Posted on 07/13/2002 8:23:34 AM PDT by Donna Lee Nardo
Hey Freepers! Below is from a circulating e-mail. It is terrific! Perhaps a Freeper wrote the editorial? I searched FR and I didn't find it posted -- so I am posting it. And even if it was posted previously, more people are bound to read it for the first time now, I hope.
From the circulating e-mail: "After hearing that the state of Florida changed its opinion and let a Muslim woman have her picture on her drivers license with her face covered, I believe this is even more appropriate. Read on, please!
This is an Editorial written by an American citizen, published in a Tampa newspaper. He did quite a job; didn't he?
IMMIGRANTS, NOT AMERICANS, MUST ADAPT. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely composed of descendants of immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of America being a multi- cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!
"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture. If Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from.
This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But, once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great American freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.
The "Melting Pot" theory of socialization to America's unique way of life implies that all who would come here to live will adapt, over time, to the American way of life.
Through the years, people of the world's various cultural and ethnic groups have brought many positive ideas and values and have contributed much to the mosaic of America. That is all to the good.
Having said that, these same peoples from the world's various cultural and ethnic groups have also brought with them ideas and values which have not improved our society one whit.
Now, I am not going to get into a debate with you about which are the "good" or the "bad" ideas and values. Suffice it to say that they exist, and to the degree that foreign culture has debased America, or caused politicians to pander to certain ethnic groups in search of more power, we are all worse off.
Americans have always welcomed immigrants who want to exercise the FReedoms that God gave us and that our Constitution reaffirms.
As we begin to wake up to the danger of those persons who move here to subvert our Constitution, we Americans are becoming more and more loathe to welcome them with open arms.
We Americans certainly do not have any obligation to pander to and accommodate the demands foreigners make to "re-order our society" to meet their pecululiar habits, needs and values. And we are fully within our right as a self-governing nation to run them out!
This is the message to all foreigners who would move to America: If you move here and don't like it, LEAVE!
You do not have the right to force me to accommodate your particular cultural idiosyncrasy!
Please provide some solid references by the founders on this, because so far I've missed all this documentation.
Excusez moi? Well, if you searched under the only "title" in the e-mail -- The Right to Leave -- you will find niento, zero, nada, zilch. So sorry you took the unnecessary trouble of posting your unhelpful post. And as I said already, most people posting here, unlike you, are reading this editorial for the first time and benefitting from it -- unlike your post. You know, I always see posters posting how some thread or another was already posted, and I am glad it was reposted because usually I am reading it for the first and only time! I also always wondered if the people who chime in to say a post was posted are anal-retentive...From the "anal-retentive" owner of this forum:
Vanity Post on Vanity Posts, Duplicate Posts, Trash Posts, Commie Propaganda, etc., Vol V, No. 1See also a more complete explantion of WHY duplicate posts are not a particularly good thing, as well as a posssible explanation as to why YOUR thread has not already been removed, or locked for being a duplicate:
Free Republic | Jan 25, 2002 | Jim Robinson
Posted on 01/25/2002 11:38 PM Pacific by Jim Robinson
Vanity On Duplicate Threads
Posted on 05/17/2002 9:17 AM Pacific by Admin ModeratorThis is just a reminder that before one posts an article, one should check to see if the article has been previously posted in order to avoid duplication.
Duplication causes several problems. Just like the old Monty Python skit about spam, if the same thing is posted over and over, it can drown out other valid posts. It needlessly consumes system resources. It fragments discussion.
In general, moderators will pull duplicate postings when we are alerted to them or when we notice them. This has the benefit of eliminating the "spam" effect and it helps keep discussion from being fragmented. However, it does not really save system resources, and it can be frustrating when one is about to reply to a thread and it vanishes (due to being a duplicate). A better solution is for people to take care to ensure they are not posting a duplicate.
To avoid duplicate postings, some things can help. First, when posting, search to see if the article has already been posted. Load up the "Latest Posts" page and scroll down it to see if the same article is there. Check the sidebars. And use the FR search engine.
Second, do not change the title of an article when posting it. Doing so makes it less likely that another searching to see if an article was posted will find the earlier copy.
Third, don't be in a rush to "be the first" to get an article up. Really, is there a big need to do so?
