Horseshit.

They are all human. Making this a nationality thing is crap. If the same thing had happened in Africa would that be yet another reason for people to be proud to be black? No. Why not? They have just as much control over that as you did in being a U.S. Citizen.

I am just another foreigner living here and raping this country so I do not feel qualified to comment at this point in time.

Ah....More reason to be proud.

IMHO, the only people who have the right to be proud of this country are those who actually serve it in the armed forces.

That does not include me and that does not include millions of others.

My dad served. He has the right to be proud. I do not because I, like most other Americans, have done NOTHING to make me proud to be an American.

Am I thankful for those who have and do serve? Damn straight. I may not agree with what the U.S. Government decides to do all the time but I sure as hell can't blame the troops that have been put in various positions. They signed up to defend freedom. Props to them.

2pac alone is a reason

I love my country.

Those who say that they are 'proud to be an American' and then preach the hatriotism of 'if you attack our President then you should leave the country' or the like, are not being proud of America.

They are backing concepts that America is against.

Why do I love this country? Because I and anyone else is free to speak out against the administration or any of it's officials, to question it's motives and it's values. Or really, because of the concepts that make that true.

The great divide in this nation is being created not by the liberals, but by those individuals who push a 'with us or agin' us' agenda. Who attack the patriotism of anyone who thinks the war in IRAQ is a farce. Who attack the patriotism of anyone who thinks that Bush and his supporters agenda of moral values is a danger to this nation.

The day we don't question or even attack those in office, they day we stop suspecting corruption where it could exist, and trade intelligent inspection and debate for blind nationalism is the day that democracy dies.

I'm sick at heart of watching someone post 'The war in IRAQ is wrong' and seeing responses like 'If you don't like this country, leave.' People who post that stuff seem to want a dictatorship, not a democracy, and betray America with that kind of rhetoric.

Bush was not voted against by those who voted against him because they are 'unpatriotic'. He was voted against by his detractors because they didn't think he was the best man for the job.

Politicians and the administration are NOT America. They exist to serve us, and deserve all of the questioning, suspicion, and demands they get.

I don't support Bush, I do question his policies and his motives, and yes, I do love my country. But I will never, ever, blindly support a politician or president if I don't feel their actions merit it. And those who turn that into being 'UnAmerican' have no idea what America is really about, or what a Democracy stands for.

---If the US had that mentality, we would have never gotten involved in WWII....."Hey, the Japanese couldn't pull this off again for another eight years. Hitler hasn't bothered us. Why should we get involved?"


c'mon. I'm no Bush Freak---but some of your comments are way off base...

I am not making this a nationality thing. I am making it an "everyone" thing.

Just as you have the right to say it is a human response, I have the right to say it was an american response, just as the spanish get to say that their response was a spanish response, just as french gets to say they rebuilt france.

Just as you get to say what we are proud of is a falsehood.

You see what I'm saying?

Hey Aaron .. I was just wondering .. honestly .. Is not being a working citizen who votes, makes money, spends it, contributes to our economy, etc .. Is that not actually enhancing our country?

I have not fought for my freedom with weapons, but I pay taxes, I work, I give money to poor people. I do MANY things that contribute to the continuing greatness of America.

Please tell me why that doesn't give me the right to be PROUD of myself and PROUD to be American?

I chose to be an American. My quality of life from the country I was born elevated the day I stepped foot as a child into the United States.

I served my country as a young man. I chose to do so, along with hundreds of thousands of other men and women.

I chose to live in this great country, that within 200 years has become a world superpower.

Is the United States a perfect country? Absolutely not. What country is?

It is the country that my family chose to begin a new life, and I am proud to be an American.

:Graucho I sure do love it.. :thumbsup

AMEN!

I am a prowed citizen of the earth, who happens to live in Los Angeles because of the weather, and because I am free to realize my dreams here.
Now, that's what I think:
The results of these 2004 Presidential elections show me that the average population of the US is still unconscious.

The big problem is religion. People are endoctrinated, and their mind becomes prisonner of Dogmas.
The worst is that people are slaves of their mind instead of being themselves.
If the majority of people were true to themselves, honest and respectful of themselves and others, then they would elect a leader who knows truth. The result of the election is a reflection of this countryes state of mind... an attempt at preserving the old values that do not have their place in the 21st century anymore.

