It's not a platform for leftist tripe.
If it is from Roger, it is a great idea. I too would love to hear the opinions from you guys.
Well Katie, I've made my feelings very plain for years now, but I'll kick off with this:
There are millions of us worldwide who are "American, just born in another place" as someone once said. We admire America for her liberties, her principled stand for freedom, for the decency and integrity of the overwhelming majority of her people.
We see American airplanes and ships first on the scene of natural disasters, helping out with typical generosity and efficiency those who very often have had nothing good to say about her.
We also see an enormous military that for all it's fearsome efficiency still manages to be extremely careful to distinguish the innocent from the enemy combatants, and takes casualties as a result.
A powerhouse of innovation, inventiveness and productivity, a country where alternative viewpoints aren't subject to State terror.
The list goes on and it's a damn long list at that.
Do I regard America as perfect? Of course not--no country ever is nor ever can be.
But I regard her as the closest thing yet to a free society and still the gold standard for liberty. It'll be a grim day indeed for the world should America ever fail to lead.
As Richard Jeni said: "America - fifty million illegal immigrants can't be wrong".
And as I say: If America is really the "Great Satan", an awful lot of people seem to want to dance with the devil.
Thank you KG For kicking this off. I'm really excited about this project. Americans I think would really be surprised at the kind of support I've heard coming from down here. And I think they need to hear it. All we ever hear is the crap about how no good we are.
True to my word, I've already put your first three comments in draft and I will post them all (warn me if you don't want your names used).
I'd love to hear from all of you regulars. You know who you are -- Mawm, Sarge, Jungle Mom, Diamond Mair, etc.
Here's your chance to tell us Yanks what you think about us and all the turmoil and negative press we've been getting lately.
I'll post the article after I get three or four more good comments, and I'll send it to you. Then, if more comments come in I'll just keep adding them for as long as they last and updating the article. Radarsite has a lot of well-informed readers who I think would be fascinated to read your words. And I will of course promote this article all over the place. lol
Thanks everybody. I'm looking forward to hearing from you all.
Your friend.
Roger G.
And MK of course!
rg
Will do Roger, off to do some work now and will mull over it while i'm at it.
Perhaps bump this one to the top KG, that way more folks can see it.
okies MK
I like Americans. In general they are polite, truthful and VERY patriotic. They would rather live in their own land rather than anywhere else (like us Aussies. Milk and cookies and a good knowledge of their nation's history is evident.
Their election process worries me. It seems to be more about the availability of money for a campaign than actual issues. If I was an American I
WOULD vote even though it is not compulsory. The Democrats will send the country to the shitter especially in these time when military might is paramount.
The Brits have disowned us in defence (shafted us in the past) and we need the USA as our big brother.
I worry that sometimes the Americans are too self absorbed and don't know enough of what goes on in the outside world. They have a huge country so it may be that there is no need for them to look outside their borders for the average citizen.
Americans are portrayed on TV and in film as stereotypes. Stereotypes are few and far between. It is the plebeian public that chooses to accept what is portrayed through the media.
It's only a small contribution KG but I hope it helps.
Marc
Thanks Marc--it sure does.
Go read here
And I didn't fuck up the link either!
Let me get the bad out of the way first, what i don't like about America
In a word, liberals. If you want me to list some of the things i don't like, bear in mind these aren't common to all Americans or confined only to America.
Promiscuity.
Materialism.
Soft on immigration, i understand many Americans want strict controls, but there are enough who don't see the negative long-term effects of illegal immigration.
The walls in apartment blocks are so thin.
Have i mentioned liberals?
You still pay tax.
Aren't all the above the fault of lierbals, alright maybe not the walls, but you see why i don't like them don't you.
What i like about America.
The right to bear arms, yeah, yeah banging that old drum again.
The armed forces of the United States.
America is a force for good in this world.
Free speech, and i mean real free speech, not the kind the rest of us think we have.
It's a beacon for liberty and safety.
