damaged people dot com

Not meaning to repeat the complete grave bombing I did upon his death, but really... Communism over Slavery? McDonald's and Starbucks over emmancipation? The War on Drugs over the Civil War? Jodie Foster over Se Semper Tyranus?

There's no two ways about. Blog culture is lame.

miftah wrote:There's no two ways about. Blog culture is lame.

SSSHHHH!

That's like saying the Emperor has no britches! Some write well, but have nothing to say, some are funny, some just fester. And they pay for the privelege!

Oh, BTW, I would not have guessed the icon was a link until I quoted you. And you know, you are just inviting debate over some (but not all) of the particulars you cite.

Yeah, I'm sneaky like that. I went to tuck some descriptive text in there and decided it was best I not verbalize what I was feeling, but rather utilize the facial expression I was wearing at the moment.

Last week, George W Bush was beaten out of the top 5 by 0.03% (Franklin came in #5).

That puts Bush ahead of Rosa Parks, Hellen Keller, the Wright Brothers, Franklin D. Rosevelt, and Albert Einstien (who wasn't born as an American... but hey... who's counting?).

Other people on the list to choose from: Condi Rice, Dr. Phil McGraw, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Jackson, and Billy Grahm.

Great americans... I think not. More like a cess poll of popular culture.

The contest means nothing more than Americans have a 5 second attention span.

Myself, I'd have voted for Billy Graham...but that's just me.

Well I agree with most of the top five. Ben Franklin is a stretch (though I do admire the man in some very naughty respects). I guess I just find it confounding that the rest of the top five can be so accurate and the top spot is occupied by a snake-oil salesman ("It also works as a hair cream!").

I admire Reagan for some things but only in a me-too-culture like the one we have could Ronald Reagan pass for a better American than those who, well, did something themselves. You know, as opposed to making a pandering speech in a location where something important happened without them.

Still, during the Reagan years it was a good time to be in the military (I was). He did oversee our military buildup that helped bankrupt the Soviet Union without us going to war. Granted, there were plenty of other issues that got looked over, and I have other disagreements with the former president, but in this instance he certainly deserved to be in the top 10.

The cold war permeated our mindset for a long time. I don't miss it. However, as is the way of things, we now have new stressors. Whee!

Personally, I don't think Reagan was all that great. Sure... he was personable and charismatic, but under his administration, life wasn't so good.

Interest rates and unemployment were through the roof. So were taxes (which is how the military could afford all those cool toys). Remember trickle-down ecconomics?

I do, however, agree with the other 4 of the top 5.