Also, here is a tip for using the FR search engine. Only words that are four or more letters are examined, so searching on "Pim" or on "CIA" will not accomplish anything.
Finally, I will add that not all duplicates are removed. On the day an article is published, if several hours (four or more) have passed since the article had last been posted, we will tend to leave it up if it is reposted (unless it is still visibile in a sidebar) to make it so that people who don't scroll back several pages will not miss an article of current relevancy. However, this should not be overdone or abused or this may change... more
From the VietNow National MagazineAt a high school in Oklahoma, school officials remove God Bless America signs from schools in fear that someone might be offended.
At a Long Island, New York television station, management orders flags removed from the newsroom, and red, white, and blue ribbons removed from the lapels of reporters. Why? Management did not want to appear biased, and felt that our nations flag might give the appearance that they lean one way or another.
Officials in a California city ban U.S. flags from being displayed on city fire trucks because they didnt want to offend anyone in the community.
In an act of tolerance, the head of the public library at a Florida university ordered all Proud To Be an American signs removed so as to not offend international students.Politically Correct Attacks Against America
I, for one, am quite disturbed by these actions of so-called American citizens; and I am tired of this nation worrying about whether or not we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, we have experienced a surge of patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled in New York and Washington, DC when the politically correct crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. In fact, our countrys population is almost entirely comprised of descendants of immigrants; however, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some native-born Americans, need to understand.If Youre Among the Politically Correct, Heres What You Need to Know
First of all, it is not our responsibility to continually try not to offend you in any way. This idea of America being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language, and our own lifestyle. This culture, called the American Way has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. Our forefathers fought, bled, and died at places such as Bunker Hill, Antietam, San Juan Hill, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf, for our way of life.
We speak English, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn our language!And Yes, We Do Trust in God
In God We Trust is our national motto. This is not some off-the-wall, Christian, right wing, political slogan. It is our national motto. It is engraved in stone in the House of Representatives in our Capitol, and it is printed on our currency. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation; and this is clearly documented throughout our history. If it is appropriate for our motto to be inscribed in the halls of our highest level of government, then it is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools.If God Offends You, Heres What to Do
God is in our pledge, our National Anthem, nearly every patriotic song, and in our founding documents. We honor His birth, death, and resurrection as holidays, and we turn to Him in prayer in times of crisis. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture, and we are proud to have Him.Its Our Heritage
We are proud of our heritage and those who have so honorably defended our freedoms. We celebrate Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Flag Day. We have parades, picnics, and barbecues where we proudly wave our flag. As an American, I have the right to wave my flag, sing my national anthem, quote my national motto, and cite my pledge whenever and wherever I choose. If the Stars and Stripes offend you, or you dont like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.This is Our Culture If You Dont Like It Youre Free to Go Elsewhere
The American culture is our way of life, our heritage, and we are proud of it. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really dont care how you did things where you came from. We are Americans. Like it or not, this is our country, our land, and our lifestyle.
Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion about our government, culture, or society, and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great American freedom, the right to leave!
Why not? But just remember, everytime they check your ID they're going to want to verify that the photo matches...
But remember... that right too is being curtailed. Renounce your citizenship, you're still on the hook for federal income taxes for 7 (10?) years, for example.
And you don't have the right to evict people because you don't approve of the way they conduct their day-to-day affairs.
The "melting pot" that you erroneously describe, has always meant that as each and everyone of the many waves of immigrants, from every corner of the world arrived in the US, they added their own "ingredient" to the stew of American culture.
With the passing of time, these immigrants have "melted" into a society, that while remaining strong, was augumented with the remmants of their culture, and traditions.
That's why we celebrate St. Patrick's day, Columbus Day, Chinese New Year, Oktoberfest, and even Bastille Day.
That's why American cousine includes spaghetti, fried rice, fajitas, hot dogs with sauerkraut, and even black beans and rice.
Now, you talk about the people who move here to "subvert" our Constitution, but you provide no examples of any subverting of the Constitution. Instead, you wander off into vague, unsubstantiated, and even contradictory mumblings about politicians pandering (when have they not pandered?), and people coming here to "re-order our society".
