Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
JohnBoy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/06
#1Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 7:52pm
ALLAN JEFFERYS: Blessed Above All Nations, Why Are We So Thankless?
An e-mail floating around supposedly quotes David Letterman. Interestingly, the same writing was recently attributed to Jay Leno. The truth is neither one wrote it.
We used to see things like this regularly credited to the late George Carlin, and I got one recently purported to be from Thomas Sowell. The curious thing about these urban legends is that there is more than a grain of truth in them, so why don't the authors 'fess up?
This one says about 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 per cent are down on President Bush. In essence, two-thirds of the country is mad and wants a change.
What are we so unhappy about?
Is it that we have electricity and running water 24-7? What about air-conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? How about more than 95 percent of us with a job? Are these the things that infuriate us?
Do we hate to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in one aisle than Darfur has seen in the last year? Or perhaps we see no reason why we should be able to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic without having to present ID papers as we move through the states.
Perhaps we seek change from having hundreds of clean and safe motels along our trip or thousands of restaurants with a wide variety of cuisine and varying prices just off the road. Maybe if we got rid of George Bush we could wreck our car without emergency workers and helicopters showing up to help us.
We may be upset with knowing that if we have a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in minutes and use top-notch equipment to extinguish the flames. Or, if we're at home watching our huge flat-screen TV and a burglar intrudes, the police will defend us.
This is all in a neighborhood free of bombs and militias raping and pillaging -- neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers. How about the complete religious, social and political freedom we enjoy that makes the rest of the world envy us?
Are these the things we fear and hate?
When was the last time we visited a National Park? Have we forgotten the grandeur and beauty of Yosemite or Yellowstone? Have we gazed in wonder at the Great Smoky Mountains or stood in awe in Maine's Acadia?
Are these the things we want to change?
Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. and has great disdain for its citizens -- the most blessed people in the world, who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the Good Lord we live here.
And what about this president we all revile? Is this the same man who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? Is this the same president who has kept us safe from terrorist attacks? Is this the same guy who is commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve and in many cases may have died for our freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.
So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of the 69 percent of Americans? I say blame it on the media, which seem to exist to tell us how to think. Maybe the answer is to turn off TV, burn Newsweek and use The New York Times for the bottom of our birdcages.
In other words, make up our own minds and recognize that we are among the most blessed people on earth and should thank God several times a day. At the very least, we should think twice before taking God out of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Every candidate for office has been screaming that we need change as though we are in such bad shape that only major reversals in policy can make us survive. There is no question that mistakes have been made by a Republican administration and a Democratic Congress and improvements are needed on both sides. But improvements and corrections do not necessarily translate into major 180-degree turnabout changes.
Look at the great things about this nation listed above and see if you don't agree. You can undoubtedly add to that list. I'm as guilty as the next one of carping and complaining; maybe I spent too many years as a critic to get it out of my system. But when I vote next Tuesday I'll think of the good and hope you will too.
See you at the polls.
Allan Jefferys, a former New York theater critic, entertainment editor and newsman, lives in Pinehurst. You can contact him at oldjeff@embarqmail.com.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#2re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 7:55pm
"[We] should thank God several times a day. At the very least, we should think twice before taking God out of the Pledge of Allegiance."
Hurl. Puke. Hack.
#2re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 8:04pmYou can put frosting on a pile of crap, but underneath the pleasant exterior...
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#3re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 8:12pm
"We may be upset with knowing that if we have a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in minutes and use top-notch equipment to extinguish the flames. Or, if we're at home watching our huge flat-screen TV and a burglar intrudes, the police will defend us."
SOCIALISM! THIS HACK IS DEFENDING SOCIALISM!!!!
KrissySim
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/08
#4re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 8:14pm
We may be upset with knowing that if we have a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in minutes and use top-notch equipment to extinguish the flames. Or, if we're at home watching our huge flat-screen TV and a burglar intrudes, the police will defend us.
Are these the things we fear and hate?
When was the last time we visited a National Park? Have we forgotten the grandeur and beauty of Yosemite or Yellowstone? Have we gazed in wonder at the Great Smoky Mountains or stood in awe in Maine's Acadia?
But these things (police, fire departments and national parks) are SOCIALIZED, JohnBoy2. Don't you fear them? (Especially the National Parks. The National Parks are out to get us all! )
Actually, I live near a National Park. I can look out my window and see a National Park, XD
#5re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 8:19pm
So you're saying we should be complacent and not strive for anything better? Be happy that our volunteer men and women are fighting and dying in an illegal war? Be happy that our civil liberties are in jeopardy?
I love the U.S., and I'm saddened by what has happened to this country in the last 8 years. I am grateful every day for my job and all those things you mention, but I'm not going to sit idle and be grateful for that while I see my individual rights being slowly taken away.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. - Randy Pausch
KrissySim
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/08
#6re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 8:24pmTo recap something I said on another thread: Freedom, equality, justice, affluence are things that are not served on a silver platter anywhere. You must constantly work, and at times even fight, to maintain them or else you will lose them.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#7re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 8:25pm
"So you're saying we should be complacent and not strive for anything better?"
It's the American way! Just good enough is just good enough.
JustAGuy
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/03
#8re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 8:29pm
"How about the complete religious, social and political freedom we enjoy that makes the rest of the world envy us?"
If we completely had all of the above, then there wouldn't be a Proposition 8 on the California ballot. There would be no need for that proposition...
KrissySim
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/08
#9re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 8:30pm
Just good enough is just good enough.
No it's not. It just has to be good for ME. Who cares about the next person?!
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#11re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/3/08 at 9:22pm
Be happy, watch American Idol on your flat screen TV, talking about the results on your cell phone thanking God constantly while the wonderful commander and chief whittles away at your freedoms and garnishes more power for himself. While he redefines torture and goes against basic human rights which America has long stood for.
Don't question anything or criticize unless it is who will be thrown off the next Dancing with the Stars or Survivor!
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#12re: Whoever wrote it, it's excellent food for thought
Posted: 11/4/08 at 2:06am
It seems that what old John Boy Two calls "excellent food for thought" is pretty much rejected round these parts.
"I live in America, Louis. I don't have to love it." -- Belize, Angels in America
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