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Bogger
Journeyman
Reged: 01/31/03
Posts: 74
Loc: Florida
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I hope I posted this in the right thread! Sorry DB if I didn't wasn't sure which one!
The Americans
By Gordon Sinclair
"...this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth."
First broadcast on June 5, 1973, the late Gordon Sinclair's "The Americans" now is inspiring a new generation through e-mail and the power of the Internet.
In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, anti-American sentiment was rampant. One Canadian radio commentator felt the United States, plagued by economic difficulties and natural disasters, deserved more support and respect from its fellow nations. This is an excerpt of what he had to say:
The United States Dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth.
As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse. Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did.
They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Mississippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries in to help -- Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.
The Marshall Plan -- the Truman Policy -- all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans...
You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times -- and safely home again...
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.
Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.
I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.
This year's disasters -- with the year less than half-over -- have taken it all and nobody -- but nobody -- has helped.
(c) 1973 BY GORDON SINCLAIR
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arabhorse
Old Hand
Reged: 09/12/02
Posts: 422
Loc: Deserts of Arabia, band of mar...
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US people are great, it's these tyrant leaders that have erased any goodwill the average American has built through good deeds through arrogant and imperialist foreign policy. When a Palestinian child is shot and killed by Israeli Gestapo and the doctors frantically rush to save the innocent child's life by extricating bullets, what does that bullet say? 'Made in USA'. I love my country, though allegiance to political entities should take a back seat to the goodwill towards all creatures, and I fear and loathe this fascist nexus of Government and Industry...the peace-loving and generous American people take a back seat to the bureaucrats and greedy, self-serving politicians and yet we are caught up in this patriotic fervor stirred up by propaganda designed to make us all believe those in DC are acting in our best interest. It's time we stop acting like naive children and educate ourselves about exactly why so much of the world is anti-American. Until we return to the democratic principles upon which this country was founded and resist the tyranny which has been quietly, scandalously thrust upon us, we can expect more of the same and even worse. I don't think anyone 'hates freedom'...they hate the US's despotic, hypocritical foreign policy which crushes the aspirations of the average freedom-loving people across the world...in all the jingoism, let's not confuse the generosity of American people and use that to distract from the abhorrent practices which our elected leaders pursue worldwide.
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Love your country--fear your government.
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Stacy
Enthusiast
Reged: 11/15/02
Posts: 245
Loc: USA
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Quote:
Until we return to the democratic principles upon which this country was founded and resist the tyranny which has been quietly, scandalously thrust upon us, we can expect more of the same and even worse.
The US is not and has never been a Democracy.....Al Gore didn't understand that.
I'm not even gonna get into the rest of it but until every single American realizes there really are people out there that want nothing more than to see all Americans dead and it has nothing to do with our Gov't, we are sitting ducks.
Tony Blair said it best not too long ago.... "They killed over 3,000, if they could have killed over 30,000 they would have killed over 30,000."
And you know what? They would have danced in the street even more.
I for one will never, as long as I live, forget what happened on 9/11. I for one feel the footage of it happening should be mandatory viewing for every single American. Too many Americans have forgotten that the streets of New York City looked like a war zone. Too many Americans have forgotten how close it came to being a very serious problem on our soil. What happened 9/11 was serious but it was no where what was wanted or planned. You know sitting around being so afraid you can't do anything is never good, but now that the fear is gone for many people, they seemed to have forgotten what happened and what almost happened.
I remember when Hollywood boycotted South Africa and they lost a lot of money doing that. Anyone remember Artists Against Apartheid.....Ain't gonna play Sun City?
