You know,this reminds me of an interesting conversation I had with my father a few years ago...

What you all dont know is that I am married to a German citizen whom I met while stationed there for almost 5 years. While stationed there I learned to speak German and strived to learn all I could about the culture and perspective. I felt that because I was for all intents and purposes a resident of that country that it was my obligation to learn the language and the culture/mannerisms.

My own family on my fathers side is of German descent, however I was never raised with any of the culuture which manages to transcend generations. I was curious as to why this was, and so I asked.

My father tols me he wasnt entirely sure of the reason except that he vaguely remembers his own grandfather's actions. For reference, my father will be 75 years old on July 4th...

He told me that he remembered his grandfather and grandmother speaking German when he was very young, however he very distinctly remembers his grandfather sternly addressing the family and telling them that under no uncertain condition would anyone speak German unless it was only amongst other members of the immediate family.

The reason? He said his grandfather said the reason was "because we have moved to America, we are Americans now, and Americans speak english, and so that is what we will speak."


To conclude, your argument holds no value because we, as responsible adults, are very aware of the fact that America was, is, and always will be a nation of immigrants.

Our outrage is in our identification of the ebbing movement of thought that this nation should be a nation of immigrants divided under one name.

Instead of a nation of immigrants UNITED under one FLAG.

Seems pretty godamned ironic coming from you

We all know we are a nation of immigrants.....(We don't need an Aussie National to tell us that). I believe the issue here is that these people have not been here long enough to have bled for this country, they have not been here long enough to have a REAL investment in their new home. Sometimes that takes one generation, sometimes two, sometimes it never happens.

This is my home, it has been my family's home for nearly 400 years....... we have made this place our home, we have bled for this country in nearly every conflict starting with the Revolution. These people obviously do not understand where I come from and until they do, they are not true Americans.

I have always felt that being "American" was not a nationality or being on a "team", it is having the strong sense of justice, being willing to fight for what is right, be willing to stand up for those that cannot, to never be a victim, to hold your natural born rights as sacred and our Old Glory symbolizes all of those things including the men and women who died protecting those principles.

That is why our national anthem is the greatest of all, it tells the story of the struggles and asks the question......does the flag still wave? As if the writer knew how precious and delicate freedom can be and someday it might not wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I would buy tickets for that event. Waguns group buy!

Jeeze thanks guys.

Mike you've seen me agitated at people before, don't think you've seen me flat pissed though.

Hope someone has mercy on my enemies, cause I sure as fuck wont

If you want to get really technical, everyone on the fucking planet is an immigrant. (No not aliens, asshole)
Science says that everyone has migrated from their location of origin going back 10's of thousands of years.
So for you, "We're all immigrants!!!" people....How long does someone have to have family in a given area before they are no longer immigrants?
50 years? 100? 300? How about 1000?
This argument is stupid.

If you were born in the USA....YOU ARE NOT A FUCKING IMMIGRANT!
If you were born in (insert country here), and (through whatever means) came to the USA....You are an IMMIGRANT! Your kids will not be immigrants!

For the record....With the exception of some sex slave forced into a shipping container, there are no African American's Immigrants who were forced here as a result of Slavery. They are all dead.
They have been for about 4 generations now. In other words, someone's great-great-grandmother could have been brought here by slavery.
Anyone who is "suffering from slavery" is either full of shit, or has a severe martyr complex.

The push to pussify this country over the last 30 years is appalling. No one can be #1...everyone has to be "equal". Fuck that. The struggle to be #1 brought us the greatest advancements in history....You know what everyone being equal gets you...It gets you stupid fucking people, making stupid fucking rules, for stupid fucking reasons.
The bible got it right...The meek shall inherit the earth. Because, the strong got out voted. They were too "intolerant", closed minded, and barbaric.

That's fine...remember what followed the fall of Rome motherfuckers? Have fun in the Second Dark Age, you... "I need a time out!" candy-asses. My descendants will enjoy crushing you. Seeing you driven before them, and hearing the lamentations of your women.

/rant

Oddly the decline into the dark ages was aided by religious ideology that saw little reason to study non religious texts, and ended because the crusaders stole a bunch of science from the Muslims. Want to avoid a dark age? Keep fundamentalist religious people out of your science. I'm looking at you creationists and such.

Surprised?

Spend an extra hour (or 4) at Starbucks this morning?

Did you develop this opinion before or after you saw the photo?
And you know this based on your photo-detector psychic powers?



What is your cutoff point? 10 years? 50 years? 100 years?

I agree they've missed the point -- the US flag should never be thought of as offensive to anyone in the US. Even the people wearing Confederate underwear.

But base your opinion on what they've done, not what they look like or what their names are.

OK, do you agree it is possible these people may have been born and raised in America and are just, in fact, stupid?

Being American is a state of mind more than a place of birth. Sometimes it is difficult to put into words.....so I'll quote one of the greatest American leaders

Not too long ago, two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, "We don't know how lucky we are." And the Cuban stopped and said, "How lucky you are? I had someplace to escape to." And in that sentence he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.

And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest and the most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man.

This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.

You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well I'd like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There's only an up or down—[up] man's old—old-aged dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. And regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.

-Ronald Wilson Reagan 1964

http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/r ... osing.html

funny,
having never heard this quote before, it has been my exact line of thinking for a long while now

This would have been an excellent reason to wave dozens of US flags from my dorm.

Nothing's more "college" than defying authority and practicing one's right to freedom of expression.

TinCan, that quote is fantastic - it's a shame so many of us are willing to throw away our freedoms for so little.

Well there goes the neighborhood

WTF is next??