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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

God Bless America-please read

Discussion in 'Literature' started by AthyraFire, Sep 12, 2001.

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  1. AthyraFire

    AthyraFire Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 28, 2001
    i recieved this in an email, and i think it is important to pass this around. my hope is that it will help to raise every American's spirit, even if only in a slight way, in light of yesterday's tragedies.

    -----

    TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES

    This, from a Canadian newspaper, no less, is worth sharing.

    America: The Good Neighbor.
    Widespread but only partial news coverage was given
    recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from
    Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television
    commentator. What follows is the full text of his
    trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional
    Record:

    "This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the
    Americans as the most generous and possibly the least
    appreciated people on all the earth.
    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 these
    countries is today paying even the interest on its
    remaining debts to the United States.

    When France 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 earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United
    States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59
    American communities were flattened by tornadoes.
    Nobody helped.

    The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped
    billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now
    newspapers in those countries are writing about the
    decadent, warmongering Americans.

    I'd like to see just one of those countries that is
    gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar
    build its own airplane. Does any other country in the
    world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the
    Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why
    don't they fly them? Why do all the International
    lines except Russia fly American Planes?

    Why does no other land on earth even consider putting
    a man or woman on the moon? 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.

    You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs
    right in the store window for everybody to look at.
    Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded.
    They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless
    they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American
    dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

    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 you 5000 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 neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one
    Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get
    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 those."

    Stand proud, America!
     
  2. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Heart is in my throat. First time an editorial has ever done that.
     
  3. Bubba

    Bubba Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2000
    Believe it or not, our teacher read this to us many months ago. This Canadian is bloody right. Terrorists, whether they strike in America, or Russia, or South Africa, are wrong. They must be stopped.
     
  4. KansasNavy

    KansasNavy Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2001
    Yes, seems most countries (except Canada) likes to take advanatge of us. I always liked our neighbors to the North.
     
  5. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Didn't you have a signature that said Blame Canada?
     
  6. oogiboogi

    oogiboogi Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 6, 2001
    What a great group of words from our neighbors to the north
     
  7. Jedi_Jade-Skywalker

    Jedi_Jade-Skywalker Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 8, 2000
    That is so true. But even though we don't get anything in return, we still help out these countries.
    America was willing to ignore the debt they were owed by Britain an France, but both countries still want our money.
    This is interesting. I'm finally begining to feel patriotic. Up until yesterday, I didn't like my government, but President Bush's speech and yesterday's events turned me around.
     
  8. JediSilverstar

    JediSilverstar Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 30, 2001
    A lot of people like to knock Canada as useless... but they aren't. They are valuble allies to us as Americans and we are truly lucky to share our borders with them. God bless America and God bless Canada.
     
  9. ReaperFett

    ReaperFett Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 9, 1999
    dont turn this into a country bashing debate. Britian sent 300 emergency aid workers over immediately. We normally end up following what the US said, as we are allies. Why start criticising now?
     
  10. DoomJawa

    DoomJawa Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2001
    Nice, but it's propaganda. Meant to spin your emotions in a certain direction.

    What happened was horrible. But it doesn't mean Bush is a good president (or a bad president for that matter) and it doesn't mean that we're any better or any worse than any other country.

    I imagine there will be much more of this to make the inevitable blood bath that is to follow more palatable to the american public.

    Violence is bad. Violence is not the answer.

     
  11. Boutros-Boutros

    Boutros-Boutros Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2001
    This isn't a recent article, that much is clear from the airplane passages. Certainly it was written before Airbus Industries started being a major competetor for Boeing. The draft dodger comment would seem to place it around the time of the Vietnam war.
     
  12. Samuel

    Samuel Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2001
    I got that article too, a friend sent it out to a bunch of us last night. Its very well written. Glad to see someone posted it up here.


    I doubt it is as old as the Vietnam War. First because of the railroads it speaks, of. That would be around the mid 70s (okay so thats close to it) but then it also speaks of the earthquakes, We sent a large number of rescue teams to Turkey and to Japan in the last ten years and then later the article, the San Francisco earthquake, that certains makes it more recent than Vietnam.

    Of course it doesn`t really matter all that much when it was wrote, it stands as true today as it did when first written.

    Many thanks to our good neighbors to the North.

    God bless and watch over us all

    Samuel
     
  13. menilma

    menilma Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 25, 2001
    I must say we in sweden laughed when the election for president got so crazy, it can only happen in america we were all saying. now I regret those words, the US is one of the greatest countries we have on earth and they use their power and money to help.
    their reward, this tragedy.
    god bless all of you.
     
