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[pudgy]

TweetHow to spot an American.
True, true.


You probably missed it in the rush of the news, but there was a report that someone in Pakistan had advertised in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American... any American.

Lets help them out with an answer…How do you spot an American; that can be tough.

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or 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 chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only 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 person 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, 2001, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least. The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These, in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families.

The World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists. So you can try to kill an American if you must. ****** 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.

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, anywhere, is an American.

Pass this around the World.

[goliath.jr]

TweetGood post pudge. I agree with every bit of it. Though quite frankly - I'm sick of hearing about it. Americans seem to forget history VERY quickly. Let me give you a reminder:

Although tragic by all means, the WTC incident was nothing compared to the damage that we have done to other innocent men/women/children.

The WTC death toll was estimated at what? 3,000 people? That is a big loss of life indeed. My hearts go out to the families - but it pales in comparison to what we did to the Japanese in WW2.

Hiroshima Death Toll: estimated - 200,000
Nagasaki Death Toll: estimated 130,000

Of those 300,000+ deaths, how many do you suppose were Military personnel? We wiped out entire cities people! I'm sure I am going to get flamed for this but c'mon. Keep it in perspective. I cannot begin to explain how much I feel for the families who lost loved ones in the WTC, and I love America. This is not meant as a stab at my country. But we had it comming...

[pudgy]

Tweetdont forget pearl harbor you commie. they started it

[goliath.jr]

Tweet

Originally posted by pudgy
dont forget pearl harbor you commie. they started it

LOL - true. But Pearl Harbor was a military target. What we did is no different than the Afghan's dropping a nuke on Chicago.

[pudgy]

Tweetim not sure i agree but i see your logic.

[ElCid]

Tweet

Originally posted by goliath.jr
Good post pudge. I agree with every bit of it. Though quite frankly - I'm sick of hearing about it. Americans seem to forget history VERY quickly. Let me give you a reminder:

Although tragic by all means, the WTC incident was nothing compared to the damage that we have done to other innocent men/women/children.

The WTC death toll was estimated at what? 3,000 people? That is a big loss of life indeed. My hearts go out to the families - but it pales in comparison to what we did to the Japanese in WW2.

Hiroshima Death Toll: estimated - 200,000
Nagasaki Death Toll: estimated 130,000

Of those 300,000+ deaths, how many do you suppose were Military personnel? We wiped out entire cities people! I'm sure I am going to get flamed for this but c'mon. Keep it in perspective. I cannot begin to explain how much I feel for the families who lost loved ones in the WTC, and I love America. This is not meant as a stab at my country. But we had it comming...

Goliath, I really have no desire to get into a flame war on this, but I feel I have to respond. "We had it coming. . ."- why? You mention Hiroshima and Nagasaki. May I point out to you that we had declared war on Japan, and that for a period of three days prior to dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, the US dropped leaflets warning the citizens to surrender or abandon the city. And, prior to Nagasaki, we again dropped the same leaflets warning those folks that they were going to suffer the same fate as the citizens of Hiroshima if they did not surrender or flee. Now come on, I admit that every country in the world has blood on its hands, but do you really think we "had it coming." Do you really think a true parallel to the events of World WAR II can be drawn? I for one think the analogy is false.

Just my 2.

[pudgy]

Tweetum 2. is two dollars your all a bunch of commies .

[goliath.jr]

TweetI see your point ElCid - but what it all boils down to is the fact that the US is just as guilty of terrorism as the Al-quida (or however they spell it ) By deffinition, Terrorism is the premeditated, deliberate, systematic murder, mayhem, and threatening of the innocent to create fear and intimidation in order to gain a political or tactical advantage, usually to influence an audience. (def. by James M. Poland). Now - the fact that we were indeed at war with Japan means squat. The simple fact remains that we are a nation that will result to terrorism when all else fails. Just the same as the "Al-whatever" have. We are just as guilty.

[ElCid]

TweetSorry, my .02, but maybe 2. was more fitting, as it was a longer post.

[pudgy]

Tweet

Originally posted by goliath.jr
I see your point ElCid - but what it all boils down to is the fact that the US is just as guilty of terrorism as the Al-quida (or however they spell it ) By deffinition, Terrorism is the premeditated, deliberate, systematic murder, mayhem, and threatening of the innocent to create fear and intimidation in order to gain a political or tactical advantage, usually to influence an audience. (def. by James M. Poland). Now - the fact that we were indeed at war with Japan means squat. The simple fact remains that we are a nation that will result to terrorism when all else fails. Just the same as the "Al-whatever" have. We are just as guilty.

somebody needs a hug since we are friends ill forgive you for being a treehugging bleeding heart liberal

[goliath.jr]

Tweet

Originally posted by pudgy
somebody needs a hug since we are friends ill forgive you for being a treehugging bleeding heart liberal

LOL - I'm not a tree hugger! Just to prove it - I'm gonna go and cut down that 1oo year old oak tree out in front of my office building.

[ElCid]

Tweet

Originally posted by goliath.jr
I see your point ElCid - but what it all boils down to is the fact that the US is just as guilty of terrorism as the Al-quida (or however they spell it ) By deffinition, Terrorism is the premeditated, deliberate, systematic murder, mayhem, and threatening of the innocent to create fear and intimidation in order to gain a political or tactical advantage, usually to influence an audience. (def. by James M. Poland). Now - the fact that we were indeed at war with Japan means squat. The simple fact remains that we are a nation that will result to terrorism when all else fails. Just the same as the "Al-whatever" have. We are just as guilty.

Listen. I know the definition of "terrorism." We likely took the same class in college (I was a Poli. Sci. major), but most actions don't fit into nice definitions, each is shaped by perception, subjective interpretation, the surrounding circumstances, etc. As I am sure we have all heard, "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter or revolutionary." Was George Washington a terrorist? Well it likely depends on which side of the fence your on- Britain or the colonies? I do not agree with your statement that "we had it coming" or that we were somehow acting as "terrorists" during WWII. There were defined countries, with defined actions, with defined aggressors, with defined governments, and on and on. The rules of engagement were quite different, and the reasons behind the actions are not present in the case of 9/11. Is Usama a revolutionary? Well maybe in the minds of some Palestinians, but to me his just a punk ass *****. I am sure we can go through the history of the US and point out many instances in which the US could fit into the aforementioned definition of "terrorist" (i.e., treatment of the Native Americans, individual instances in Vietnam (which I will point out were not sanctioned by the citizens of the US), etc.), but I will not put our actions during WWII in this class.

Like I said before, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. In my opinion, those responsible for 9/11 are not in the "freedom fighter" category.

I need to get some work done before I get fired.