I am optimistic, as right now, human beings are waking up, and events are taking place that cannot be undone. The old generations are dying and new generations are taking over.

i am proud to be canadian! :)

You have every right to be proud of yourself for those things. But there are multiple nationalities who do the same things.....Even within the borders of our country. Are their efforts worth any less simply because they are not American? Do they deserve less pride because of their nationality? Nope.

I'm proud to be an independent thinking individual who has the opportunity to live in a country that was founded on great principles.

I've seen my share of the world as well, and I have it good here. I'd have it good in france, and I'd have it good in the US. If they're not proud to be an american, why in the fuck should they leave? I thought it was a free country.

Well, those things you mentioned have very little to do with being an american imho.
I can go to my local store at 4am and get creamfilled twinkies, I could sale content, and I could go to webmaster meetings in a fancy custom suit. Yet, none of those things have anything to do with nationality.

National pride in the US is sickening, the flag is plastered in every damn corner. Enough is enough. The reason most europeans on GFY (and elsewhere) *hate* the americans is the overwhelming arrogance as you perceive yourselves to be the best.
Those are just my worthless :2 cents:

No I am not. That is one of the things I put in the Wrong column... I usually get many of my news from several sources, our censored media and foreign media. I am proud of the fact that those freedoms allow me to look at all these things and do not come into my home or lock down my computer from doing so. I also enjoy more Cable and uncensored entertainment. I do feel sorry for the poor or ignorant who do not use the freedoms they have to take the time to look at more than just FOX, CBS, ABC, NBC being that those are the only channels they get on their TV. Where were all those RED states again?

Kinda like "Land of the Free"

:1orglaugh

Well said.

You are an exception to the rule and you deserve to be proud.

To be or not to be, That is the question? We are history.

100 :glugglug

Why am I proud to be an American? It is for a variety of reasons, but basically they come down to one word. Freedom. We are free to do lots of things and we are free to not do these things also.

As Americans we can disagree. The government does not persecute us because we disagree with its stand on an issue. Nine people can now be running for the office of president and they do not have to worry about what this will cost them by the government. This does not mean that we cannot as individuals and organizations choose to buy from other places or not purchase certain products. We can choose as individuals to buy only those products that share our opinion is part of our freedom. Just as people can choose to not buy Dixie Chicks CDs today, we could choose in the 60s not to buy grapes from non-unionized farms, in the 60s, and 70s we could choose not to do business with companies doing business in South Africa. Each is a free choice.

We can worship God as we want. As long as our worship services do not harm others we are free to worship or not to worship in the way we choose. Look around at the times and days of various worship services. We have groups that worship on Sunday, ones that worship on Saturday (Christian and Jewish) and varieties n between. Not only do we have this freedom to worship in ways that we choose, but we are just as free to choose not to worship at all. We allow people to worship as Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, etc. in our nation. We allow those with differing religious beliefs to worship freely. Moslems can freely and openly worship Allah in the USA, although there are countries in the world that do not allow Christians to freely and openly worship God. We do not have to be a member of a certain church to be in the government. Before the revolution, in certain parts of the colonies you had to belong the Episcopal Church or in England to the Church or England.

We are free to travel. We are free to travel wherever we want in our country and most parts of the world. This means that I have been able to visit 48 out of 50 states. We do not have to get the government's permission to travel within the USA. I can choose to go to Washington DC next weekend, or the state of Washington or Washington, Georgia. Or I can choose to not travel. In many other parts of the world this freedom does not exist as the fear is of people learning about others. I can visit rich sections or poor sections of the USA. We also believe in personal property rights, so this does not mean I can just go on any land at any time with out the owner's permission.

We can choose to vote for, or not vote, our representatives. We have a voice in our representative republic. It is amazing to watch the rest of the world and watch such large numbers of people go to so much trouble to vote, walking long distances, etc., and realize that in our country so few choose to vote when it is so easy. However there is no requirement we must vote as in some places, and we do have a choice. Does that mean the choice I make will always win? No. But I am included in the process here.

This is the most beautiful and varied nation I have seen. This is not to say that there are not more beautiful specific locations in other countries, but overall this country is most beautiful. To date I have visited four other countries and hope to visit at least one more in the next year or two.

This is a nation that people do things to help others. It is a nation of individualists, but also people willing to help those who need help. When disasters hit, whether here or elsewhere in the world, people step forth willing to give to help people recover from the disaster. This can be their time, talents or money.