  14. AT-ST_DRIVER

    AT-ST_DRIVER Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 1, 2001
    you Americans are pretty cool. the whole accident happened because of how powerful you're country is. Canada is cooler though (seriously! the temperature is WAY colder up here)
     
  15. chissdude10

    chissdude10 Jedi Youngling star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2001
    Driver, please do not dis us in our moments of war. We will stop radical Islam if we have to kill em all!
     
  16. AthyraFire

    AthyraFire Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 28, 2001
    just to clarify a few things:

    the article i posted was not written in the past couple of days since the attacks. it was written probably a year or more ago. i had originally received it months ago, and on wednesday i received it again. that was when i decided to post it.

    and chissdude: i don't think Driver was dissing America. i didn't see anything in his post that was offensive.
     
  17. chissdude10

    chissdude10 Jedi Youngling star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2001
    Im sorry, im just so scared. Also let me take back my comment on killing islams. Only the radical ones deserve to die.
     
  18. FTeik

    FTeik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2000
    Unfortunatly the fanatics that decided to end their lives and to take thousands of innocent people with them believed that god is on their side, too.

    I´m honest enough, as proud citicen of an other country then the USA i sometimes wished in a dark corner of my heart that this arrogant and hypocrite country get one day really humilitated, might it be the gulf-war, the banana-war with the EU (a very harsh disagreement about trading terms and protective taxes) as well as for example this law pushed by Helms and this other republican senator through congress about non-american companies, which do business with Cuba (Talking about free trade worldwide, hahahah).

    Perhaps some countries would today be able to stand on their own and not be dependant on the USA, if America would have been less benelovent in the past. I´m speaking of Germany, Britain, France.

    It would be preferable to be equal partners instead of always being dependant on the big brother.

    And while America is supposed to be the strongest bastion of freedom and democracy the commen people of some of its (present and former)allies would hardly disagree. Nicaragua, Panama, Saudi-Arabia, Egypt.

    Dictatorships or oligarchies, hardly real democracies.

    Not to mention that Saddham Hussein, Osama bin Laden and the Hamas were once close and supported not necessarily allies, but partners or pawns of the US and their allies like Israel, might it be against Iran, the Sovjets in Afghanistan, or the Hammas against Arafat and the PLO.

    About some other posts:

    Do you know that the most wanted people after the second WorldWar were not Nazi-Warcriminals, but scientists and intelligence-experts ???

    Do you know that the US were able to sent a man on the moon 1969, that it was nearly a suicide mission (Nixon had already the speech for a failure at hand), but today the NASA is decades away from a comparable achievement ???

    Besides, what shall i do on the moon, while my car carries me from my home to my working-place and everywhere else ???

    A country has every right to protect its interests, but please lets be honest about it.

    America is a lucky country. Protected by two huge oceans it has had over twohundred years time to develop its industrial infrastructure, a stable economy and develop its wealth.

    Compare this to France that has been invaded three times in the last onehundred-fivty years, to Germany that has been surrounded by enemies through its entire history, Spain that after a devastating civil war was ruled by the dictatorship of Franco till the seventies of the last century.

    Ingenious and creative minds left their surpressive regimes in europe (and today in asia) and took their talents with them, putting them into service for their new home.

    As i said above i sometimes wished for some humilitation, but do you know what:

    IT DOESN`T WORK.

    While i sometimes disagree with the policy of the USA and sometimes even want to turn black out of anger i have met quite a lot of american citicens.

    Mostly hard working, generous and friendly people, perhaps a bit self-centred. I liked them a lot.

    People like you and me.

    And because of this, even if i don´t know a single victim of the desastrous attack on the World Trade Centre my sympathy is with the victims.

    I pray for the innocent victims, for the families destroyed and even for the misguided terrorists who thought to do the work of god, who now have to face the ultimate judgement.

    Unfortunatly an attack like this was only a question of time in a world as modern as ours.

    It has been a terrible wake-up call.

    Lets hope we pull the right consequences.
     
  19. MaceWinducannotdie

    MaceWinducannotdie Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2001
    Wrong chissdude10. Only the perpetrators of these crimes deserve punishment for them. Having a completely wrong and horrible opinion is tolerable if it is not acted out in a wrong or horrible fashion. To tie it in to Star Wars (which I like to do since this is really not the words of reassurance and flag-waving board): In a cut scene from TPM a young Greedo says Anakin cheated, Anakin gets in a fight with him and Qui-Gon reprimands the lad, and rightly so. For Greedo is entitled to voice his opinion, even if it's wrong and even if it really makes Anakin mad. The situation would obviously be different if Greedo howled "Cheatin slave!" pulled a blaster.
     
