Monday, July 4, 2011

American? What's that mean?

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY.........HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!   Whatever you call it, I hope yours will be a happy one and that we'll all pause and remember what we're celebrating..........

I have a question for you all and hope you participate today. Some of you chimed in on this subject on my post below on Obama, but I thought you might like to all write more on the subject.  Please copy/paste your previous comment from THIS article into the comments page on this post; most of them were inspiring.   Others of you weren't here for that and I hope you feel moved to respond to the following question today.
 The question is:

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO 'BE AMERICAN'? Please list what you consider it to mean...thanks so much.  
Have a fabulous day! THESE PEOPLE are, but, sadly, most of them don't know WHY. (you simply won't believe it, but some American young people think we're celebrating independence from Mexico....or AMERICA !  Seriously......watch the link, if you're up to it!)


By the way........is it true Republicans love America more?   CHECK THIS OUT...Harvard thinks so, and it's WARNING DEMOCRATS not to SUCCUMB!:-) 

Have a fabulous day.......Love, Z
(thanks for the terrific top image, Impertinent xx  And thanks for the idea for the post and the video, Scottyxx)
z

26 comments:

Thersites said...

"You shall have no other gods (countries) before me"...

...not the UN, not the country you emigrated from, not illegal immigrants from other countries, not some communist international "utopia". You'll love America just "as she is, was, and will one day be."

Brooke said...

I have been trying to teach my kids about the meaning of this day... That it is not FIREWORKS day as my five-year-old originally said!

Have a wonderful Independence Day, Z!

Christopher - Conservative Perspective said...

Happy 235th Independence Day !

Silverfiddle said...

Being an American means standing up for what's right.

It means taking care of yourself and your neighbors, like the good folks in North Dakota are doing right now, as the flood waters destroy much of what they've worked so hard for.

Being an American means being free to speak your mind and criticizing government without fear of secret agents kicking down your door.

Our founders set up something special. History is littered with failed revolutions or ones that reverted to status quo after a few years. Our revolution was special, but we must fight to keep it so.

We have free speech, we have the ballot box. We still have time to set it aright again.

Happy Independence Day!

Z said...

Happy Independence Day to all of you, too!

Thersites, what she "is" and "will one day be" are such different things if the leftwing has anything to do about it. They'd say better (greedy, uninformed entitlement seekers), I'd say sad. I hope I'll be wrong.
I do have confidence in the American people; I'm just not sure I'll have that same confidence in a majority of the next generation.

Brooke...good for you for teaching them!

Christopher, thanks..

Silverfiddle...GOod points.....I thought also that being American as a journalist was telling all the truth and showing as little bias as possible, not insulting, but weighing the pros and cons and investigating things that sound curious (even if it's re a leftist), not revealing secrets the government needs kept quiet for our safety, being fair to all sides of the political spectrum. Those were the days.

Thersites said...

Thersites, what she "is" and "will one day be" are such different things

Tomorrow (Domani) is something we'll have to leave into G_d's hands.

Thersites said...

fyi L'Aquila (capital of Abruzzo) was hit by an earthquake on 6 April 2009 which destroyed much of the city centre. ;)

Z said...

Yes, Thersites, but we've got to help our kids, the young future of this country; they've been so coddled and PC'd that cheating that rampant, morality is gone..

Well...I'm not going to 'go there' today. We have much to still celebrate and we can do the serious stuff tomorrow!!

I have an idea now for tomorrow's post :-)
Have a good day.

Thersites said...

they've been so coddled and PC'd that cheating that rampant, morality is gone..

Shame on us.

Always On Watch said...

The essence of Americanism: the Bill of Rights.

Thersites said...

btw - Concerned for the future? Take your kids to a parade today! ;)

elmers brother said...

Galatians 5:1 NIV (NIV)
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Pris said...

Dave said; "What does being American look like?"
I shared a little on my blog what we did on the Fourth of July when I was a kid. My son did none of that stuff.
And today he still doesn't. Does that make him somehow less American?"

Dave, your first question is silly. If you don't feel what it is to be American, no one can help you understand.

Your son is an example of a child who has been cheated of the lessons of America's history, and what this nation means to a free people.

You have taken for granted your freedom, your opportunities, and the knowledge that your autonomy to live your life as you choose, is a given, and will never change.

You never asked why, you just did your thing. So why should we be surprised, that you provided no inspiration for your son to learn what it means to be born here.

How you raise your children, is up to you of course, but as we speak, there are those now, who will wrest that right from parents.

They already are. Maybe that's ok with you, but if those who now lead our country have their way, America will be very different, and someday you'll ask yourself, what went wrong.

Then, you'll understand what it WAS to be an American, but then, it may be too late, and your resistance to understand now, will be one of the reasons that day may come.


HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY ONE AND ALL!

GOD BLESS AMERICA.

Pris said...

HAPPY FOURTH of JULY to my GEEEZ friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy4mv0ARVqY

elmers brother said...

Libertas!

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Looking to the stars in the night sky and knowing the inevitable war with those cow-mutilating, trailer park terrorizing flying saucer pilot little green bastards out there will one day sign a surrender decree under an American flag on their homeworld.

Z said...

Thersites, look at my link at the bottom my post; imagine the suggestion that children who attend fourth of July festivities grow up more Republican? As if their upbringing didn't benefit them even more than a parade? The attendance at the parade is a symbol of their parents' love for this country; THAT creates more Republicans...not that many Democrats don't love this country, but let's face it, now Harvard's admitting that Republicans are more patriotic AND my link shows that Harvard's President is warning about that.

Unbelievable.