Education is available to all. We can choose to pursue a new direction of education at various times in our lives. In some parts of the country this education is practically at no cost to us. We don't just have private or parochial schools for the rich or religious, but we feature also public schools for all children and people for all levels from pre-K through post-doctorate. The government runs these schools and tries to give opportunities to all. We can even disagree with what is being taught. It is our choice also whether to attend these government run school or to attend non-government run schools or we can educate our children at home. However we believe strongly in education. I am glad we have the freedom to pursue our education in areas of our choosing, within the limits of our abilities. This means that in junior high school a decision was not made that I would be a certain trade for life. That I could choose in 1977 and in 1983 to pursue different graduate degrees. We worry about functional literacy in the USA while many parts of the world are still worried about literacy. We can choose our career.

We work to feed our people. We have people that are hungry and that may not get balanced diets, but it is very rare for a person to starve in the USA and that is usually their choosing or where it was others doing. We have stop gap feeding systems from government, to religious to private organizations. We feed our children in public schools. We are trying to make all people receive the adequate meals, but in some many other parts of the world they still literally starve and we as a people, organizations and government are doing things to try to help in those places also.

We can freely contact our leaders and agree or disagree with them and have no fear of retribution. Contrast this to the reports from Iraq of children's and spouses' tongues cut out, eyeballs gouged, deaths, all because a person disagreed with Hussein.

We are not perfect. We keep getting better. I look forward to when I get to heaven and live in a perfect land, but until then this is the best available. We have had major problems in the past. We did allow slavery for almost one hundred years, but we no longer permit it. We left women out of the process for a much longer period but they are now included also. Look at the candidates for President in 2004. They include white males, but also blacks and a woman. If we look at the top advisors to the president, we see blacks, whites, males and females.

Three are lots of publications on all sides of issues. Even what appears to be news stories of what is fiction, but still available. If you are not sure visit the check-out line of a grocery store or go to a news stand, even in a bookstore. We can choose to either read or not read or hear the pros and cons of almost any issue. I welcome this opportunity and freedom to read various view points. It is not just the government viewpoint we can choose to hear.

Lastly I am free to choose where I want to give and spend my money, or to not do either. It is not dictated to us we must spend money in certain places or only give our money to certain organizations. We are free to waste our money if we want.

I am proud to be an American because of my freedoms. They have been listed in the Constitution and its amendments. These freedoms are what makes the United States of America the great nation it is.

^ "freedom" :1orglaugh funny....

P.S. the above work is NOT mine, but I agree with it's contents..

It represents I think, why a lot of people are proud to be americans, yet can't ( like myself ) articulate it like the article above does...

:thumbsup :thumbsup

Ford
Chevrolet
Dodge
Cadillac
McDonalds
KFC
Wal-mart
Home hardware
Costco

...

Budweiser
Coka Cola
Pepsi
Kraft
Heinz
Nike
Addidas
Fila
Fubu
Microsoft

...

Taco Bell
Sprint

:helpme

I am proud to live in a country where a fat kid can post on a chat board all day and bang his models.

??

Are you also proud to live in a country where a fat guy can bang his employees, buy a hot chick an expensive car and other gifts in order to convince her to marry him, and use the same engagement ring twice?

Are you proud to live in a country where an old model can sue your company for using her images because the content producer fucked the pooch when selling them to you?

Are you proud to live in a country where you can start your own adult webmaster board and invite all the people who think you are cool to post? THEN talk shit about others in the industry for the sole purpose of getting their attention in hopes of them posting to your board as well?

I love the quality of air in Los Angeles.

Are you serious?

Americans can't never totally leave USA, like most other countries. You always have to report everything you own and do when you leave the country. Freedom? :1orglaugh

What incident was this? Childhood friends getting the same deployment orders sounds like a stretch to me.

oh damm that shit was funny...

didn't you say earlier that lots of poor boys signed up because they couldn't get a good job and they wanted assistance with college tuition? That's the problem with Dem's logic. "Whatya mean I have to fight? I was here for the free ride!"

That's the past.

Read the Patriot Act, listen to corrupted medias, look at your cultural 'popular shit' messup, and watch this industry go down.

Europe has more freedom than USA.
Canada has more freedom than USA.

prove it.

LOL.

I'm NOT proud to be Heterosexual.

Should I turn homo? :helpme

I am proud that I live in a country where I am free to tell a fellow friend and content producer to shove it up his ass when he insinuates that my country is nothing to be proud of...