Here it is:
Quote:
Ahh.. Sun City
Sun City
South Africa
South Africa
We're rockers and rappers united and strong
We're here to talk about South Africa we don't like what's going on (tell it)
It's time for some justice it's time for the truth (speak it)
We've realized there's only one thing we can do
We gotta say
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
Oh, no no no no
I / I
I / I
Oh I / I
I ain't gonna play Sun City
Everybody say
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
I, I I, I I I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
Relocation to phony homelands
Separation of families I can't understand
23 million can't vote because they're black
We're stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back
We're gonna say
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
We're gonna say
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
Our government tells us we're doing all we can
Constructive Engagement is Ronald Reagan's plan
Meanwhile people are dying and giving up hope
This quiet diplomacy ain't nothing but a joke
We're gonna say
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
I ain't gonna play no no
We're gonna say
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
Don't wanna play, don't wanna play
It's time to accept our responsibility
Freedom is a privilege nobody rides for free
Look around the world baby it cannot be denied
Why are we always on the wrong side
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
Will someone tell me what's going on?
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
Boputhuswana is far away
But we know it's in South Africa no matter what they say (no matter what they say)
You can't buy me I don't care what you pay
Don't ask me Sun City because I ain't gonna play
We gotta say
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
I, I I, I I I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
Relocation to phony homelands
Separation of families I can't understand
23 million can't vote because they're black
We're stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back
We're gonna say
I / I
I / I
I / I
Ain't gonna play Sun City
They got in a huff about Apartheid and someone needed to get in a huff about it, but there are many of those artist that haven't said SQUAT about Sadam killing his own people!
Yup, we Americans are spoiled and we don't understand the world outside our boundries and if we don't stop these nuts, that world outside our boundries will become our world. We are NOT even capable of living through or PREPARED for what Israel goes through. We are not equipped to deal with Suicide bombers in Malls, Resturants, Etc.
The issue with the Middle East goes back to a time before the USA was around, it has EVERYTHING to do with Israel and two people called Isaac and Ishmael and it has nothing to do with hating the USA, it has to do with hating the Jews and anyone they consider "Christian".
I am proud of our Military and I am very, very thankful for what they are doing, you should be too. Because of what they are doing now and have done in the past you can say what you did in your post without the fear of the Gov't killing you.....think about it.
I for one am one of those "idiots" that feel our Gov't has our best interest at heart. They might not "care" about the little people, but you know what? The personal freedom of each leader in our Gov't and their family is just as important to them as it is to us.
I can't stand it when I see the people of the USA not standing behind their leaders on an issue such as this, a house divided will not stand.
I'm off my soapbox now.
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arabhorse
Old Hand
Reged: 09/12/02
Posts: 422
Loc: Deserts of Arabia, band of mar...
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That's an admirable position, but very naive. As far as Saddam 'killing his own people', remember those were Kurdish separatists who would have killed just as many Iraqis if they had the capability...and remember who provided Saddam with those chemical weapons? Your beloved US Government! To kill Iranians was the official purpose, and in the eyes of those who provided the weapons the 'collateral damage' was worth it. Just ask 'Rummy', who cavorted around Baghdad back in the 80's chumming around with Saddam. I dislike Saddam as well, but how many dictators are there in the world? The key is this particular dictator is sittin on a big fat pile of black gold that the Bushies want. North Korea doesn't have enough so it's not worth it...as far as the military goes, those poor clueless kids have been indoctrinated so they think they're fighting for 'freedom' but are really fighting for Exxon and Texaco and Halliburton...Traditionally the US has used military for defensive purposes to keep our citizenry safe and has never entered a preemptive war like this would be. This sort of arrogance is precisely why 'we' are hated--the actions of our government with its atrocious and brutal foreign policy.
I could say what I wanted to in France or the rest of Europe or even South Africa these days without getting shot...though if John Asscroft had his way, all dissenters would be shot as traitors..'you're either with us or against us'...
'Israel' was a huge mistake on behalf of the colonial powers that created it a couple generations ago on someone else's land. Since then, how many billions of dollars have we given to prop up that country, with a prosperous economy, in lieu of more needy countries? Each year we give more than 5 billion to a country with a population of a few million with a brutal regime hellbent on ethnic cleansing of the native people. In light of the huge disparity in arms, how else are the Palestinian people supposed to resist occupation? I'll bet Americans would line up in droves to blow themselves up to liberate NYC if New York was occupied by China somehow and the rest of the world didn't give a Best if kept off the board. Anti-Zionist and Anti-Israel is NOT the same thing as anti-Jew. And how dare you tie the struggle of the Palestinians to what happened in NYC? Osama is proud of you, because that's exactly the link he's trying to claim as well...
