I thank you. And your country thanks you.My family was American all the way back to the founding of the country, and a smattering of everything from the British Isles before that. I don't know much about what my mom's side of the family did but I know my dad's dad was an artilleryman and he had an uncle who was some kind of special forces in the Pacific. There was a story my dad told about his uncle that stuck with me because at the time it sounded badass but as I grew up I started to realize how miserable it actually was. He said that his uncle had the job of parachuting onto Japanese held islands and fucking their shit up in preparation for the full scale attack. He said when he got back the rest of his family told him he would behave differently than he remembered. That it wasn't really possible to surprise him anymore and if you did he'd probably kill you.
But yeah, American all the way.
To make a point; I describe my ancestry as something along the lines of a quarter German, a quarter Italian, and a spattering of Irish and what have you. As 'american' as I think German or Irish ancestry is (I mean, who isn't part Irish or German if you're a white red blooded american?), I'm surely not of a pure bloodline.
What I think makes an American, more than blood is an acceptance of a common nationality, and certain cultural ticks, that are uniquely american, and for the falseness, racism, lies, and pure idealism of the phrase "melting pot", I think it's exactly that, that makes america, America.
I will joke that if you don't celebrate Christmas, you are not American. I don't mean you need to necessarily have a tree, or sing carols, or buy presents, or believe in god (or hell, santa). But, the capitalism and everything bad ever aside from the holiday, I find it to be a uniting point culturally for what I consider to be American. I think of Christmas, as a strongly famililar holiday, but more so the season of Christmas (I consider Between Thanksgiving and New Years), I consider it to be a peace of mind. "Good will towards man". A collective nod, if a grumpy one, to the idea that we're all supposed to be good people, and we should be good simply for goodness' sake.
Oh. And fuck Hillary.
Funny how we do that. I like it. Continue to bring up historical facts if you wouldn't mind
This is really strange, because my great-grandfather and two of his brothers were SS members, they disappeared on the Eastern front, and one was never heard from again. I'm starting to think Red and I are related. And actually that would explain a lot.
Once again, the weird shit guests (or in this case, Bing) happen to be viewing on the online list proves immensely relevant to current discussions. In this particular case, a thread from 2014 where CeltSoldierKiev posits that Jorost and Redezra are, in fact, the same person.
Oooooooooooooh~This is really strange, because my great-grandfather and two of his brothers were SS members, they disappeared on the Eastern front, and one was never heard from again. I'm starting to think Red and I are related. And actually that would explain a lot.
EDIT:
Heard some stuff about trump on the morning news. Wanted to share an opinion somewhere (and this is the Clinton topic. Not family history).
I do honestly think the country will be worse* under Trump. He is a bad man. However, I still hate Hillary. And I would without hesitation vote for Trump over Hillary. And a major reason is I trust in our country, the citizens, our media, congress, etc, to call Trump out on his bullshit. And he'll do awful, awful things. See: Bush. But I am less worried about a second Iraq war caused by Trump, who will be hated by the country, than I am by Hillary who would "get away" with things. Now she won't magically be untouched. And the (honestly inhumanly disgusting) Republicans will hamstring her endlessly. ETC ETC. We've done this song & dance before.
But, I just think about those things. And Trump may push us towards one extreme I detest, that I feel will only be a (major) hindrance to the overall progression of our country forward ("forward"), rather than a push down the path of "progress" that may veer off course more than I am comfortable with.
The same (if not worse) things may happen under Trump. But they'll be recognized as bad. Water boarding. Patriot Act. North American Free Trade Agreement. (wait). Instead of celebrated, and codifed. (Repel of Glass Stegall).
And if someone wants to educate me, I'm not educated. I'd be glad to change or alter (reword) my views. But what I do know (and again, I will bare myself before the jury, and atone for my sins of ignorance, I plead guilty) about NAFTA or Glass Stegall alone, and my perception that those things are virtually ignored by the masses. And what I know about the Patriot Act, the Iraq War, the war on Terrorism, and how those things are vilified (if not unsuccessfully, more so in the case of the Patriot act). But you take progress where you can. We are a decade out. And there has been debate, but you can at least be respectful and disagree and fight the Patriot act. it can be more civily and equally among contenders, debated, where other issues are one sided or one sided is labeled reactionary radical racist dumb stupid fucking mongrals, any number of insults libtarded or alt right; anything to shut down conversation and ignore actual points, and be intellectually dishonest.
This was a shitpost. Thank you.
Edited by KiWi, 21 September 2016 - 05:23 AM.