Grimis
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|  #1 Posted on 6.6.05 0626.37 | Instant Rating: 7.29 | I knew that Discovery was going to do their Greatest American series, but missed most of #'s 100-26. The American people are going to vote on who the greatest is from the Top 25:
Muhammed Ali
Lance Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
George W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Walt Disney
Thomas Alva Edison
Albert Einstein
Henry Ford
Benjamin Franklin
Bill Gates
Billy Graham
Bob Hope
Thomas Jefferson
John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King Jr.
Abraham Lincoln
Rosa Parks
Elvis Presley
Ronald Reagan
Eleanor Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
George Washington
Oprah Winfrey
Wright Brothers
Anybody else catch the show? Anybody else have no confidence that somebody undeserving will wind up # 1?
(Anybody else frigthened that Barack Obama came in # 94? I understand that he is a popular guy and he has a great future, but the hell?)
I complained to another Liberal friend about some of the Left’s tone concerning the 2004 elections. I thought it insulting to hear those “red state” voters caricatured as red-necked rubes. My friend asked, “Well, don’t you think that people who live in large urban areas, who travel and read and speak other languages are better able to make informed choices?” It turns out it is superiority, not familiarity, which breeds contempt. - Pat Sajak| Promote this thread! |           | DrDirt
Banger
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| #2 Posted on 6.6.05 0703.47 | Instant Rating: 5.25 | This has nothing to do with the "Greatest" American but who people know. It is so sad that people are ignorant of their country's history. While some of the names make sense, Bill Gates?
Perception is reality | redsoxnation
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| #3 Posted on 6.6.05 1048.48 | Instant Rating: 4.41 | Originally posted by Grimis
I knew that Discovery was going to do their Greatest American series, but missed most of #'s 100-26. The American people are going to vote on who the greatest is from the Top 25:
Muhammed Ali
Lance Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
George W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Walt Disney
Thomas Alva Edison
Albert Einstein
Henry Ford
Benjamin Franklin
Bill Gates
Billy Graham
Bob Hope
Thomas Jefferson
John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King Jr.
Abraham Lincoln
Rosa Parks
Elvis Presley
Ronald Reagan
Eleanor Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
George Washington
Oprah Winfrey
Wright Brothers
Anybody else catch the show? Anybody else have no confidence that somebody undeserving will wind up # 1?
(Anybody else frigthened that Barack Obama came in # 94? I understand that he is a popular guy and he has a great future, but the hell?)
Obama in the Top 100 is yet another display of short attention span.
To knock off some of the Top 25:
Ali: No. Tough to put an athlete at the top, especially one so controversial. Also, is a Top 5 heavyweight, but not the Top Heavyweight, so he's not even the top of his field.
L. Armstrong: No one cares about cycling in the U.S. Next.
N. Armstrong: First man to set foot on the moon is impressive, unless the Captain Carl Everett theory is true. Top 10 yes, if he had built the ship himself definitely #1, but he didn't build the ship.
George W. Bush: I voted for him twice and I wouldn't put him in the top 100 Americans.
Bill Clinton: I didn't vote for him twice and I wouldn't put him in the top 100 Americans.
Walt Disney: He'll be in the Top 10, but some of his fascist leanings hurt.
Edison: Probably the top American inventor. Should be Top 5.
Einstein: Great thinker, but not someone I associate as American. Can't put him in the Top 10.
Ford: Made cars easier for the average person to purchase and helped change American society. I'd put him Top 6.
Franklin: A little eccentric, but I'd put him in the Top 3, and wouldn't have a problem if he was #1.
Gates: Top 100 yes, Top 50 maybe.
Graham: If he had a longer title run between Bruno and Backlund I could put him up higher. Taking the few years off in the early 80's hurt him. Oh wait, the other Billy Graham? No.
Bob Hope: Top 100 yes, other than that, no.
Jefferson: Top 5.
Kennedy: Give him credit, no man has had his legacy really soar due to being shot than him. Eisenhower should be far ahead of him on overall body of work. Mediocre President, I'd have him near Bush and Clinton out of the Top 100.
King: He'll be in the Top 10. Wouldn't have him higher than 8 though.
Lincoln: Top 5, could fall anywhere from the 1 to 5 slot.
Parks: No.
Elvis: Top 50 maybe. Shouldn't be near a Top 25.
Reagan: Top 20. I love Ronnie, but I can't put him much higher.
Eleanor Roosevelt: I hate her. Out of spite out of Top 100.
FDR: He'll be in the Top 10. Wasn't as good as his cousin Teddy, who is getting royally screwed not being a candidate for the Top spot.
Washington: Top 5, could be anywhere from 1-5.
Oprah: That Oprah is even considered is an example of the namby-pamby'ism of America that she has helped foster. Wouldn't put her in the Top 1000.
Wright Brothers: First in Flight should equal Top 10.
Funny how 2 recent atheletes are on the list, but only 1 former General in Washington is on the list. | CRZ
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| #4 Posted on 6.6.05 1101.48 | Instant Rating: 8.44 | Originally posted by redsoxnation
Kennedy: Give him credit, no man has had his legacy really soar due to being shot than him.
What a classy comment. I'm sure Kennedy is happy you're giving him credit - that's probably JUST what he was going for.Originally posted by redsoxnation
Obama in the Top 100 is yet another display of short attention span.
Ali: No. Tough to put an athlete at the top, especially one so controversial. Also, is a Top 5 heavyweight, but not the Top Heavyweight, so he's not even the top of his field.
King: He'll be in the Top 10. Wouldn't have him higher than 8 though.
Parks: No.
Oprah: That Oprah is even considered is an example of the namby-pamby'ism of America that she has helped foster. Wouldn't put her in the Top 1000.
