"Arrogant Americans"

From my friend Jo.

Arrogant Americans, Mr. President?
Peter Heck - Guest Columnist - 4/14/2009 7:50:00 AM
As I was sitting in church waiting for the start of the service, my
grandpa came walking towards me pointing his finger. No matter how old I
get, and no matter how long he’s been out of the U.S. Navy, that’s still an
intimidating sight. As he approached me, his voice quivered as he said, “We
saved that continent twice...how dare my president apologize for this
country’s arrogance.” My grandpa is right. Americans need not apologize to
the world for their arrogance; rather, Americans should apologize to their
forefathers for the arrogance of their president.
Barack Obama’s first foreign trip as President of the United 0A States has
confirmed the naiveté so many of us feared during the election cycle. But
worse than that, it has also demonstrated that our president suffers from
either a complete misunderstanding of our heritage and history, or an utter
contempt for it. Neither is excusable.
Garnering cheers from the French of all people, President Obama declared,
“In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the
world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with
you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown
arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.” Consider that Obama spoke
these words just 500 miles from the beaches of Normandy, where the sand is
still stained with 65-year-old blood of “arrogant Americans.”
Indeed, columnist Mark Whittington observes, “One should remind Mr. Obama
and the Europeans how America has ‘shown arrogance’ by saving Europe from
itself innumerable times20in the 20th Century. World War I, World War II,
the Cold War, and the wars in the Balkans were largely resolved by American
blood, treasure, and leadership.” But all that appears lost on the president’s
seemingly insatiable quest to mend fences he imagines have been tarnished by
the bullish George W. Bush.
If Obama wishes to continue trampling the presidential tradition of
showing class to former office holders and publicly trash Bush for his own
personal gain, so be it. But all Americans should make clear that no man –
even if he is the president – will tarnish the legacy of those Americans who
have gone before us. Ours is not a history of arrogance. It is a history of
courage, self-sacrifice, and honor.
When abusive monarchs repressed the masses, Americans resisted and
overthrew them. When misguided policies led to the unjust oppression of
fellow citizens, Americans rebelled and overturned them. When millions of
impoverished and destitute wretches sought a new beginning, Americans threw
open the door and welcomed them. When imperial dictators were on the ma rch,
Americans surrendered their lives to stop them. When communist thugs
threatened world peace, Americans bled to defeat them. When an entire
continent was overwhelmed with famine and hunger, Americans gave of
themselves to sustain it. When terrorist madmen killed the innocent and
subjugated millions, Americans led the fight to topple them.
This is the legacy that generations of Americans have left. If President
Obama seeks stronger relations with the world community, perhaps he should
begin by reminding them of these very truths, rather than condemning his own
countrymen on foreign shores.
This “obsessive need to put down his own country,” has caused blogger
James Lewis to call President Obama a “stunningly ignorant man” who has
evidently never spoken to a concentration camp survivor, a Cuban refugee, a
boat person from Vietnam, a Soviet dissident, or a survivor of Mao’s purges.
Unfortunately, I can no longer bring20myself to give Mr. Obama that
benefit of the doubt. Not after looking at the pain in my grandpa’s eyes...a
man who still carries shrapnel in his body from his service to this country.
As a student and teacher of history, I recognize that America has made
mistakes...plenty of them, in fact. But one of the great things about our
people has been their courage and humility in admitting and correcting those
mistakes. God willing, they will prove that willingness again in four years
and correct the mistake that is the presidency of Barack Obama.

Outrage

Got this from a friend. Whether the source is an actual person with a PhD is irrelevant, so spare me the Snopes commentaries.

The thoughts behind it are valid, no matter who came up with them.

Liberty Card

BT

Wall Street Letter of Outrage

This letter was sent to the Wall Street Journal on August 8, 2008 by Alisa Wilson, Ph.D. Of Beverly Hills , CA . in response to the Wall Street Journal article titled "Where's The Outrage?" that appeared July 31,2008.