Well, you yourself just admitted that this is what immmigrants have always done!
"Through the years, people of the world's various cultural and ethnic groups have brought many positive ideas and values and have contributed much to the mosaic of America. That is all to the good."
And no, this nation does not have the "right", under the current law of the land, to run anyone out, who obeys the laws, renounces allegiance to any foreign government or nation, and stands willing to defend this country when needed.
Your particular sentiments about what language legal immigrants speak (when communicating with one another that is, interaction with government at any level should always be conducted in the language deemed to be the common language of the nation), what religion they practice, what cultural observances they maintain, or what political ideology they support, have no bearings on their right to be here, as all these things are guaranteed to all people legally residing anyplace where the recognized law of the land is the US Constitution.
Once people have legally migrated here, and become citizens, they have every right that any American has. INCLUDING the right to bitch about the government, and the current state of affairs.
When The Founders said that all men were created equal, and that they all had the inalienable rights to life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they didn't qualify that with a statement indicating that these rights were subject to approval by their next-door neighbor.
Sometimes, to love America, is to exercise the gifts she so generously gives us.
Freedom, it's a scary thing because everyone gets theirs.
My license expired while I was stationed overseas. I wrote a letter to the Dept of Motor Vehicles, and after sending a check for the appropriate amount, I received a license in the mail, with the words "NO PHOTO" in place of my picture.
I had a lot of fun with that license!
You know, you are so wrong about the whole underlying issue that you started and you are just not getting it. You seem to be trying to deny me my own freedom to respond to you as you first responded to me. You seem to want me to curtail my free speech rights. Why don't you try to read through my posts and point out the exact sentence where I forbid you to ever respond to me again. You simply cannot do it because such a phrase (and my power to enforce such a demand!) doesn't exist, as you allude to in your later posts to others.
Is what you really want this: for me not to be rude to you with my words as you were first rude to me? Well, we are both guilty of child like behaviour, aren't we? It is okay to resort to that once in awhile; it doesn't make you a bad person, just human. As an aside, your being Cuban had not a thing to do with the short reference, it had all to do with a possible "napolean-related complex. Afterall, with my half Italian blood, there is a 99 % chance you are taller than me!
Anyway, I have read many of your posts and you are combative and insert many personal adjectives in your heated posts. For a mild example, you called someone just the other day "Another net nanny wannabe..." So, now that I think I know where you are coming from, I feel better. You were not singling me out.
What is it that you do not entirely understand about my protesting your sarcasm in your final sentence in your first post to me? The sarcasm; "it's not the economy, it's the SARCASM, stupid." Since you later admit that I did search the title and found no matches, then what is there to "learn" as far as searches? And I followed the format of many other posters who habitually post an article after searching, but add a similar "preamble" just to apologetically cover themselves, knowing that search engines are not always 100 percent.
I have noticed that this thread has received more replies centering on the editorial itself -- not counting the messages of you and I -- than the other threads you found under a title I never received. That in and of itself is a good thing. The thread could have been pulled, I do not know why it wasn't, but I am glad people are reading the editorial. The absolute best addition besides the thought-provoking post of kjenerette, IMHO, is the original artilce posted a few moments ago by RonDog -- with the original title!
I guess some people need to learn to use the search engines.
The above quotes are yours. So, just to make sure everyone understands the rules, Luis can tell other people what they can and can not post, but Donna can not?
Dear Abby, I read your column every day. Today, you printed a letter from a woman who asked you to reprint a column you posted a long time ago, offering timeless bits of wisdom.
Abby, that's already been printed! If she didn't cut it out, make 1000 copies of it and have it printed on a t-shirt the first time, that's her fault.
I've noticed that you rerun some columns from time to time Abby, and it has to stop. So what if the piece is popular, and you get a lot of fan mail everytime you run it? What matters is that you don't fill the newspaper with stuff that has already been printed.
By the way, I'm also sending this letter to the editor of my local paper, because I've noticed that they tend to print articles concerning the same stories I saw on my local tv news. It's such a waste!!!!
You should stop doing this, because it really agravates me!
Louis Gonzales
p.s. Use your spellchecker Abby, when you mispell a wurd, I get reely mad and have to write to let you know. That is a waste also.
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