I'm learning about you!Originally posted by redsoxnation
Jefferson: Top 5.
Yes, learning quite a bit!
| redsoxnation
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| #5 Posted on 6.6.05 1124.05 | Instant Rating: 4.40 | Originally posted by CRZ
Originally posted by redsoxnation
Kennedy: Give him credit, no man has had his legacy really soar due to being shot than him.
What a classy comment. I'm sure Kennedy is happy you're giving him credit - that's probably JUST what he was going for.Originally posted by redsoxnation
Obama in the Top 100 is yet another display of short attention span.
Ali: No. Tough to put an athlete at the top, especially one so controversial. Also, is a Top 5 heavyweight, but not the Top Heavyweight, so he's not even the top of his field.
King: He'll be in the Top 10. Wouldn't have him higher than 8 though.
Parks: No.
Oprah: That Oprah is even considered is an example of the namby-pamby'ism of America that she has helped foster. Wouldn't put her in the Top 1000.
I'm learning about you!Originally posted by redsoxnation
Jefferson: Top 5.
Yes, learning quite a bit!
I didn't realize Bush, Clinton, Hope, Graham, and L. Armstrong were black as well. And trust me, I'm not a member of the Jefferson fan club, but he wrote the Declaration of Independence and was President for the Lousiana Purchase. If someone wants to put Joe Louis on the list instead of Ali and Jackie Robinson, Booker T. Washington, and Hank Aaron on the list instead of Oprah, L. Armstrong and Parks I'd be all for it.
(edited by redsoxnation on 6.6.05 1225) | Grimis
Scrapple
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| #6 Posted on 6.6.05 1238.59 | Instant Rating: 7.29 | Originally posted by CRZ
I'm learning about you!
C'mon, that's a cheap shot and you know it.
Incidentally, if you want to talk about great Americans, why is Oprah and Ali in he top 25 and NOT Booker T. Washington or even Jackie Robinson?
(edited by Grimis on 6.6.05 1339)
I complained to another Liberal friend about some of the Left’s tone concerning the 2004 elections. I thought it insulting to hear those “red state” voters caricatured as red-necked rubes. My friend asked, “Well, don’t you think that people who live in large urban areas, who travel and read and speak other languages are better able to make informed choices?” It turns out it is superiority, not familiarity, which breeds contempt. - Pat Sajak | emma
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| #7 Posted on 6.6.05 1316.24 | Instant Rating: 8.47 | The patter in the commercial for the show is something along the lines of "greatest impact on American life ..." That's the kind of thing that skews in a bit of "What have you done for me lately?"
I totally get the justification for Bill Gates -- love him or hate him. He is *the* guy credited for doing the deal with IBM to make PCs. He wrote DOS, & he was pretty directly responsible for getting machines into people's homes. 25 years later (IIRC) he's still by far the market leader in home computing, & owns a huge chunk of the business market as well. You could make a reasonable argument that without Bill Gates' impact, the entire landscape of computers & information exchange would be totally different, Without Bill, we might well have neither The W nor Internet Porn!
Three whole women on the list, eh? Woo-hoo.
Not that I'm a big Oprah fan, but she is the most visible rallying point for "women's issues" today. That in itself is kind of unfortunate, but I suppose it's better than not having any representation at all. | The Thrill
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| #8 Posted on 6.6.05 1456.41 | Instant Rating: 4.25 | God bless the men of 2nd Bn, 127th Inf, 32d "Red Arrow" Brigade, WI Army Nat'l Guard...good luck, and come home soon.
Just outside the Top 25, resting comfortably at #31: Brett Favre. Woo-hoo!
Although maybe the NFL's only other rep, the late Pat Tillman, should've been a little higher than 89.
Rebecca Louise Ross
1947-2005
R.I.P., Mom...
www.pancreatic.org
| Battlezone
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| #9 Posted on 6.6.05 1506.26 | Instant Rating: 3.52 | Originally posted by The Thrill
Just outside the Top 25, resting comfortably at #31: Brett Favre.
Really? How does Brett Favre rank over (for example) Joe Montana or Jerry Rice? He's great and all that, but he's not even the best to play his POSITION. Are Joe Buck and John Madden behind this list somehow?
(Not that I think ANY of the three should be on there. Maybe Tillman.)
"It's the four pillars of the male heterosexual psyche. We like naked women, stockings, lesbians, and Sean Connery best as James Bond because that is what being a [man] is." -Jack Davenport, Coupling | DrDirt
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Since: 8.10.03
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| #10 Posted on 6.6.05 1545.09 | Instant Rating: 5.25 | Originally posted by Battlezone
Originally posted by The Thrill
Just outside the Top 25, resting comfortably at #31: Brett Favre.
Really? How does Brett Favre rank over (for example) Joe Montana or Jerry Rice? He's great and all that, but he's not even the best to play his POSITION. Are Joe Buck and John Madden behind this list somehow?
(Not that I think ANY of the three should be on there. Maybe Tillman.)
Even Tillman, I admire what he did but outside of the football angle, what about countless other Americans who have done that much and more with no press. The thought that these players are even on a list like this is ludicrous>
(edited by DrDirt on 6.6.05 1545)
Perception is reality | ges7184
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Since: 7.1.02
From: Birmingham, AL
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| #11 Posted on 7.6.05 2234.11 | Instant Rating: 4.62 | Well my opinion is putting together a list like this at all is ludicrous. I don't think you can truly justify a method of choosing "Greatest American" of all time. This list has all the credibility of a "VH-1" list, nothing more.
The Bored are already here. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. And no... we won't kill dolphins. But koalas are fair game. |
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