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The Old Hack

An Important Message to All Americans

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Three quarters of a century ago, the Nazis, the Gestapo and all its odious apparatus overran my homeland Denmark. Ignoring peace treaties and all civilised decency they stripped my home of its freedom and independence, reduced it to a mere cog in their war machine, a stepping stone for its conquest of Norway. As time passed, they gradually tightened the screws, taking away all our own mechanisms of government, arresting and imprisoning our police force and eventually inflicting their merciless acts of genocide on Danish homosexuals, Gypsies, disabled, Jews -- anyone that did not meet their nightmarish ideals of Aryan perfection. My family had to flee to Sweden to survive and not everyone made it to safety. Of those that did not, few survived, none of them unmarked.

But the darkness that had fallen across Europe did not last. Eventually a restless giant stirred in its sleep, awoke, and rose to come to the rescue of the Old World. Many nations fought the evils of the Nazis. Of those, few brought as much, sacrificed as much as America did.

That war is long gone now, but I have not forgotten. I and my family directly owe our lives, home and freedom to America and her people. To the soldiers who fought so long and hard, to the working men and women in the factories, to the ordinary people who made the marvelous industry of the giant work and run when it was needed the most. To fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters who sacrificed so much, lost so many they loved. To all of America's people, whatever race or creed, for all of them paid for that war, for that freedom I now have today.

Many years have passed since then. America has changed, since. Grown, and suffered growing pains. She is not perfect and never has been, but she still struggles to improve and make herself better. And precisely this is why America is great: because she always tries to be better.

I will give the last word to my father, who feels this debt as keenly as I do. He is certain that whatever troubles America is enduring she will in the fullness of time rise above them -- because Americans are their own harshest critics, because they cannot rest while they believe injustice reigns.

It has been so for two and a half centuries. And that much, at least, has not changed.

And so, in this dark time of vitriol and partisanship and division, do not forget your roots. America IS great. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.

I believe in you. Thank you all.

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Those who speak of making America great again forget that America has never truly fallen from greatness. Sometimes, people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have to stand up and point out when and where America is falling short of its ideals, but the best thing about America is that we then re-dedicate to those ideals rather than throwing them on to the ash-heap of history.

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To elaborate a little, IMO a major founding principle of the USA comes from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness". Human rights and civil rights have been a primary focus of USA society from the start. Sadly, we have often fallen short of "all men", especially with regard to racial and sexual minorities. The thing that shows how fundamental is the idea of such rights, however, is that when somebody does stand up and point out the shortcoming loudly enough to be heard far and wide (such as the aforementioned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), the great majority, rather than deciding "no, we don't really mean 'everyone' where it says 'all men'", instead eventually come around to deciding "hey, he's right, we're being un-American by willfully mistreating our own citizens".

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As I've often said I love this country, usually followed "it's the government I don't always agree with". My Slovak ancestors came here on the cusp of the WWI fleeing similar persecution by the Austro-Hungarians. I feel the basic ideal set in the Declaration & Constitution were a good foundation to improve on and while we have struggled and fought most of us have tried to maintain and even improve on those concepts.

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1 hour ago, PSadlon said:

As I've often said I love this country, usually followed "it's the government I don't always agree with". My Slovak ancestors came here on the cusp of the WWI fleeing similar persecution by the Austro-Hungarians. I feel the basic ideal set in the Declaration & Constitution were a good foundation to improve on and while we have struggled and fought most of us have tried to maintain and even improve on those concepts.

The full quote of "My Country, Right or Wrong", an off used phrase is

Quote

My country; and my country is the great American Republic. My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.

Senator CARL SCHURZ, Liberal Republican from Missouri remarks in the Senate, February 29, 1872

This a far better idea, that just "Right or Wrong"

 

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It goes without saying that since tomorrow is election day that you should go and vote.  Go to https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup in order to see your whole ballot.  Make sure to spend 5 minutes on each of the other elections and initiatives in your state, county, and local area.  Figure out who you want to vote for based on what they say and do.

Being informed of the down-ballot measures is also part of your civic duty and will have impact in your day to day life.  Good luck voting everyone.