Really, I can tell you where the outrage is. The outrage is here, in this middle-aged, well-educated, upper-middle class woman. The outrage is here, but I have no representation, no voice. The outrage is here, but no one is listening for who am I?

I am not a billionaire like George Soros that can fund an entire political movement.

I am not a celebrity like Barbra Streisand that can garner the attention of the press to promote political candidates.

I am not a film maker like Michael Moore or Al Gore that can deliver misleading movies to the public.

The outrage is here, but unlike those with money or power, I don't know how to reach those who feel similarly in order to effect change.

Why am I outraged? I am outraged that my country, the United States of America , is in a state of moral and ethical decline. There is no right or wrong anymore, just what's fair.

Is it fair that millions of Americans who overreached and borrowed more than they could afford are now being bailed out by the government and lending institutions to stave off foreclosure? Why shouldn't these people be made to pay the consequences for their poor judgment?

When my husband and I purchased our home, we were careful to purchase only what we could afford. Believe me, there are much larger, much nicer homes that I would have loved to have purchased. But, taking responsibility for my behavior and my life, I went with the house that we could afford, not the house that we could not afford. The notion of personal responsibility has all but died in our country.

I am outraged, that the country that welcomed my mother as an immigrant from Hitler's Nazi Germany and required that she and her family learn English now allows itself to be overrun with illegal immigrants and worse, caters to those illegal immigrants.

I am outraged that my hard-earned taxes help support those here illegally. That the Los Angeles Public School District is in such disarray that I felt it incumbent to send my child to private school, that every time I go to the ATM, I see "do you want to continue in English or Spanish?", that every time I call the bank, the phone company , or similar business, I hear "press 1 for English or press 2 for Spanish". WHY? This is America , our common language is English and attempts to promote a bi- or multi-lingual society are sure to fail and to marginalize those who cannot communicate in English.

I am outraged at our country's weakness in the face of new threats on American traditions from Muslims. Just this week, Tyson's Food negotiated with its union to permit Muslims to have Eid-al-Fitr as a holiday instead of Labor Day. What am I missing? Yes, there is a large Somali Muslim population working at the Tyson's plant in Tennessee. Tennessee , last I checked, is still part of the United States. If Muslims want to live and work here they should be required to live and work by our American Laws and not impose their will on our long history.

In the same week, Random House announced that they had indefinitely delayed the publication of The Jewel of Medina, by Sherry Jones, a book about the life of Mohammed's wife, Aisha due to fear of retribution and violence by Muslims. When did we become a nation ruled by fear of what other immigrant groups want? It makes me so sad to see large corporations cave rather than stand proudly on the principles that built this country.

I am outraged because appeasement has never worked as a political policy, yet appeasing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is exactly what we are trying to do. An excellent article, also published recently in the Wall Street Journal, went through over 20 years of history and why talking with Iran has been and will continue to be ineffective. Yet talk, with a madman no less, we continue to do. Have we so lost our moral compass and its ability to detect evil that we will not go in and destroy Iran's nuclear program? Would we rather wait for another Holocaust for the Jews - one which they would be unlikely to survive? When does it end?

As if the battle for good and evil isn't enough, now come the Environmentalists who are so afraid of global warming that they want to put a Bag tax on grocery bags in California; to eliminate Mylar balloons; to establish something as insidious as the recycle police in San Francisco. I do my share for the environment: I recycle, I use water wisely, I installed an energy efficient air conditioning unit. But when and where does the lunacy stop? Ahmadinejad wants to wipe Israel off the map, the California economy is being overrun by illegal immigrants, and the United States of America no longer knows right from wrong, good from evil. So what does California do? Tax grocery bags.

So, America , although I can tell you where the outrage is, this one middle-aged, well-educated, upper middle class woman is powerless to do anything about it. I don't even feel like my vote counts because I am so outnumbered by those who disagree with me.

Alisa Wilson, Ph.D. Beverly Hills , California