# The Greatest American

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american/305750>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 27, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american/305750 "2005-05-27T13:27:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 5

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american/305750/81 "2005-06-03T00:12:00Z")

</div>

> [@Jonathan Chance](#):
>
> Me: I notice we seem to be inspired by those great Americans who espoused the Nazi ideology. On the list are Charles Lindbergh, who was a great fan of the Third Reich, and Henry Ford, who believed Jews were in a cabal with the devil, and Mel Gibson, whose beloved daddy is a famous Holocaust denier.

1. How does Mel Gibson’s FATHER being a Holocaust denier make Mel Gibson a Nazi? Or is Mel Gibson’s father on the list?

2. Is Mel Gibson’s father - I don’t even know his name - actually a famous Holocausr denier? Or is he just a Holocaust denier who has a famous son?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american/305750/82 "2005-06-03T00:18:02Z")

</div>

Well, allow me to say that question should be properly addressed to Gene Weingarten and not me.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american/305750/83 "2005-06-03T07:56:43Z")

</div>

> [@rjung](#):
>
> I consider it value-neutral, myself.
> 
> The acquisition of wealth/power/fame is neither good nro evil; it’s how one uses that wealth/power/fame that matters.

Capitalism is not about the acquisition of wealth. Socialism is about that. Capitalism is about the _creation_ of wealth.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american/305750/84 "2005-06-03T07:58:02Z")

</div>

The reporter who protested Mel Gibson’s inclusion _on account of his father_ is an orangutan.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american/305750/85 "2005-06-03T12:49:37Z")

</div>

> [@John Corrado](#):
>
> Wait, no Edgar Allan Poe?
> 
> Inventor of the mystery novel, refiner of the short story, and the father of the horror story? The one whom most American writers consider the father of American writing?  
> .

Adored in France.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american/305750.md?page=4)