Friday, June 24, 2005

My Fellow Americans

Thanks to Justin for alerting us to the Discovery Channel's poll to uncover the Greatest American. There is still time to vote before Sunday's big reveal.

Want to fear for the state of our union? Check out the 100 nominees. Dr. Phil? Tiger Woods? Mel Gibson? Tom frickin' Cruise? Words fail me.

I'm pulling for Ben Franklin. If Ronald Reagan wins, prepare for a monumental rant.

4 comments:

Cheryl said...

No kidding, Bernice. When my husband realizes that Hugh Hefner is on the list and John Adams is not, he is going to blow a gasket.

John Sekar said...

Well, I'm an Indian(not your American-Indian types, I am an Indian-Indian living in India, one of those "bastards" which your bastards Nixon and Kissinger were talkin about) and considering the fact that you guys "elected"(wow! thats funny) George W Bush and his "intellectuality" enables him to fight a "war" for "peace and democracy"(and also for oil, but that's besides the point) and that democratic americans do not oppose this idiot-of-all-trades, I dont find it surprising that Tom Cruise or Micheal Jackson or Hugh Hefner is there in the list. I believe it is one of those "American" things.
Hey, I don't mean to disparage your country. I do understand America is(was?) a great nation. But lately the things you guys do around the world in the name of democracy and peace are simply too bitter to swallow.
After 9/11, I heard that the most frequent question asked was: Why do they hate us so much? I'l tell you why... It's because of people like your current president who hide behind veils of democracy, peace and economic support and perpetrate the most heinous crimes just for the sake of money or political influence.

Cheryl said...

Johnyboy, no need to waste any breath trying to convince me that Bush is a moron. He is president largely because his daddy's people wanted someone who would set right what went wrong in the Mideast during the senior Bush presidency (the "wag the dog" scenario.) 9/11 or not, he would have gone into Iraq because that is what he was programmed to do.

It frustrates me that he thinks admitting you were wrong or changing your mind are character flaws, and it angers me that he has made so many enemies on the world scene, while spending so many young lives along the way.

Meanwhile, at home, he is busy wrecking the environment, messing with our retirement money, and nipping away at our cherished civil liberties.

But unlike some countries, our system is set up so that once a president is elected, it is hugely difficult to get rid of him before his four-year term is up. We are free to oppose him (they haven't taken that one away yet), but he will probably serve out his term.

So while I wait for the 2008 election, I'll be over here in my sliver of the blogosphere to remind the world that most Americans are just regular people like me and you, trying to be friendly and kind as much as possible.

Thanks for stopping by.

John Sekar said...

Well, I was expecting a backlash from you. And frankly, I was surprised to find there wasn't. Anyway, Cheryl, i wish there were more like you around the world...

Ok, I'm not puttin up my country's worth or something... there are lot of things shitty in India. But one thing which I like about my country is the fact that a person who doesn't have the people's mandate can never get elected. And if he gets elected saying something but does something else, then the public backlash is severe, dooming the guy and his political party forever.(Even recently, some political parties tried stunts like using the federal power to dictate state government formation, but the press snowballed the public opinion against it) Democracy is really at work here and not veiled to put a rich man's kid in power.

I did like one particular cartoon. It's a caricature of Bush exclaiming "How abdurd! YOu mean there are still many rich people paying taxes?"

So Cheryl, hang on and keep the faith. Your country is so good in every other way. It deserves a better president.

Ciao and if you have time, check out my blog. I've mainly addressed local issues which are probably irrelevant to you as someone living in America. But you can probably get a feel of my country.