Many years ago my forebears came to America as immigrants as did all whose offspring populate the United States, with the exception of the Native Americans who were here before any of us.

America became a melting pot of human beings from every continent on earth coming to the New World to find something that was missing in their lives. Maybe it was religious freedom, maybe it was opportunity or perhaps it was to escape from a system where the ordinary man had no chance of ever rising above the condition he was born in.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, after the shameful state of slavery had been abolished, our shores were flooded with German, Irish, Scotch, Russian, Italian and just about every nationality coming to America, bright eyed with enthusiasm and eager to stake out their claim to a piece of the boundless prosperity this young land represented.

They brought their Irish jigs and Polish polkas, their music, their food and their dreams along with other bits and pieces of their culture, which so uniquely identified them.

But in spite of their love for the fatherland, no matter how much they missed and revered the old country they all understood that to get ahead in America the answer was to assimilate.

Immigrants went to great lengths to learn and speak English in their homes, making sure that their children spoke the language of their new homeland and no matter what their heritage they transferred their allegiance and their national loyalty and respect to this land known as the United States of America.

They fought her wars and abided by her laws. They settled her frontiers. They farmed and ranched and manned the assembly lines. They became butchers, bakers, tailors, policemen, lawyers, surgeons and a thousand other occupations that went to make America the greatest military and economic force the planet had ever known.

We should and do take pride in our heritage and the customs of our forefathers but personally I believe that there comes a point when we have to put that all behind us and become first and foremost, an American.

What does being an American mean? Is there a national profile of an American?

Of course not, we are as diverse as the flowers, fair and swarthy, black and brown and white.

Being an American to me means that we rise above our diverse nationalities, our differences of opinion and our allegiance to
other flags.

Being an American doesn’t mean that we have to agree with everything our government does, but it does mean that we never take sides with a foreign government against our own.

If your sympathies and allegiance are with another country
then perhaps you could consider moving to that country.

Pray for our troops.

What do you think?

God Bless America


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Here are some things that Kevinslowv6 (MHL member) has done to show spread the disease of supporting our men and women in the US Military

Feel free to share any of these with anyone you know


Videos:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ETUid6x5dro
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YsDmqoiNn4M
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CVEETC2Z1V0
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CIf3xEAF4c0
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8LqmiqVRjCY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VQOWpw5bWzg
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZBDLNN4iKxk


Images:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/Kevin-/sp.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/Kevin-/Support.gif
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/Kevin-/AF.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/Kevin-/wp3.jpg
http://pdngallery.com/cobrand/nikonn...aq/pics/15.jpg

"In memory of those who led the good life, fought the good fight, and made the ultimate sacrifice.
May we never forget."

My thanks goes out to all who have served for and sacrificed for all of the citizens of our great nation, you folks who have volunteered your lives to serve for our people deserve much more respect and thanks than any of us could ever conjure up.

My hat is off to you.

 

good post greg....it will for sure get us thinking.

There were a couple of things that stood out to me.

"But in spite of their love for the fatherland, no matter how much they missed and revered the old country they all understood that to get ahead in America the answer was to assimilate."

That is correct, back in the day when people came to this country they tried extra hard to assimilate or they just didn't make it. I'm sure there are LOTS of immigrants in today's world that assimilate, however it seems like we try harder to assimilate to them....I'm not saying that's all bad, but I think there needs to be some middle ground

"Being an American to me means that we rise above our diverse nationalities, our differences of opinion and our allegiance to
other flags."

This really bugs me for some reason....maybe cause I don't understand it. Whenever there are immigration marches through Oakland or SF you see mostly Mexican flags and some American flags. I strongly believe people should honor their culture and traditions, however if you leave Mexico or wherever because its so shitty and to come to America for a better life....WTF would you still want to show your allegiance to a country who has done NOTHING for you.

 

Kevinslowv6 AKA me, lol.

 

good lord that should be written in the sky!!! i'm so sick of people runnin to this country for safety from their old homeland and then flyin that countrys flag

 

WHAT HAPPENED 156 YEARS AGO




California became a state.
The State had no electricity.
The State had no money.
Almost everyone spoke Spanish.
There were gunfights in the streets.

So basically, it was just like California
is today, except the women
had real breasts and the men didn't hold hands.

 

Another *** HAT post from you

So is Cali the ONLY state having immigration issues? Ever been to Florida or Texas? Are you American Indian? Did your family immigrate from somewhere else to have a better life here in America? Come on smart guy, think about it a little and post something worth a damn!

 

Once again your just mad because we have way hotter women and our state can kick the crap out of your state. Anyways, this thread wasn't talking about California, it was talking about America jackass. Did someone from Cali kick your *** or something? Is that why you hate this state?

 

ha ha ha...I think a Democrat from Cali kicked his *** and that's why he HATES both so much.

 

Hell boys,I just thought it was funny. Thats all.

 

I just saw the same thing on SVT.....this was a pretty good comeback

I'M CALIFORNIAN, THAT MEANS...
- The drinking age is 21 but everyone starts at 14 (legally 18 if you live close enough to the border)
- All the **** you watch is made here, cause we f**k better and thats how it is
- I have the most representation in the House of Representatives, which means MY OPINION means more than yours, which means I'm better than u
- My governor can kick your governors ***
-Our chicks are WAYYYY hotter than yours
- I say "like" and "for sure" and "right on" and "dude" and "totally" and "peace" and "chill" and "holla" and "yo" and I say them often
- I'm mexican or live next door to one
- I know what real cheese & avocadoes taste like
- I don't get snowdays off because theres only snow in Mammoth, Tahoe and Big Bear
- We have Earthquakes, not ice storms, not tornados, and certainly not hurricanes
- The average temperature here is a warm, yet mild 69 degrees
- I can wear sandals all year long
- I go to the Beach, not "down to the shore"
- I know 65 mph really means 80
- When someone cuts me off, they get the horn and the finger and they accept it and give it back, because that's the California way
- I can go out at midnight
- I might get looked at funny by locals when I'm on vacation in their state, but when they find out I'm from California I turn into a Greek GOD
- We don't stop at stop signs... we do a "california roll" No COP, no STOP baby!
- I can get fresh and REAL Mexican food 24 hours a day
- All the TV shows you "other" states watch get filmed here
- We have In-N-Out (Arizona and Vegas are lucky we share that with them)
- Our state is only friends with New York, Florida, Texas and Nevada... simply because those states are the only ones that can come close to understanding how great LIFE is... in CALIFORNIA

 

^ Good stuff. I think I've seen that before. Man I can wear sandals all year long. I also think this is the only state where someone can cut you off and they still give you the finger.

 

god I feel like today is defend cali day....hell, I don't think the state I live in is any better than any other state, but people throw around a lot of assumptions about cali that are really lame.

 

it's cause they have never been here and believe some of the crap they see on t.v. I was in Canada once, and some of the kids up there actually believed us when we told them we sometimes surf to school. I couldn't believe it.

 

the funny thing is that the TV shows that give people wierd ideas about cali are all filmed here.

 

get yer california **** outta the support our troops thread, kthxbai

 

well if everybody wasn't trying to turn every thread into a bash cali thread today it wouldn't be a problem. talk to your cali hating buddy stormsGT, since he brought up california in this thread

 

I totally agree, but tell stormgt to quit posting POOOOOOOOO!