
--H. M. McLuhan, _Understanding Media:
The Extensions of Man_ (1964)
Ev'ry heart beats true
'Neath the Red, White, and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
--George M. Cohan, "Grand Old Rag"
The Sanity Inspector
shared with usenet this thought:
[...]
>> And how patriphobes still affect to be voices of conscience.
>
>Gladstone, who was the main opponent of the "Jingos", certainly
>was a devout Christian and tried to be a voice of conscience.
>But I see no evidence that he was afraid of his father (which
>is what "patriphobe" would mean if it meant anything).
If there is no -phobe construction which means fear and/or
loathing of one's own country, there sure ought to be.
Obquotes:
We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people--the Israel of
our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world.
--Herman Melville, 1850
A lot of people were crying, and I was one of them. A young
Kuwaiti came out of the crowd and he was crying, and he grabbed me by
my notebook and, with that immense earnestness that you only have an
excuse for two or three times in your life and usually that's when
your mother is dying, he said, "You write we would like to thank every
man in the allied force. Until one hundred years we cannot thank
them. What they do is...is..."--words failed him--"...is _America!_"
-- P. J. O'Rourke, _Give War A Chance_, 1992
The Sanity Infector
>
> On 29 Nov 2001 20:35:29 GMT, w...@math.psu.edu (William C Waterhouse)
> shared with usenet this thought:
>
> >is what "patriphobe" would mean if it meant anything).
>
> If there is no -phobe construction which means fear and/or
> loathing of one's own country, there sure ought to be.
What is the proper term for one who loves his country and fears its
government? ("Libertarian" comes to mind. . . .)
-:-
Fear and reluctance are feelings one should not
give in to, thought Kai, mistakenly.
--C. Nooteboom, _In the Dutch Mountains_
The Sanity Inspector
Infector shared with usenet this thought:
>> If there is no -phobe construction which means fear and/or
>> loathing of one's own country, there sure ought to be.
>
>What is the proper term for one who loves his country and fears its
>government? ("Libertarian" comes to mind. . . .)
Or, is there a word for someone who hates both, but loves the benefits it
bestows on him?
Obquote:
Mallard Fillmore: So how did you decide to become a professor of anti-American
studies, anyway?
Professor Wilson Birkenstock: When I was a kid I hated my parents, but still
expected them to support me and cater to my every whim. Imagine my delight upon
discovering that I could make a career out of applying the same philosophy to my
country!
-- http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/mallard/about.htm
November 9th
Daniel P. B. Smith
chollanam...@mindspring.com wrote:
> On 29 Nov 2001 20:35:29 GMT, w...@math.psu.edu (William C Waterhouse)
> shared with usenet this thought:
>
> [...]
>
> >> And how patriphobes still affect to be voices of conscience.
> >
> >Gladstone, who was the main opponent of the "Jingos", certainly
> >was a devout Christian and tried to be a voice of conscience.
> >But I see no evidence that he was afraid of his father (which
> >is what "patriphobe" would mean if it meant anything).
>
> If there is no -phobe construction which means fear and/or
> loathing of one's own country, there sure ought to be.
Should Russians that love their country be called matriots?
Daniel P. B. Smith
> Obquotes:
> We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people--the Israel of
> our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world.
> --Herman Melville, 1850
Sail, sail thy best, ship of Democracy,
Of value is thy freight, 'tis not the Present only,
The Past is also stored in thee,
Thou holdest not the venture of thyself alone, not of the Western
continent alone,
Earth's resume entire floats on thy keel O ship, is steadied by thy
spars,
With thee Time voyages in trust, the antecedent nations sink or
swim with thee,
With all their ancient struggles, martyrs, heroes, epics, wars, thou
bear'st the other continents,
Theirs, theirs as much as thine, the destination-port triumphant;
Steer then with good strong hand and wary eye O helmsman, thou
carriest great companions,
Venerable priestly Asia sails this day with thee,
And royal feudal Europe sails with thee.
--Walt Whitman, _Leaves of Grass_
A manly scent that women like too
>
> Should Russians that love their country be called matriots?
Metriots, I think. The root is Greek, and the Greek word for mother
is metera.
By a similar (but unsound) derivation, one whose loyalty is to an
idea is an idiot.
There is a web page devoted to criticizing "flagotry". But the author
spells it with a double G, which I find dubious.
-:-
God bless America! Guaranteed lowest prices in the U.S.A.!
--East Coast Piano Co.
Gareth Owen
> > Obquotes:
> > We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people--the Israel of
> > our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world.
