Posted on 06/13/2005 4:59:45 AM PDT by bobd400
Did anyone watch "The Greatest American" on Discovery last night (top 25)?? I watched about the first 15min of it, and had to turn it off. The first group included Henry Ford, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther King. What I was first bothered by was a very quick reference to the fact that Henry Ford was an Anti-semite. But I don't know much about the man, so I kept watching. Then, when discussing Jefferson, they were very forceful in declaring the "fact" that "many" historians believe Thomas Jefferson had a child by a slave (last I heard reseach showed it was inconclusive). Additionally, they were very repetitive in saying he was a slave owner (which was true, of MANY at the time). One commentator even said something like 'while he was concerned over it, he did nothing, and then ordered more wine from France'. I thought it was really unfair that they would declare unproven or at least questionable things in some great Americans pasts (Like Ford and Jefferson) and then NOT mention many of the questionable things from others (like regarding MLK). I guess what causes me such outrage is the fact that somewhere, someone seems to be in the business of trying to try discredit the names of our founding fathers, in order to weaken the very values and documents they laid down for us. I even turned back a while later when they were discussing Clinton. By contrast, his infidelity, lying, and impeachement was almost made to seem like a minor folly, and that all the good work he's done since has "made up" for it. Thoughts?
Give 'em hell! (8^D)
My ancestors were Irish serfs who came to America to escape England's policies of planned mass starvation in Ireland. When is the "serf reparation" movement going to get up and running?
There is no limit to human depravity--or to human goodness.
Heroism is as basic to human nature as is depravity.
The supreme beauty of Todd Beamer is that he was an ordinary man--just like you and me--and that anyone you meet could be such a man--or woman.
We must never forget this, and we must also never forget that the dark side exists in all of us too.
Mother Teresa said that she decided to go to Calcutta when she looked inside herself and saw a Hitler there.
You no doubt have many more enslaved and enslaving ancestors that you don't know about than that you do. The ancestors we know about are very few compared to those who are lost in pre-history.
If you believe England policies caused the potato famine you are even more of a conspiratorialist than I. They didn't.
It's funny, but I've come to the decision to use the channel blocker/program blocker on the cable box. I can't wait till we can order programs only or the cable box give direct ratings in order to get this kind of crap away from my kids.
I know 12 generations back and have been to the miserable villages where they served their andlords. How about you? Do you know who and where YOU came from? int no slave owning in my past. My ancestors were lucky to be able to share a pair of shoes to take turns herding sheep until they came to America expecting to find the streets paved with gold.
Not only was there no gold- but they had to pave the streets.
As someone observed some years ago about the Academy Awards: "You've got to remember that these are the people who think Talk to the Animals is a great work of music."
What, in your opinion, did cause the potato famine?
Nobody knows what his/her ancestry was before 1,000 years ago. Yet homo sapiens has existed in the present form for about 200,000 years. Who were your ancestors before they immigrated to Ireland? Where did they come from? What was their racial makeup? Before 2,000 years ago we're talking about millions of ancestors, even considering duplicates. The Irish serfs--bless 'em--that you know about are only a very small number of all your ancestors. God only knows your--and my--true heritage--and who all of our ancestors were.
I only have a passing understanding of the potato famine. Been to Ireland, and there's a couple of variations on the history. What I've gotten from is was that, obviously, England wasn't responsible for the famine itself. But the taxation on fertile land, and the policies they had of sending food to England, regardless of the need in Ireland, made the problem MUCH worse than it could have been. In my understanding, taxation on the land in the East, which is very fertile, became prohibitive. Many farmers went to the west coast, where, if you've been there, you know how harsh it is. Potatoes (underground crops) grew well there. That became the major crop. blight (plant disease) hit, and the crops went sour. No food. Now, there were still a lot of farming of other crops done in other areas, but from my understanding, much was shipped to the UK.
Others, I'm sure, will clarify further or better.
God sent the blight but the English made the famine.
Did you know that by 1806, only 4% of all Irish land was owned by the Irish? When the potato crops failed, there was plenty of food in Ireland...but it belonged to the landlords in England, to whom it was shipped to feed English people and English armies.
If you aren't aware of English policies toward Ireland and the Irish and how they caused great social misery before, during, and after the "Great Famine", then you need to do some more reading. But if not for the English mistreatment of the Irish and the mass migration to America that resulted, America may not have gained some of the great leaders and workers we needed to attain our independence and build our country.
Who were your ancestors before they immigrated to Ireland? Where did they come from? What was their racial makeup?
I know that information, But I am not going to discuss geneaology with you. Your mind, like my bed, is already made up.
3 ways to vote...toll free phone, website and text message
Apparently, you can vote for Ronald Reagan by phone (up to 3 times per week, per phone number) at:
866-669-3120
AND you can text the work REAGAN to 66931 (up to 3 times/wk)
Also, you can visit the website and vote for a candidate up to 3 times per week per IP address:
http://tv.channel.aol.com/greatestamerican
Yes, that is basically my understanding of the potato famine, also. My question was for Shutupandtakeit. He/she seems to think there was a different cause and I was interested in knowing what he/she thought it was.
I think Washington should win but I am voting for Reagan to p*** off the libs
Adam & Eve
Oh, I wish that this were so.
Seems ample leisure time leads straight to reality TV.
We're doomed.
Ping for a later read.
I think a big reason it was sealed is because the extent of the FBI's investigation is likelt to be an embarassment. Mark Felt learned his tactics from Hoover.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.