America, land of the free and home of the brave, shining city on a hill. They hate us for our freedoms. If you’re not with us, you’re against us. America’s freedom is precious and must not be endangered by traitors within our ranks giving aid and comfort to the enemies who would destoy these freedoms we hold dear. America’s freedom must be defended at all costs. Those traitors, including Communists, Socialists, liberals, feminists, gays, Democrats and other apologists for terrorists, must never be allowed to interfere with America’s freedom. Our brave president George W. Bush is the shining knight defending our freedoms from terrorists and liberal traitors. Any criticism of him is a direct attack on America’s freedoms. These liberal pinko gay-loving traitors MUST be silenced to protect America’s freedom. Put anyone who dares to denigrate our brave president behind bars, put them on trial for TREASON, and apply the death penalty as required. This is the only way to safeguard America’s freedom. :mad:
Subtle.
You know what I am tired of. Hearing the word ‘freedom’ in the same context as ‘America’ like America is the only country who’s citizens are ‘free’.
Or like “free” is some set-in-stone standard that you can measure. I’m sure Liberal (for example) would consider Sweden much less free than the US, while I consider it much more free.
You think maybe we could unite on what the Lesbian from Wellesley had to say, back 101 years ago? I’ve heard it criticized as schmalzy, but never by anyone who knows the story behind it.
I thought we’d done this one already.
Who… I suppose you still don’t know that the US President is referred to (and refers to himself) as the Leader of the Free World.
Why do you still hesitate to recognize with Shock and Awe that indeed the USA is the Land of the Free, producing The Leader of the very Freedom to make it clear that his ambition is to control and command the World.
Salaam. A
That’s a longstanding tradition. Comes from a time when the rest of the free world admired America and its president.
I don’t think the tradition holds up any longer, though.
Can you narrow that down a bit?
Katherine Lee Bates, who spoke of what true freedom as an American is, and what her dreams and aspirations were, in a poem back in 1893 that has been set to the tune “Materna” and sung by liberal and conservative alike ever since.
No it doesn’t.
I find it sometimes very amazing that the US citizens seem to have even no idea themselves that their country is quite different from the USA people admired right after WWII and upto the seventies/eighties.
An admiration that was - as far as I have experienced it during my childhood - always mixed with amazement and a bit of amusement too, but nevertheless the US was admired for many reasons and many things (if these ideas about the US were correct or not was not an issue at the time).
The US has a long way of recovery to go if it ever wants to regain its former status. That the world has narrowed down to be merely a village with information for good or bad so easy available is not making that task any lighter.
Salaam. A
Agreed. It was one of those things you notice after you hit “Submit” – and I decided not to post a correction, since someone would no doubt spot and correct it. Thanks!
(If anyone cares – I said “101 years ago” when, as lissener points out, it was 111 years ago.)
Is this an update on Guantanamo Bay?
It’s too bad more Americans don’t pay heed to the second, third, and fourth verses:
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
You forgot the environmentalists. Don’t leave out those tree-hugging bastards.
Otto, I had a quiet chuckle when I read that.