It's the least socialist country i know of.
America knows what to do with evil scum.
The help that Americans freely give to the poor and suffering around the world.
America saves us the true cost of standing on our own.
Americas military hardware, wow.
In America, you are free to succeed and free to fail.
Everything is bigger in America.
Americas' existence and success grates with Liberals the world over.
America stands in the way of Communism.
They killed those Nazi bastards.
Didn't they save our asses in WWII.
You don't pay as much tax in America.
Fast food.
Cheerleaders.
The punisher.
Cars are so much cheaper in America.
What America has done in Iraq.
The point of this post, Americans care what others think about them.
what a nice post!...wow at alla yaz!..I may just have to come to Australia this year!..MK's list is awesome too!
Tiberius, I "snitched" your beautiful commentary - gonna post it on a Marine message board {WITH attribution, of course!}, 'cause a LOT of my fellow Marines will appreciate it ................... 
Now, for Roger's request:
I'm kind of an exception as an American, in that I've had the opportunity to travel/live outside the U.S. {visited Mexico & Canada as a child, lived in Mexico recently, and was able to visit Morocco, the Czech Republic, Germany & Austria as an adult}. What I found, for the most part, was that the 'regular folk' in other countries offered the acceptance and kindness that I would like to believe most Americans would offer visitors from other countries when they visit HERE.
In Morocco, I met a young Berber tribesman, who was sent to the city to sell the jewelry his tribe made while traveling the desert - he seemed to enjoy practicing his English with us, and just showed such a kindness of spirit that I wanted to hug him {of course, THAT was a no-no, since I'm an 'infidel woman' }.
When we lived in Mexico, for the most part, we were treated well, with the exceptions of women working in a pharmacy, who commented that we 'should learn Spanish' before we came to their country, and the man who told me, because his wife was stupid, that I was the type of American who caused 9/11 - that didn't preclude his asking us to help him emigrate to the U.S. No gall there, nossir!!
In the Czech Republic, my husband would go to work, & I'd take the car he rented for me & drive to Kaufland's, a grocery store, park & walk across the river to the city center - always, always, ALWAYS, I was treated with kindness and respect, from the various stores to the InterNet cafe I frequented.
I absolutely fell in love with the Graz region of Austria - the natural beauty is breathtaking, and the people are friendly - the Piber Lipizzaner stud farm is wonderful, and very English-language friendly.
In Munich, the people were pleasant & friendly, but there was a ................ 'discomfort' ............... there, that I attribute to an ongoing embarrassment regarding WWII - I may be completely off-base in that presumption, but there you are.
Would I go back to visit any of those places? In a New York minute! Because, "our" MSM to the contrary, I did not find resentment, or the perception of 'the ugly American'. I happen to believe most of that comes from the "elites" of any group.
Hope this helps!
Semper Fi'
DM
No worries DM - much appreciated.
Thank you everyone. I knew this would be a great post. I've saved everything up to here. Perhaps we'll keep it open for another day or two, to give everyone a chance.
Remember -- I'll use your names unless you tell me not to.
Keep'em coming.
Roger
Roger, because NeoCounter indicates that I have a quite a few visitors from rather far-flung countries, I posted the link to here on my blog, so you may get some additional commentary ..........................
Semper Fi'
DM
Thank you DM.
rg
I am American but have lived most of my life outside of my country.
I can see the bad.
Mainly, we are spoiled and take too much for granted. Lately, the youth seem to be willing to allow the government to provide for them in a way my generation would have been humiliated to accept.
BUT, the good of our country outweighs the bad so very much.
Having lived in Venezuela under the Chavez regime, I noticed the stark reality of the lack of the right to 'the pursuit of happiness'. We can achieve anything we dream of, if we pursue it, where as in many places that possibility does not exist.
Bad- liberals and Hollywood
Good West Texas Country music and the politeness of Texans in general.