I see on the Yahoo homepage that many stores are offering huge sales today; There's a way to celebrate the Fourth and lure people from joyous American festivities, huh? Of course, the stores need that now, with the gloom and doom our president's constantly reminding everyone of, which reflects to badly on purchasing/spending.

Also, SINCE WHEN DO COURTS HOLD PROCEEDINGS ALL DAY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AND THE FOURTH OF JULY?
the Casey ANthony case has been seemingly on all weekend...WHY?

Remember when everything was closed on Sundays, at least?
In Germany, most stores are still closed on Sunday.

I guess it's just more attempt at taking the importance of Sunday away from our American CHristian fabric. Anybody ASK why a court's open on a HOLIDAY, too?
Did it even come up, or I just never noticed that weekends don't exist in the court system!? I'm really curious about that!

Thersites said...

but let's face it, now Harvard's admitting that Republicans are more patriotic AND my link shows that Harvard's President is warning about that.

...as if that isn't a "good" thing.

*shakes head*

The countries elites (Harvard) no longer see patriotism as being a "good" thing. That should tell you the kind of trouble we're in for ahead as a nation. And those that ARE patriotic (*ie Tea Party) are denigrated and compared to being a "racist horde".

I think it's high time we groomed a new elite. And a college education shouldn't be the automatic admission ticket that it once was. This should be the new admissions ticket. Either punch it, or surrender your place to someone who has.

Z said...

Thersites: "The countries elites (Harvard) no longer see patriotism as being a "good" thing. That should tell you the kind of trouble we're in for ahead as a nation."

No other country's celebs go abroad and insult their own country, AMerica, either.

Yes, we're raising kids who are told there's no need to stand for the Pledge of ALlegiance or, indeed, to say it....we're raising people who can't go to a VA cemetery in Houston and say GOD BLESS YOU (I don't know what they do if you sneeze!), We have city councils arguing about why they shouldn't have to say the pledge before meetings, we can't allow children to draw the flag and display it in school because it offends others who ARE LIVING HERE and probably taking welfare from our country, ..etc etc etc...We aren't a country which loves itself any longer... except for most Republicans and some Democrats.
But, it doesn't matter how many still love her, the leftwing and its media is in charge and is writing the textbooks and using political correctness to push back...push, push, push......
and the Right's falling for it.

Now what?

Pris said...

"VA cemetery in Houston and say GOD BLESS YOU (I don't know what they do if you sneeze!)"

Z, What I want to know is, who, in their right mind would obey this rule? I wouldn't. What would they do, call the police?

Btw, I read they backed down on this. They know they can't enforce it, and they know it's unconstitutional. They just had to be called on it. The fools.

Dave Miller said...

Pris, you answered Dave, your first question is silly. If you don't feel what it is to be American, no one can help you understand. to my question of what does being an American look like.

Perhaps better stated, what are the outward behaviors that someone should exhibit to be considered an American by some objective observer.

Your answer said basically if I don't feel it, it cannot be explained. If I understand that correctly, as long as someone feels like an American, he is.

Am I interpreting your answer correctly?

Silver, your aside to the people of North Dakota sounds like a theme I have heard in many places championing the can do spirit of the victims of the flooding there.

Let's be clear about a couple of things...

1. The people of ND are exhibiting a real can do spirit and working to get things fixed.

2. FEMA is on the ground giving plenty of much needed federal aid to those folks.

3. Both Senators from that state are on record as saying the area needs more federal aid to recover.

Perhaps ND is a good example of how the federal government and private citizens can work together in a crisis.

Z said...

oh, MY...I wrote a long comment and hit some weird button and it's gone; well, here goes a shorter version;

Dave,
Let's be clear on this: Those in N Dakota and the other many places across this country which have been hit HARD by natural disasters just this year, have of course received FEMA aid! FEMA is FEDERAL.
It's attitude, Dave...maybe it's much like your question about being American?
We didn't see Joplin residents standing in the toothpick remains of their homes and looting stores for liquor or abusing credit cards (which they weren't given, anyway, as they were in New Orleans, for example)... they were not raised in a NANNY STATE like New Orleans.

regarding being American...I'm thinking that my immigrant family came here with no English and learned it in months (with no 'English as a 2nd language' class, by the way...were they smarter than the Hispanics who we spoon feed with Spanish everywhere so they can never really get ahead? This is "the soft bigotry of low expectations", as Mr. Bush put it)....no, I don't think my family was smarter, but they DID It because they wanted to BE AMERICAN.
They worked hard, they studied hard, they succeeded well.....they wanted to be American.

Perhaps that's one good illustration 'being America'...? There are those who come to BE Americans and others who come to LIVE in America with all its benefits but not really wanting to adapt, show self-reliance, etc etc. ??

Anonymous said...

Hi Z,

"It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!"
— Patrick Henry

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
— Patrick Henry

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/361839.Patrick_Henry

"And ye shall know the Truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:32,36

In Jesus Christ eternally, Jack

Anonymous said...

"We didn't see Joplin residents standing in the toothpick remains of their homes and looting stores for liquor or abusing credit cards (which they weren't given, anyway..."


And the thousands of them never had choice hotels, airfare and transportation offered to them either. Let alone credit cards.

And BTW...after Katrina...Mississippi's shore was battered 10 times harder than NO.....and they weren't offered squat either. Haley Barbour said they fix it themselves. Their homes were not only washed away from Gulf Shores and the like...they were blown away. It was only a small section of NO that got the floods too.

Just sayin'.

Just sayin'.

tha malcontent said...

Nothing more to be said here, you said it all so perfectly

Thersites said...

Now what?

Push back w/your pocketbook. With-hold from Hollyweird, and buy from those who support the heartland. Nothing would change the nation's direction quicker.