> > --Herman Melville, 1850
>
> Sail, sail thy best, ship of Democracy,
> Of value is thy freight, 'tis not the Present only,
> The Past is also stored in thee,
It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
-- Leonard Cohen, Democracy (song)
--
Gareth Owen
Space people read our mail.
Bill
political faith as set forth in its greatest documents, its worthiest
traditions, and its greatest leaders.
--William Tyler Page, (Referring to the Creed)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I believe in the United States of America as a government of the
people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived
from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a
sovereign nation of many sovereign states; a perfect union, one and
inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality,
and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and
fortunes.
I, therefore, believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to
support its constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and
to defend it against all enemies.
--William Tyler Page, The Americans Creed (adopted by Congress in
1918)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in
that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion.
--William Lloyd Garrison, Life. Vol. III
Bill
allthingsWilliam
Li0N...@NoSpam.Com (Neville X. Elliven) wrote in message news:<9srmoa$1552e1$2...@ID-40161.news.dfncis.de>...
> "The American people, taken one with another,
> constitute the most timorous, sniveling, poltroonish,
> ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever
> gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end
> of the middle ages." -- H.L. Mencken (1922)
>
> "It is a peculiarity of the American mind that it
> regards any excursion into the truth as an adventure
> into cynicism." -- H. L. Mencken
>
> "Americans are culturally antagonistic to being controlled,
> but without a foundation in philosophical thought,
> they are often advocates of some area of regulation,
> control, taxation, or statism, i.e., some attempt to
> control others by force. It is the reluctance to
> submit to the decrees of others that is probably a
> leading cause of much of the crime in America.
> An unphilosophical yet independent people, oppressed,
> are a people ready to explode outward in any direction
> in random, useless acts of violence."
> -- Mark A. Laughlin, "The Philosophy in Defense of Firearms"
Neville X. Elliven
> What is the proper term for one who loves his country
> and fears its government? ("Libertarian" comes to mind. . . .)
"Disabled Veteran" usually qualifies.
> Or, is there a word for someone who hates both,
> but loves the benefits it bestows on him?
If by "it" you mean "country", then perhaps "Criminal" might do;
if by "it" you mean "government", then surely "Bureaucrat".
Emerson on Americans:
"In America, the geography is sublime, but the men are not;
the inventions are excellent, but the inventors one is sometimes
ashamed of." -- R.W. Emerson, "Conduct of Life"
"I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit,
to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy
of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without
apprenticeship." -- R.W. Emerson, "Society and Solitude"
The National Folk Hero of the Net
>
> The Sanity Inspector asked:
>
> > Or, is there a word for someone who hates both,
> > but loves the benefits it bestows on him?
Bruce's tactic dates at least back to the eighteenth century:
I therefore told him that, for my own part, I should not have
ventured to talk in such a peremptory strain, unless I had
made the tour of Europe, and examined the manners of these
several nations with great care and accuracy: that, perhaps,
a more impartial judge would not scruple to affirm that the
Dutch were more frugal and industrious, the French more
temperate and polite, the Germans more hardy and patient of
labour and fatigue, and the Spaniards more staid and sedate,
than the English; who, though undoubtedly brave and generous,
were at the same time rash, headstrong, and impetuous; too
apt to be elated with prosperity, and to despond in adversity.
I could easily perceive that all the company began to regard
me with a jealous eye before I had finished my answer, which
I had no sooner done, than the patriotic gentleman observed,
with a contemptuous sneer, that he was greatly surprised how
some people could have the conscience to live in a country
which they did not love, and to enjoy the protection of a
government, to which in their hearts they were inveterate
enemies.
--Oliver Goldsmith, "National Prejudices"
The Sanity Inspector
Hero of the Net) shared with usenet this thought:
>Bruce's tactic dates at least back to the eighteenth century:
>
>
> I therefore told him that, for my own part, I should not have
> ventured to talk in such a peremptory strain, unless I had
> made the tour of Europe, and examined the manners of these
> several nations with great care and accuracy: that, perhaps,
> a more impartial judge would not scruple to affirm that the
> Dutch were more frugal and industrious, the French more
> temperate and polite, the Germans more hardy and patient of
> labour and fatigue, and the Spaniards more staid and sedate,
> than the English; who, though undoubtedly brave and generous,
> were at the same time rash, headstrong, and impetuous; too
> apt to be elated with prosperity, and to despond in adversity.
>
> I could easily perceive that all the company began to regard
> me with a jealous eye before I had finished my answer, which
> I had no sooner done, than the patriotic gentleman observed,
> with a contemptuous sneer, that he was greatly surprised how
> some people could have the conscience to live in a country
> which they did not love, and to enjoy the protection of a
> government, to which in their hearts they were inveterate
> enemies.
