It's a intolerant rant with view that are supposedly from some "true American".
I looked around the net to see what others thought of it, but couldn't find what I felt were the best responses...
So, here's some of my responses:
I Am the Liberal-Progressives Worst Nightmare.
Well then... I am a nightmare of injustice, self-righteousness; bane of small-mindedness & intolerance; tormentor of ignorance and irrational fear.
I am an American.
*I* am an American
I am a Master Mason and believe in God.
I am a computer programmer and I believe that believing in God or not believing in God is private business. Keep it out of public discourse. This is America, where no one should be judged by their beliefs; only on how they act for the common good.
I ride Harley Davidson Motorcycles and believe in American products.
What's so great about you riding a motorcycle? I drive a car from Honda... which, incidentally, was built in the US by American workers. While that company is still paying its American taxes and workers, the “Big Three” are part of the economic collapse, responsible for thousands of lost jobs, and the recipients of massive public bailouts.
Would you still buy products from an American company that is hiding taxes in off-shore tax havens, profiting by sending jobs to foreign countries, or making money supporting the military-industrial complex, or illegally spying on US citizens (telecoms), or cheating their employees, or trying to keep their workers from organizing if they want to. Do you know the full story of what you wear/drive/eat/buy?
I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some Liberal governmental functionary be it Democratic or Republican!
It was Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations), a founding philosopher of Capitalism, who first proposed a progressive income tax.
I realize that I don't live apart from my friends, my neighbors, my city, my state, or my country. Only people stuck in a child's mindset see government as surrogate parents who "make" you pay taxes and boss you around. Our government is, by design, yours and mine -- OURS -- to create and to change. Paying taxes is one of my greatest civic roles. Yours, too.
I'm in touch with my feelings and I like it that way!
It definitely seems that way. Though, a large part of being a decent human being is understanding that you are not the only one with feelings. If you are too involved with your own personal outlook, you run the risk of being unable to empathize with other people.
Loose the ability to see things from others’ perspective and the ignorance that it fosters will lead you to feel perpetually victimized. You will view other peoples’ actions with unjustifiable suspicion, and any capacity to understand the world as it really is will grow smaller.
I think owning a gun doesn't make you a killer, it makes you a smart American.
I don't own a gun, and I don’t immediately think owning a gun makes you either smart or stupid. However, I have traveled the world, and have been to a lot of countries where owning a gun is, if not illegal, at least not as idealized as it is here. These countries generally suffer significantly less crime associated with guns, and in fact, less crime overall.
I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac, do it in English.
Unless the person paying for it doesn't speak English well. It’s plausible to imagine that one might find a cashier at a US McDonald’s that doesn’t speak English as a primary language -- especially in an ethnic neighborhood. However, it’s difficult to understand what threat this poses, or how it indicates we’re on some slippery slope.
It’s not unreasonable to expect people who come here to participate in society, and that includes learning our language. But it’s also unreasonable to ignore the fact that our country is a melting pot. Given that every single person in the US has ancestors who spoke another language -- except those from England -- it makes sense from a humanitarian (not to mention economic) standpoint to attempt to reasonably accommodate these people and be a bit less intolerant.
I believe everyone has a right to pray to his or her God when and where they want to.
Me too. Even a non Judeo-Christian God... Or -- *GASP* -- not pray to a god at all.
The issue has never really been about people not being allowed to practice a particular religion, though. Rather, the problems seem to revolve around the fact that some people don’t want to practice or endorse one specific religion’s dogma. Happy to impose this religion on all facets of society, its adherents cry wolf whenever they need to be reminded that faith is a personal matter, and that a fundamental aspect of our nation is the clear separation of Church and State.
My heroes are John Wayne, Babe Ruth, Roy Rogers, and Willie G. Davidson that makes the awesome Harley Davidson Motorcycles.
Being an actor, baseball player, or motorcycle builder is an odd qualification for heroism. These people might be worthy of being my hero, but it wouldn’t be for any of those reasons.
Instead, I would count as heroes my parents, who, despite life’s incessant difficulties, constant toil, and with unfavorable odds, managed to provide a nurturing, stable and loving environment for me to thrive. My heros would also include those who, throughout history, unabashedly questioned status quo. Those who plied our world with the tools of science and philosophy to better understand the Human Condition. My heros are those who don’t lament for the past, but instead use it as evidence that things can always be better. My heros are those who view our complex and diverse world as a source of wonder and potential and base their understanding of it on intellect and rationality, instead of yielding to ignorance and unwarranted fear.
I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor.
It’s ironic that this statement is meant to be noble. It goes without saying that you should conduct your life with as little hatred and pity as humanly possible.
The foundation of intolerance is gross generalization. Financial status should not even be a factor on whether you hate someone or not, let alone entire groups of people. Likewise, not trivializing the plight of a sizable chunk of our population with self-righteous pity allows a less callous understanding of how individuals are suffering.
I know wrestling is fake and I don't waste my time watching or arguing about it.
It’s difficult to discern the point of this statement, given its glaring irrelevance in this context (or most, for that matter).
I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks and neither have you!
So, shut up already.
A lack of participation in human tragedy hardly absolves anyone from the responsibility of recognizing and acknowledging the impact it had and still has.
For example, the fact that you have never owned slaves is entirely missing the point. While slavery technically ended in the 1860s, inequity and human suffering from it continued unabated well into the 20th century. In fact, the injustices of this despicable chapter in our nation’s history continue into the present. Much of the anguish and suffering experienced by today’s less fortunate can be directly tied to the institution of slavery.
To say “shut up” is to be an accomplice in denial. It’s a willful decision that, since you personally did not participate in an atrocity, you owe no one empathy or acknowledgment of the suffering it caused -- and likely still causes.