The people of Islam respect other 'people of the book', both Christian and Jew, and in Palestine before the Zionist occupation all three religions coexisted relatively peacefully. Did you ever learn that Zionist 'Israelis' suicide-bombed British soldiers to establish their state? They invented the practice, now karma's coming back to haunt them for the example they set. Both Muslim and Christian Palestinians are being oppressed and occupied by Jewish fundamentalists, so to frame this conflict as Muslims vs. Christians/Jews is misleading at best and blatantly hateful and racist at worst.
Remember Tariq Aziz of Iraq is a Christian as well...this is not about religion (Saddam's is a SECULAR regime) this is about economics. Saddam did not blow up the WTC...it's unrelated, but it sure would be a convenient pretext...so what if it's untrue as long as enough people are fooled into thinking it IS true. How many American children has Iraq killed over the last decade? Try zero. How many Iraqi children have been killed by the US, directly and indirectly over the last decade? Hundreds of thousands. Who's really evil here?
As far as the 'dancing in the streets' goes, if you'd bothered to follow the news stories in the weeks following the attacks, you'd know that in the name of journalistic sensationalism and 'breaking a big story' and tweaking emotions of Americans for ratings, a) Stock footage was used from other unrelated celebrations of dancing in the streets and b) the small minority of maybe a couple hundred out of millions was blown way out of proportion and played ad nauseum to make it seem as if the whole Arab world was celebrating the attacks. That couldn't be further from the truth and true believers of Islam were offering condolences, even if they didn't agree and were angry with America's policies. And what do you make of Israelis in America (and Israel) dancing and whooping and celebrating as they watched footage of the attacks, knowing this would be a huge PR boost for their cause (apartheid, ethnic cleansing and eventual expulsion). That was up on Fox News and CNN for weeks.
The American people are truly a great and loving people but are terribly misinformed, uneducated and thus unconcerned about world affairs, foreign policy and the like so those in power take advantage of this to enrich themselves and the corporations they represent. To use 9/11 as an excuse to attack anyone we don't like is un-American...dishonest and filthy. What a disgrace to the victims of that tragedy that this administration is cynically using the raw emotions to channel that righteous anger to serve their own evil purposes.
It's the job of the leaders to stand behind and execute the will of the people who elected them, not the other way around! We have too many problems in our own country to be meddling in other countries affairs, paying billions for others' weapons and po'ing just about everyone in the process. Wake up from your jingoistic, propaganda-induced trance! If you're referring to the last election, you are terribly misinformed...U.S. IS (supposed to be) a representative democracy (as opposed to a direct democracy) and yeah, although our current 'president' was appointed by the Supreme Court, usually the winner of the Electoral College (which Gore would have been had all the votes been counted) is the winner even if (s)he loses the popular vote. Is that what you're referring to? I agree the US is becoming much less of a democracy...some would like to see it become a theocracy, but luckily there is still some semblance of a Constitution left, though not much...
I am an artist, and I got a finger for both Bush and Blair...and one for Cheney and Wolfowitz, and another double finger for Rumsfeld and Asscroft. You can bet many protest songs will follow....as Sleater-Kinney put it in 'Combat Rock' on the album 'One Beat',
"They told us that there's only 2 sides to be on,
If you agree with us you're right-if not you're wrong,
But are we innocent paragons of good?
Is the guilt outweighed by the pain that we've endured?
Hey look it's time to pledge allegiance--
I love my dirty Uncle Sam!
Our country's marching to the beat now,
and we must learn to step in time!
Where is the questioning, where is the protest song?
Since when is skepticism un-Amer-ican?
Dissent's not treason but they talk like it's the same,
Those who disagree are afraid to show their face
Let's break out all our old machines now
'Sure is good to see them run again...
Gentlemen start your engines!'
And we know where we get the oil from...
