God Bless America

[JDFP]

tNqUORIFV4I

and...

UKVsq2daR8Q

The first is because it's how I feel today. The second because I think it's one of the finest speeches in American history.

Today, remember what makes America great. The men and women from every ethnic background/culture/society that come together into the "melting pot" of this nation to make Her what She is today -- a shining beacon of a city on a hill.

"And how stand the city [America] on this winter night?...after two hundred years, two centuries, She still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and Her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And She's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home." -- Ronald Wilson Reagan

j.p.

[EvilNed]

I'm not much for patriotism, myself. In any way, shape or form.

[JDFP]

I'm not much for patriotism, myself. In any way, shape or form.

Yeah, I can respect that opinion, and I used to feel the same way. But the American Principle is higher than either one of us ever will be -- and it's something to give absolute appreciation to. Likewise, the 4th of July for me is a celebration of victory over tyranny and despotism to create the great American nation, the greatest social experiment in history given life in the birth of our country. Even though She may have become polluted the last 20 years or so, the principle behind Her cannot be corrupted.

I'll never apologize for believing in the greatness of what our nation represents in theory if not always in practice (unlike some current political leaders) and what She still stands for today -- through thick or thin the shining city on a hill has never fallen or failed.

j.p.

[bassman]

IhnUgAaea4M&hl=en_US&fs=1

[Kaos]

I think we should start a petition for America Fuck Yeah to be our national anthem.

[EvilNed]

Yeah, I can respect that opinion, and I used to feel the same way. But the American Principle is higher than either one of us ever will be --

Well, agree to disagree. I find this nothing short of creepy to be honest.

[clanglee]

tNqUORIFV4I

.

I have always. . . ALWAYS. . . .hated that fucking song!!!!! :mad:

---------- Post added at 02:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:20 AM ----------


IhnUgAaea4M&hl=en_US&fs=1

This one however!!! :lol::lol::lol: I'm all for making this our anthem.

[thxleo]

tNqUORIFV4I

and...

UKVsq2daR8Q

The first is because it's how I feel today. The second because I think it's one of the finest speeches in American history.

Today, remember what makes America great. The men and women from every ethnic background/culture/society that come together into the "melting pot" of this nation to make Her what She is today -- a shining beacon of a city on a hill.

"And how stand the city [America] on this winter night?...after two hundred years, two centuries, She still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and Her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And She's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home." -- Ronald Wilson Reagan

j.p.

Very nice post, J.P. It's a shame there's not more folks like you that frequent this message board.

[Danny]

IhnUgAaea4M&hl=en_US&fs=1

i heard this a disturbing amount of times over the last few days...:|

[SymphonicX]

Well, ya gotta love something in life!

For some people it's their God, their football team, their favourite band, or in this case the raised bit of ground that protrudes above sea level to create a land based dwelling for humans in the western end of the planet....

[bassman]

i heard this a disturbing amount of times over the last few days...:|

Over there? :rockbrow:

[Danny]

Over there? :rockbrow:

The internet don't have a 'There' dude.

[bassman]

The internet don't have a 'There' dude.

Ah. The internet. Sorry. I assumed you had a life away from the internet.:p

[JDFP]

Well, ya gotta love something in life!

For some people it's their God, their football team, their favourite band, or in this case the raised bit of ground that protrudes above sea level to create a land based dwelling for humans in the western end of the planet....

Ideals are greater than geography and/or reality. :)

In fact your entire statement is based upon 500 years worth of "idealism" that have become manifest into the very notion of your ideology. I'm not saying you're wrong (in fact, I happen to agree with you) but you're proving my statement that Ideals are greater than geography and/or reality just by stating it.

j.p.

[SymphonicX]

Ideals are greater than geography and/or reality. :)

In fact your entire statement is based upon 500 years worth of "idealism" that have become manifest into the very notion of your ideology. I'm not saying you're wrong (in fact, I happen to agree with you) but you're proving my statement that Ideals are greater than geography and/or reality just by stating it.

j.p.

Self serving in that respect then?
You remind me of Ed Harris in Knightriders "If you die, your ideals don't die"

Other than that I've literally no idea what you're saying....!! :D :confused:

[JDFP]

Self serving in that respect then?
You remind me of Ed Harris in Knightriders "If you die, your ideals don't die"

Other than that I've literally no idea what you're saying....!! :D :confused:

Other than the holy trilogy, "Knightriders" is my most favorite Romero film -- incredible stuff (IMO). Ed Harris was fantastic in that role too.

Basically, I'm just saying that the ideology of America is greater than just the geography of what it is. The American Principle/American Dream/etc. -- that type of jive, you dig? :)

j.p.