What you’re suggesting, in other words, is for us to tell Holocaust survivors the Museum of Tolerance is closing, make our War Veterans take down their memorials & end the V.A., block any special funding for abused women and children, roll back Civil Rights, and stop offering anyone political asylum.
After all, you and I didn’t cause any of that suffering... They should just walk it off, right? And shut up.
“Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times.” -Gustav Flaubert
I believe if you don't like the way things are here, go back to where you came from and change your own country!
This is AMERICA .We like it the way it is!
If you were born here and don't like it you are free to move to any Socialist country that will have you.
This has got to be the most un-American statement that has ever been conceived. The author of this statement, and anyone who abides by it, is a traitor to American values and ideals. They understand nothing of this nation’s history, nor what its people stand for, fight for, or die for.
For one, this country is based on the idea of leaving oppression to create a society that is open to change for the better. In fact, the Founding Fathers created a system in the Constitution specifically to allow this: Amendments.
Second, the majority of citizens in the US trace their heritage to immigrants. This immigration is often not even that far in the past, and is likely to have been the result of leaving a place that wouldn’t give its people an ability to effect change. It is by this very nature of being open to everybody, and having systems in place to actually give the people a voice that America is what it is today.
Thirdly -- and most importantly -- this statement is NOT American, so no, we don’t like it the way it is. It’s hard to believe an American would say these words with any conviction.
From a modern perspective, uttering this statement in a previous era would sound ridiculous. Take the 19th century: racked by slavery and civil war, Native American genocide, and inequality of minorities and women. Early 20th century and the evolving Industrial Revolution -- with its child labor, worker exploitation, Prohibition’s rampant crime spree, and eventually the Great Depression. 1950s and 60s? Continued blatant racism and civil strife, McCarthyism, and the birth of the Cold War. The 1970s and 80s -- the interminable Vietnam War, government corruption at the highest level, flourishing materialism, and decline of the American made product. Even the last couple of decades have been marked by unchecked economic bubbles and their resultant crashes, the eroding of our financial backbone, unsuccessful military escapades, and and uncomfortable realization that our reliance on and policies towards oil producing countries has been fomenting terrorism.
Forget nostalgia; this country has and does need to change. Without question it is still the greatest nation on Earth, but claiming that it doesn’t need change is either incredibly naive, or shamefully disingenuous.
Think about it: by definition making something better requires it to change.
I want to know which church is it exactly where the Reverend Jesse Jackson preaches, where he gets his money, and why he is always part of the problem and not the solution.
Can I get an AMEN on that one?
Memo: Not everyone is Christian
I would like to know where Fox News gets their facts for “fair and balanced” coverage. Why are they fabricating problems that didn’t previously exist, and spreading fear, uncertainty, & doubt over potential solutions to our real issues.
I also think the cops have the right to pull you over if you're breaking the law, regardless of what color you are.
But they DON’T have the right to violate your Constitutional Rights, regardless of what color you are.
And, no, I don't mind having my face shown on my drivers license.
I think it's good.... And I'm proud that 'God' is written on my money.
Not sure the contention that inspired the photo comment.
However, it’s probably fair to assume that if that “God” on the Dollar were replaced with “Allah”, “Odin”, or “God(s)” your pride would be a little less enthusiastic. It’s easy to flaunt the status quo when it appeals to your own narrow worldview.
I think if you are too stupid to know how a ballot works, I don't want you deciding who should be running the most powerful nation in the world for the next four years.
What if you CAN work a ballot, but continue to elect politicians that mislead the public, drag this country into costly conflicts under false pretense, are implicated in illegal and immoral activity, demonstrate blatant incompetence when dealing with national catastrophes, and chip away at the very rights they are sworn to protect?
Though you might be able to work a ballot, you don’t necessarily have any idea how to use it.
I dislike those people standing in the intersections trying to sell me stuff or trying to guilt me into making 'donations' to their cause.
Get a Job and do your part!
Those people selling stuff in the intersections do have a job. Their job is to sell stuff in an intersection. You’re hardly being forced to buy anything, and I cringe at the thought of how you deal with the neighborhood Ice Cream Truck or a Girl Scout at your door to sell cookies.
As for the activists, what’s interesting is they actually ARE doing their part. They are taking a stand on issues they believe in, exercising their freedom of speech, and are participating in the process of democracy.
About that “guilt” you feel... Possibly, it’s you knowing deep down that even though their take on the issue is counter to yours, they might actually have a point. You know you would be unable to defend your position because you hold it with little more than an emotional response.
Instead of feeling guilty, take the opportunity to hear their side of the issue. Research that issue from as many sides as possible, and come to an informed position; be prepared to change your mind. From there, you can decide whether you want to support their cause. If not, you’re guilt free, even though you disagree with them -- because you know exactly why.
I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child, it takes two parents.
This ignorant, short-sighted view could single-handily explain any issues we as a nation have with our children. It does not take two parents, it takes a stable, loving home. Having two parents hardly guarantees a child a proper upbringing, and very often what does is a single mother or a gay couple. And having support of the “village” only helps.
I believe 'illegal' is illegal no matter what the lawyers think.
I believe "illegal" is illegal, and should apply to everyone equally, from the lowest crack dealer to the President of the United States.
I believe the American flag should be the only one allowed in AMERICA !
I believe that anyone who obsesses about the American flag, about two parent families, about activists on street corners, about pride in having "God" on the Dollar bill and other such trivialities sees himself as a victim, not as a strong, informed, curious, open-minded, generous citizen who recognizes that the world we have is the world we make.
If this makes me a BAD American, then yes, I'm a BAD American.
If you truly think this way, it makes you a terrible American.
We want our country back!
I don’t want to lose it...