>
> --Oliver Goldsmith, "National Prejudices"
Criticizing American policy is intrinsically American.
Condemning America is quite another matter.
-- Michael P. Tremoglie, "Americaphobia",
http://frontpagemag.com/columnists/tremoglie/2001/trem12-17-01.htm
The professor whose [Philadelphia Inquirer] editorial claimed
the World Trade Center was justifiably destroyed should have
considered how much comfort, and security he received because of the
wealth generated by the World Trade Center and the innocent people who
worked there. He did not consider that America has risked life and
property to help others all over the world – including those in the
Muslim world. Such acts are not the acts of a greedy culture.
Americaphobes spout their polarizing palaver for many
different reasons. Some do it because they want to demonstrate how
enlightened they are. Some do it because of sanctimony. Some do it
because they are ignorant. Some do it because they hate capitalism and
democracy. Some do it because they are treasonous. Whatever the
reason, the attitudes and behavior of Americaphobes are not the result
of well-considered and objective deliberation or of compassion. They
are the exact opposite of what they claim to be.
-- ibid
William C Waterhouse
> The professor whose [Philadelphia Inquirer] editorial claimed
> the World Trade Center was justifiably destroyed should have
> considered how much comfort, and security he received because of the
> wealth generated by the World Trade Center and the innocent people who
> worked there.
> --> -- Michael P. Tremoglie, "Americaphobia",
> http://frontpagemag.com/columnists/tremoglie/2001/trem12-17-01.htm
Tremoglie's column, when examined, gave a little more detail:
An editorial column in the Philadelphia Inquirer stated that the
World Trade Center was the preeminent symbol of America's greed,
and justifiably resented and targeted by the terrorists.
The writer was a professor at the Maryland Institute of Art.
Now there is indeed one professor at the Maryland Institute College of
Art who has written a number of short pieces in the Inquirer and
elsewhere; his name is Crispin Sartwell. He did indeed write an
op-ed column (published Oct. 9, 2001) that deals with the attack
on the World Trade Center.
AND IT DOESN"T SAY ANYTHING LIKE WHAT TREMOGLIE CLAIMS.
It's called "If you're not killing the killers, it's terrrorism."
It starts with the idea that the bombing of Hiroshima was also an
attack on noncombatants. But it doesn't use that to justify
the later action; it does just the opposite.
"When I compare the two [Hiroshima and Sept. 11], I am not doing
it to provide any moral cover whatever to Osama bin Laden.
Nothing, nothing can justify flying airliners into office buildings.
It doesn't matter, finally, whether we call it terrorism or war
or love or charity. The words, in the mouths of the various parties,
are nothing, literally nothing. But the lives destroyed are real,
are true, are precious beyond speaking."
His ultimate point is
"In my view, we must respond with force. But we had better try as
hard as we know how to kill the people responsible and not cities full
of noncombatants."
There is nothing about "the preeminent symbol of America's greed,
... justifiably resented and targeted by the terrorists."
I have checked the full list of opinion columns since Sept. 11
in the Inquirer, and this is the only one of his that has any
reference even vaguely resembling what Tremoglie says. (There
is another from Dec. 4 suggesting that the US should occupy
Afghanistan rather than leave it to the Northern Alliance.)
In short, it seems that Tremoglie posesses a talent for casual
dishonesty that makes him a good match for some of the other right-wing
columnists that have been cited on this group.
William C. Waterhouse
Penn State
ObQuote:
2 )Dick Vitale
I love college basketball. But if I have to listen to this buffoon
yelling "ptper" (prime time player) or "diaper dandy" (freshman)
one more time, someone will pay. I'm not prepared at this point
in time to announce how they will pay. I have no truck with violence.
I am a pacifist and I have a "shag" haircut. I weep for the
homeless and I take in little voles off the street. It is unusual
for me to cut out anyone's heart with an obsidian blade, and even
when I do, I rarely devour it in a blood ecstasy.
--from "The Five Most Annoying People on Television",
by Crispin Sartwell, in the Inquirer, Dec. 11, 2001
Neville X. Elliven
a sentimentality of flag-cheering with no constructive duties."
-- H.G. Wells, "The Future in America"
"Patriots are grown too shrewd to be sincere,
And we too wise to trust them."
-- Wm. Cowper, "The Task"
"The flaming patriot, who so lately scorched us in the meridian,
sinks temperately to the west, and is hardly felt as he descends."
-- Junius [Sir Philip Francis], "Letters" (15 Aug 1771)