[SymphonicX]

This cat digs....lol

yeah I get ya now - that's a whole discussion right there - is idealogy more important than reality?

[JDFP]

This cat digs....lol

yeah I get ya now - that's a whole discussion right there - is idealogy more important than reality?

It's a fantastic question and maybe a good question to post to the forum just to hear other people's opinions on it. But I say yes that Ideology is more important than reality. I guess the question is whether or not Ideology should be more important than reality or not. It's a damn good question, actually.

j.p.

[SymphonicX]

It's a fantastic question and maybe a good question to post to the forum just to hear other people's opinions on it. But I say yes that Ideology is more important than reality. I guess the question is whether or not Ideology should be more important than reality or not. It's a damn good question, actually.

j.p.

that's the killer, right there - personally I say no, idealogy can cloud rational judgment and rationality is God in my book - but then on the other hand idealogy has borne a huge part of the planet's culture and identity and without those I fear we'd be naturally like the people in Demolition Man or something....ugh.

[BillyRay]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/comment/8/2010/07/ad6d4a18f45e8d7057045a48754b46ed/340x.png

Amurrica...

[Mike70]

that's the killer, right there - personally I say no, idealogy can cloud rational judgment and rationality is God in my book - but then on the other hand idealogy has borne a huge part of the planet's culture and identity and without those I fear we'd be naturally like the people in Demolition Man or something....ugh.

Ideaology is one of the worst things that humans suffer from. i'll take knowledge/reality any day. knowledge does not admit belief nor ideaology. 2 plus 2 =4 no matter what the f*ck you beleive in nor what your "ideaology" is. Ideaology is why there are assholes that blow themselves up on buses full of people trying to get to work, it is what makes people plant explosive devices next to roads, fly planes into buildings, it is what causes war, murder and pain. it is what causes things like the inquisition, the institution of slavery, cults, and every single one of the disasterous forms that politics has taken in human history.

i have had nothing but ridicule for idealists my entire life and that will not change. the world is under zero mandate to order itself according to the ideaology of one group of people or another.

i hate the very f*cking word idealism.

[EvilNed]

I'll agree with Mike here, but I won't go as far as "hate". But ideals and idealism are a naive state of mind that need to be cleansed. In another world, ideals may work. But in this f*cked up world we live in, they don't. If we were to do a clean reboot and just educate everybody from the get-go, then yeah. Go idealism. But in a world where white trash creationists have the same voting priviledges as educated and realistic people, ideals loose much of their meaning.

Human rights, you may cry out. Why would you be given rights? The only "right" you should have is the "right" to live. All other rights you should prove yourself worthy off. You have to take a driver's ed. test to get the "right" to drive a car, right? So why are there so many other things that you can do just because you were born?

Also, and I'm not kidding now, but all the major coorporations have to go. By simply living in today's western world you are most likely indulging in X amount of actions per day that infringe on other people's "rights". The very same "rights" that you would whine your ass off if they were ever withheld from you.

Meh, America? I pledge alliegance to the united coorporations of america. They have just as much, if not more, to say about today's politics than you. The plebs.

[JDFP]

The only "right" you should have is the "right" to live. All other rights you should prove yourself worthy off.

There have been over 118 million people who were discovered under the tyrannies of the Soviet Union and Red China and the regimes of Cambodia and N. Korea to not have the "right" to live after all. I suppose they just shouldn't have existed because they weren't proving themselves worthy enough of living. Fascinating enough, the Ideology of Communism has killed more people in the last 100 years than every religious-oriented conflict in world history. And that's rather impressive!

I don't think the issue is ideology so much as dogmatic zeal in believing one ideology is ultimately superior to any other ideology in existence and that the adherents to said ideology are somehow a "Vanguard" in being wiser than all the other fools out there. This leads to oppression whether by religion or by State-sanctioned ideology - both equally as damaging and destructive when set apart as being somehow "superior" to all other thoughts on the nature of humanity and the world around us.

Live and let live - I don't care if my neighbor believes that the world is flat and my other neighbor believes aliens visits him on a regular basis. The only thing that bothers me is dogmatic zealousness in believing that all others who do not subscribe to this point of view are somehow not as educated or less civilized or, in any way, lacking from others. And this dogmatism is the downfall of people.

j.p.

[EvilNed]

Live and let live? Live and educate, that's what I say. Knowledge should be our key to a greater society, that should be our one unifying goal. To set out and educate everyone. As long as there are stupid people, we might as well take any of the ideals mentioned in this thread and wipe our asses with them. They're not worth shit, either it be in the USSR or the USA.

[AcesandEights]

I think some of you jabronis forgot to clock out when you left the ring and are posting in your WWE personas.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/DougOBrien/bio-hacksawjimduggan2.png