  20. -Vergere-

    -Vergere- Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2001
    The horror and terror that have resulted from the attacks on NYC and DC continue. I think Jedi Ben touched on this but there have been reported instances of vandalism violence against Arab and Muslim Americans. I cannot say this enough: the actions of a few fanatics do not represent all people following the faith of Islam. We need not become terrorists ourselves by lashing out at those who not only had nothing to do with this tragedy, but who also mourns and grieves our loss since it is their own as Americans. America is country for all faiths and disciplines and we can learn from the treatment of Japanese Americans following Pearl Harbor.

    Jedi Ben: "Do you really believe the US can ever be totally secure? I'd say no and that this illusion that the US ever was or could be made totally safe should be left as a dead idea."

    Jedi Ben, indeed this is exactly why viewing this simply as a trial is not correct. I really believe President Bush and the United States are going about this the right way. President Bush and his administration are systematically gathering and evaluating evidence and building an international coalition which can be called upon when the evidence becomes clear. No brash or quick decision about retaliation are being made. Furthermore, President Bush is viewing this more as a long-term war on terrorism rather than a trial. To effectively fight terrorism, the U.S. cannot go at it alone; we need the international community to take a stance against it and help fight it in their own countries. We need to single out countries and government which indirectly support terrorist fanatics. We need to attack those strategic centers of governments and terrorists which the coalition believes to be a threat to not only the security of American people, but also the security of Westerns in general.

    The security of western people should always be paramount in this unparalleled coalition effort against terrorism. Still, it's not about whether I believe the US can ever completely secure - it's about the government of its people doing whatever in its power to maintain the security of its people. If that means discriminately eliminating terrorist threats directly and indirectly, then that is exactly what should be done. And the coalition "war" on terrorism should be a long-term effort, not simply a trial that begins and ends with the prosecution and persecution of those perpetrators who have attacked NYC and DC.

    As always, God Bless America and the families and friends of those victims who are missing from the NYC and DC attacks.
     
  21. -Vergere-

    -Vergere- Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2001
    The horror and terror that have resulted from the attacks on NYC and DC continue. I think Jedi Ben touched on this but there have been reported instances of vandalism violence against Arab and Muslim Americans. I cannot say this enough: the actions of a few fanatics do not represent all people following the faith of Islam. We need not become terrorists ourselves by lashing out at those who not only had nothing to do with this tragedy, but who also mourns and grieves our loss since it is their own as Americans. America is country for all faiths and disciplines and we can learn from the treatment of Japanese Americans following Pearl Harbor.

    Jedi Ben: "Do you really believe the US can ever be totally secure? I'd say no and that this illusion that the US ever was or could be made totally safe should be left as a dead idea."

    Jedi Ben, indeed this is exactly why viewing this simply as a trial is not correct. I really believe President Bush and the United States are going about this the right way. President Bush and his administration are systematically gathering and evaluating evidence and building an international coalition which can be called upon when the evidence becomes clear. No brash or quick decision about retaliation are being made. Furthermore, President Bush is viewing this more as a long-term war on terrorism rather than a trial. To effectively fight terrorism, the U.S. cannot go at it alone; we need the international community to take a stance against it and help fight it in their own countries. We need to single out countries and government which indirectly support terrorist fanatics. We need to attack those strategic centers of governments and terrorists which the coalition believes to be a threat to not only the security of American people, but also the security of Westerns in general.

    The security of western people should always be paramount in this unparalleled coalition effort against terrorism. Still, it's not about whether I believe the US can ever completely secure - it's about the government of its people doing whatever in its power to maintain the security of its people. If that means discriminately eliminating terrorist threats directly and indirectly, then that is exactly what should be done. And the coalition "war" on terrorism should be a long-term effort, not simply a trial that begins and ends with the prosecution and persecution of those perpetrators who have attacked NYC and DC.

    As always, God Bless America and the families and friends of those victims who are missing from the NYC and DC attacks.
     
  22. Jedi----Cost

    Jedi----Cost Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 27, 2001
  23. ReaperFett

    ReaperFett Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 9, 1999
    quite a racist opinion there. Will you be shipping any Irish out as well, incase they are in the Real IRA?
     
  24. Darth Ludicrous

    Darth Ludicrous Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2000
    Getting back to the topic of the first post... would you believe that was written in 1972 and the gentleman who wrote it has been dead for about a decade?
     
  25. AthyraFire

    AthyraFire Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 28, 2001
    are you serious, D.L.? wow... i had no idea. i assumed it was more recent then that. much of it still applies today. that means it was written 9 years before i was born.
     
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