This is not meant to degrade or demean any other country. In light of all the negative things posted recently about the US, I simply wanted to point out that the USA is about more than wiretaps, torture and 'secret prisons'. Every citizen of every country should be proud of their nation. I am no exception. It may not be politically correct to love the USA, but I'll just have to take my lumps.
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IT'S GREAT TO BE AN AMERICAN

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 'empire building' by George Bush. He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return."

It became very quiet in the room.

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Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?"

Once again, dead silence.

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A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.

You could have heard a pin drop

Great post, Dutch, and true.

(taking hat off and bowing).. Amen

Love it!!!!!

I think too much nationalism can be very dangerous, but we're far from that. A little patriotism is long overdue these days!

If one wants to subscribe to patriotism is it not possible to find an accurate basis for it? The incidents cited above are inaccurate in numerous ways.
Powell made a statement similar to the quote above, but he wasn't in England at the time, wasn't addressing the current Archbishop of Canterbury and wasn't responding to a question about "empire building." And of course the US has taken land by force, that is precisely how the U.S. obtained Puerto Rico, Guam and other islands in the Philippines. Likewise, the other folksy little stories cited have similar or worse factual errors.
I am at a complete loss to understand the need so many seem to have to finese such occurrances in order to feel justified in using them as a basis for their opinion. I'm sure that Dutch just copied and pasted something he saw somewhere, but again - just because it is in print doesn't mean it's accurate!!
And as I've contended before, any postive results for other countries due to US action has always been a lucky byproduct of US self interest.
Personally, I believe what's being suggested by far too many is more akin to nationalism than patriotism. I don't especially fancy either.

Why is it so admirable to be proud of your country if you're from Canada, or Belize, or wherever, but so self absorbed to be a proud American? Just an observation over a period of years.

LA, you know I love ya girl.... but .........
We all want/need something to believe in.....right/wrong/mis-quoted or mis-read...
I still am THANKFUL I live in the US... I know it's fractured as hell and needs repair beyond what might be possible..... but we still live with the HOPE that it might be possible.

Even if something isn't correct it is still nice to see people rally around something uplifting.. what ever you want to call it.. patriotism, nationalism or just plain outright HOPE...

Leah-Ann -- must agree with dcg and bob here.

It's very easy to find where the U.S. has made errors.

I am proud that we did not seek to colonize Japan, Korea, or Germany and that Puerto Rico and Guam (hardly rich lands prime for exploitation) are given the ability to choose the best of all worlds -- self determination and avoidance of many taxes while still influencing U.S. politics.

C'mon. It's okay to point-out factual errors, but your conclusions aren't warranted. Nationalism for the purpose of exploitation is wrong, patriotism for the purpose of hope and peace is anything but.

dcg, you are so right on....

wow,dcg, didnt know ya had it in ya. Nice. Suprises on this board every day!