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This is a political topic.

I have a strong minority opinion which history has shown will ruffle feathers, cause arguments and otherwise annoy the majority, including the Moderator.

Permission to rant freely?

 

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8 minutes ago, Vorlonagent said:

This is a political topic.

I have a strong minority opinion which history has shown will ruffle feathers, cause arguments and otherwise annoy the majority, including the Moderator.

Permission to rant freely?

 

We have a political thread for a reason.  Don't insult people and you should be good.

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Just now, mlooney said:

We have a political thread for a reason.  Don't insult people and you should be good.

"Should" is the operative word.  I've shut down the original politics thread while doing exactly what you suggest (I was not perfect about it but I did admit and apologize for those times I overreached)

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5 minutes ago, Vorlonagent said:

"Should" is the operative word.  I've shut down the original politics thread while doing exactly what you suggest (I was not perfect about it but I did admit and apologize for those times I overreached)

Just need to keep in mind that any term invented by one group of people to describe another group of people is most likely insulting to the target group.  I'm hard pressed to come up with an example that isn't.  This is not a challenge to find one, by the way.

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Well that should function as a warning in any case.  Strap in.  It's going to be a bumpy ride.

The US has been told not to be great over the last 40 years.  Most of the things that make the US great have been demonized:  Free market capitalism, advancement based on merit, religion as a moral compass.

This is not to say that US capitalism is innocent of exploitation.  I'm not saying that "merit" was always objective or that religion hasn't harbored prejudice wearing the mask of morality.  I know better than that.

I'm saying we've thrown these aspects of US greatness out as fundamentally flawed and are now wondering why the US is faltering.  It's in vogue to favor of government nannies interfering in our lives to try to make everything "fair" and "nice". 

"Fair" and "nice" incentivize mediocrity.  It's good to eliminate prejudice, but the long-term result has to be people competing as equals not set-asides for every minority checkbox.

Greatness is now seen as a zero-sum game.  For you to get it, you have to take it from me.  We see this most easily with demands from the US Left that we "tax the rich" ever more heavily.  As if handing government more money and power will actually do the rank and file any good.

Into this climate we have political elites who seem more interested in personal privilege and prestige.  There's a lot of populist anger abroad in the US as failure becomes the norm and the elites put more concern into their Washington social lives.  It is this frustration that drove the primary candidacies of both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

Trump is an awful standard-bearer for the very real and justified conservative-populist anger abroad in the US.  I don't have any use for him.  But I can understand why other people in the US do.  There is point to his campaign slogan "make America great."  A better one would be "Dare to be great once more".

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45 minutes ago, Vorlonagent said:

"Should" is the operative word.  I've shut down the original politics thread while doing exactly what you suggest (I was not perfect about it but I did admit and apologize for those times I overreached)

The Moderator: I reopened the political thread last month. Also, you did not 'shut down' the political thread. I myself chose to shut it down because I felt I was too stressed to do a good job moderating it in the aftermath of losing a close friend to terminal cancer.

Edit: Please move above post to political thread.

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58 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

The Moderator: I reopened the political thread last month. Also, you did not 'shut down' the political thread. I myself chose to shut it down because I felt I was too stressed to do a good job moderating it in the aftermath of losing a close friend to terminal cancer.

Edit: Please move above post to political thread.

To be clear: I was not bragging.  I regret the stress our butting heads caused you.

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40 minutes ago, Vorlonagent said:

To be clear: I was not bragging.  I regret the stress our butting heads caused you.

I didn't think you were. On the contrary, I was trying to absolve you of responsibility. It was hardly your fault that I was in a bad spot at the time. Nonetheless, your sympathy is appreciated :)

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7 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I didn't think you were. On the contrary, I was trying to absolve you of responsibility. It was hardly your fault that I was in a bad spot at the time. Nonetheless, your sympathy is appreciated :)

I see myself rightly carrying some responsibility.  Obviously not for your emotional state, but I an am responsible for violating board posting rules while having as close to a shouting match with you as we'd ever want to see again on this board.  My part in that is...well...my part.

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