Let's not forget that due to the cultural war, we're virtually talking two countries these days. The horrible pseudo-liberal America epitomised by Hollywood, and the traditional America, which is the one we all revere.
Yay! Another West Texas country music fan!
Good on ya RedB.
And a very true comment about the two Americas, too.
Hi Roger! I'm a NZer who lived & worked in the US from 1986-90 incl. I also lived & worked in numerous other countries for another six years, so there's a lot of basis for comparison.
I found that no matter where you go, MOST people are good people, and treat others accordingly.
Firstly, a bone to pick with MK & Red! An old bone, but one that drives me bloody crazy ... that constant misuse of the word 'liberal' .. something I blame Americans for, by the way! Liberal is derived from 'liberty' - something the left appears to despise - and yet they hijacked the term. (Guess 'dictator' rankles, eh!)
Is it because they're liberal with other people's money?! Grrrr. But I digress.
Good things about the US:
1. Thomas Jefferson & the brave FF
2. Constitution & Bill of Rights
3. NE in the autumn - nature at its most glorious
4. Grand Canyon
5. SF Bay Area (loved living there)
6. Military might
7. Overseas disaster relief
8. Sweet, generous, hospitable people
Things that drive me nuts:
1. Waste: food left in restaurants, taking a dozen napkins when a couple would do, etc
2. Ludicrous-sized food portions
3. Patriot Acts 1 & 2 - a disgrace
4. Judicial activism
5. Creeping socialism
6. Tolerance of badly-behaved kids & the ones who started this 'smacking is abuse' bullshit - the rest of the west has since caught up, of course. Thanks for nothing, Hollywood.
7. Vacuous celebrity worship
8. Home of political correctness that has since infected the rest of the world
9. 'African-American' .. drives me nuts, that. Nonsensical.
10. Crap fast food - trust dumbasses elsewhere to follow suit
11. Positively enormous govt ..
.. which is perhaps the worst of all:
The refusal by so many to realise that freedom is indivisible and that responsibility is the flip side to freedom; that you simply cannot have one without the other.
And that govt is not the solution, but usually the problem.
A fact not lost on Jefferson.
Cheers!
My two cents worth:
The US is the light of the world.
And I say that as a patriotic Kiwi too.
The briefest of comparisons between NZ's and The USA's history shows that we have a lot more in common than just about anywhere, indeed I've talked to many who have lived, travelled and worked in the US (I myself have not.Yet!) and all who I talked to found that it took only a matter of days to acclimatise.
So in short, the US is a mate. And where I come from you stick with your mates.
Oh and I'm a big Rockabilly music fan too!
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. - from the American Declaration of Independence.
These are such powerful words, and along with the US Constitution, have defined a nation like none other. It is the 'Greatest Democracy' - and this has created a society possessing confidence, strength of character and the will to help others.
And this is evident in the Americans I have met. Of course there are the caricature Americans - loud, brash and wealthy - but they are the occasional rather than the rule.
Thanks again everybody. I'm saving them all.
rg
The US is like a big brother who is a bit loud and embarrassing at times, but is the one we all holler for when there is a fight in the schoolyard.
And he's our big brother and for his minor faults, we still love him!
You can quote me on that!
Read Emma Lazarus' poem "The New Colossus", WHICH IS INSCRIBED AT THE BASE OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.
A few words from it:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore; Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door".
What other nation, EVER, has had such an inscription on its front door?" NONE.
For that matter, what other nation has a Statue of Liberty beckoning the rest of the world?
If America goes, we all go.
PS Oswald and Wake up -- I got those last two, too. They're already posted.
Thanks.rg
FYI:The View From Down Under
Most Americans I think have a pretty positive view of our friends from Down Under. But what do they think about us?
Submitted By Dodgerg - Aug 28, 3:34 pm 10 votes | VOTE
We made it onto page two of Real Clear Politcs.
lol
Roger
Up at Free Republic:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focu...cu...s/2070322/
posts
Also we mad it to the Front Page of RCP.
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