Are you feelin alright, are you singing 'let's fight!'
as innocent people die
And noone's ever told...
She loved her country, go out and spend some cash
Red-white-blue hot pants doing it for Uncle Sam...
The good old boys are back on top again,
and if we let them lead us blindly,
the past becomes the future once again....
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Love your country--fear your government.
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Stacy
Enthusiast
Reged: 11/15/02
Posts: 245
Loc: USA
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You know....I just lost my entire post and maybe that's a good thing.
Quote:
And how dare you tie the struggle of the Palestinians to what happened in NYC? Osama is proud of you, because that's exactly the link he's trying to claim as well...
I didn't, I was clear where that came from....remember Isaac, Ishmael?
Quote:
Traditionally the US has used military for defensive purposes to keep our citizenry safe and has never entered a preemptive war like this would be.
Preemptive? Seems to me that Sadam has never once held up his end of the bargin we made with him.....
As far as occupation.....the land belonged to Jehovah, the God of Abraham and he gave it to Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob (also known as Israel) and not to Ishmael. Ishmael received specific land of his own. Israel will have all their land back eventually, Jehovah said so.
I would rather die standing behind Israel than live with the US turning their back on Her. Nasty things will come to those that turn their back on Israel. The USA has been called the Sleeping Giant, but we aren't the Sleeping Giant...the real Sleeping Giant is Israel.
The Kurds aren't the only ones that Sadam has killed, their are people dying everyday while thousands of dollars of food from all of his palaces are thrown away every single day.
Now you are free to your opinion, as I am free to mine, but with freedom comes much responsibility and consequence and tunnel vision and false sense of security will get people in trouble everytime.
I can't discuss this with you anymore because I will just lose my temper and that won't be good. I don't believe my Gov't is always right nor do I believe that Israel is always right but I also know that God will deal with Israel and He doesn't need me handling it. I have very specific reasons for my beliefs and they have nothing whatsoever to do with politics nor something as silly as oil. I also don't believe that oil has anything to do with what the USA is doing right now. We have the ability to produce enough oil that we would never have to buy another drop but so far we don't do it because people really want to preserve Alaska....we might not have that choice in the future.
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arabhorse
Old Hand
Reged: 09/12/02
Posts: 422
Loc: Deserts of Arabia, band of mar...
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"You know....I just lost my entire post and maybe that's a good thing"
Divine intervention?
Israel' is a fable out of a 2000 year old book and the people who live there today have NOTHING to do with those who lived there millennia ago that the book writes about. Who's to say whose religious text is right? I had no idea I was talking to a fanatical religious fundamentalist, or else I wouldn't have put so much energy into the post. If you wanna die for Israel go right ahead...I say skrew 'em. I'm sure others believe Allah decreed that land would be for 'his' believers. So is this Allah vs. Jehovah? Skrew Jehovah too...this sort of fundamentalism is what caused the whole 911 mess in the first place, and you are only too eager to fan the flames of religious hatred.
There's people hungry and homeless in our own lands while we have people in mansions and palaces throwing away more than others could eat in a day...so let's not be hypocritical here, huh? And Iraqis are starving because of sanctions that the US imposed! That most of the rest of the world wants lifted but this administration wields its veto power to block!
I'm glad people who believe as you do are in the minority, although that vocal minority could wind up starting WWIII over some stupid self-fulfilling prophecy....Israel will fall just as all the other evil regimes in the world have throughout history...to cloak their racist, apartheid actions in religion and tie it to Armageddon or some twisted manifest destiny is shameful and appalling. Free Palestine!
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Love your country--fear your government.
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Bogger
Journeyman
Reged: 01/31/03
Posts: 74
Loc: Florida
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Sorry DB members I didn't mean to start any debates or diagreement here. I will not post anything like this again I just thought was a very nice article for someone from another region to say about Americans. Again Sorry.
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Stacy
Enthusiast
Reged: 11/15/02
Posts: 245
Loc: USA
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Yes Blogger it was a very nice thing for someone else to say about Americans.....people just sometimes forget our leaders are Americans also. 
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