10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America

Jokes what are those

I propose that everyone now refer to me as "Big Daddy Spankbottom". 

Big bottom drive me outta my miiind

Or "Proud to be an American"

The Doctor wrote: Or "Proud to be an American"

That song is actually called "God Bless the USA" (why do I know these things?).  It's by Lee Somethingorother

The Doctor wrote: ^I wouldn't admit on a public forum that I knew something like that.  Dean wrote: "Born in the USA"? ... I guess that's too specific. (and too blue-collar)   And pretty Anti-American.

Plus it excludes about half the people living here.

and a bad song.

I just love songs where the verse and chorus are the exact same melody and it lasts six minutes.

darkshade wrote: Slartibartfast wrote: Native Americans were wiped out largely disease and plague (not us) But the white man is the one who brought the diseases in the first place.

Reacting to the article with torches and pitchforks only validates the point of it. Most of what this blogger says (and yes, he's just a blogger) is pretty urban-centric and discounts the idea that if you are spending all this time out of the country, it is not entirely possible to have your finger on the pulse of the country. Also, one can travel their whole life and only see a fraction of the countries they visit. Just think about how much you really know about people in other areas of the country you reside in. There is a certain amount of cognitive distortion in thinking the attitudes he experiences are not filtered.

The most valid point to me is the self-importance with regard to being the free world's savior. If someone wants to plant a big scarlet letter on their forehead in my eyes all they have to do is invalidate another countries sovereignty (usually directed at the French) by spouting off "you'd all be speaking German if it wasn't for us". Profoundly ignorant and disrespectful. Did we play a big part? Hell yes. But we were part of a multi-national force that came in at was effectively the last 15% (chronologically speaking in the European theater) of the war. Could it have been done without us? Maybe not, but most people in the US have no idea how many African volunteers fought in France with no chance of promotion or that the Norwegians prevented the Nazi nuclear program from getting off the ground and severely crippled Nazi reinforcement to the Normandy invasion by sabotaging transport ships, thus preventing the occupiers of their country (the very ones they had been trying to get rid of for 4 years) from leaving the country en masse to join the battle. What really gets me is that sort of ignorance is not something I heard from my grandfathers who were veterans of the war or any of the other WW2 vets I have met. It is a refuge of the blind and clueless to validate their xenophobia. And heroes or not, none of it is blank check to operate as we please any other overseas conflict.