Leah-Ann is correct. I cut and pasted this. I looked up the actual quote, and in spite of the "folksy" nature of the original, the actual quote is just as impressive, if not more so. And he was speaking to the FORMER Achbiship, not the current one. Like I said, I'll take my lumps. You may choose not to be a patriot, but don't you dare look down your nose at those of us who do. Here is the original quote, which is, despite the implication, not that far from the (mis)quote above:

Although U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell did utter words similar to the above, he was not in England at the time, nor was he addressing the current Archbishop of Canterbury, nor was he responding to a question about "empire building."

The actual occasion was an address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 26, 2003, wherein Powell defended the U.S. government's position that the use of military force against Saddam Hussein, unilateral or otherwise, was not only justified but necessary if the complete disarmament of Iraq could not be achieved by other means.

In a question-and-answer session afterwards (during which the phrase "empire building" was never mentioned, incidentally), the secretary of state was asked by former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey if he felt the U.S and its allies had given due consideration to the use of "soft power" -- promulgating moral and democratic values as a means of achieving progress towards international peace and stability, basically -- versus the "hard power" of military force.

Here, in part, is how Colin Powell actually responded to Carey's question:

There is nothing in American experience or in American political life or in our culture that suggests we want to use hard power. But what we have found over the decades is that unless you do have hard power -- and here I think you're referring to military power -- then sometimes you are faced with situations that you can't deal with.
I mean, it was not soft power that freed Europe. It was hard power. And what followed immediately after hard power? Did the United States ask for dominion over a single nation in Europe? No. Soft power came in the Marshall Plan. Soft power came with American GIs who put their weapons down once the war was over and helped all those nations rebuild. We did the same thing in Japan.

So our record of living our values and letting our values be an inspiration to others I think is clear. And I don't think I have anything to be ashamed of or apologize for with respect to what America has done for the world. [Applause.]

We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we've done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to seek our own, you know, to seek our own lives in peace, to live our own lives in peace. But there comes a time when soft power or talking with evil will not work where, unfortunately, hard power is the only thing that works.

It wasn't the first time Colin Powell had used the figure of speech. During an "MTV Global Discussion" on February 14, 2002, he was asked how he felt representing a country commonly perceived as "the Satan of contemporary politics." Here is the relevant part of his reply:

[F]ar from being the Great Satan, I would say that we are the Great Protector. We have sent men and women from the armed forces of the United States to other parts of the world throughout the past century to put down oppression. We defeated Fascism. We defeated Communism. We saved Europe in World War I and World War II. We were willing to do it, glad to do it. We went to Korea. We went to Vietnam. All in the interest of preserving the rights of people.
And when all those conflicts were over, what did we do? Did we stay and conquer? Did we say, "Okay, we defeated Germany. Now Germany belongs to us? We defeated Japan, so Japan belongs to us"? No. What did we do? We built them up. We gave them democratic systems which they have embraced totally to their soul. And did we ask for any land? No, the only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead. And that is the kind of nation we are.

Would you care to point out the errors in the other "folksy" stories, or were you actually there? That's what I thought.

RY, You never know with me!

Like the original statment in this post "I am proud to be an American". I have fought for this country twice even though neither one was popular. And I'm a TEXAN so I'm sure I will get slammed now. But I will stand by my beliefs.

knowell, they will have to slam me also! I'm with you!

Ya know... I was taking a lap around the track this afternoon and as I was smelling the wood burning for BBQ and watching the kids practice football, I was watching an AMERICAN flag whipping in the breeze. It almost seemed to be waving to ghosts from battles past as well as the current soldiers that fight on foreign soils... I bow in reverence to the ones that have fought and still fight for OUR freedom... otherwise, where would we be now if that had not happened in decades past?

Whether or not the original quotes were entirely factual, I think the point is well-taken. There are a lot of good deeds we, as a country, have done for others over the years. I'm very proud of our past. It's the present and future that I have concerns about.

You're right Mikey, and as my dwindling financial statements say "past performance does not guarantee future result."

I love America.
Like many of you, I have been fortunate to travel around the world. I also have a lot of international skydive friends that I speak with and visit with on a regular basis. I have noted that a few things are always the same in any bar conversation around the world.

1. Politicians are crooks.
2. Taxes are too high.
3. Sports.
4. Women.
5. Things cost more now than ever.
6. Kids today, geez!

So you see, many places are just like us.

But I think in the years after September 11th we have had a division in this nation. I think that to win elections the two major parties had to divide us. Red or Blue, Liberal or Conservative, Stay the course or cut and run, you're either with us or against us.

I think this war has taken a much bigger toll on our nation than we ever imagined. Inflation, the mortgage mess and now the financial collapses have everyone on edge.

Sometimes I think our great nation has become rudderless. No one is steering and we keep creaming into icebergs. But the one thing that won't let us sink is the citizens. The every day people that make our nation great.

So the politicians can keep doing their gig to run the nation, but the people, the people make this country the best.

I hope after the election we can all pull together as a nation and be proud once again. We need to forget about policing the world. We need to take care of our elderly, the ones that gave so much. We need to rebuild our infrastructure. We need to build our economy and curtail the runaway spending. We need to take care of America first. I sure as hell don't want to have to sneak into Mexico in the future(I can swim there from my house) and have to work illegaly.

Except for a few comments here once in a while from disgruntled old farts, I think each and every one of us is proud to be an American(except for the many Canadians here and others of course). But I'm also glad I can voice my opinion, and you yours here. We truly are free. And I'm glad there are people that don't drink the Kool Aid and can think for themselves.

I think a true Patriot cares about their country. I think that is why some of us are not happy with the current state of affairs. Thank God we can express our displeasure. But that's what makes America great. Storm troopers aren't coming to my house in the middle of the night because I disagree with the President's policies.

I have seen over and over through the years with my own eyes how wonderful neighbors here are with each other during disasters. People helping strangers, giving their all.

So America may be out of money and down on her luck, but the citizens will prevail. We will help each other out and get this ship back on course.

The last time I checked my nationality it wasn't Republican, Green Party, Independent or Democrat. It was AMERICAN.

Mikey, Canam and Reaper,

I agree with each one of you about this: We have a proud history, we need to be careful to make sure we have a proud future, and I love my country. If people want to nit-pick current and former Archbishops, fine. My Grandmother used to call that "picking the fly shite out of the pepper". I have travelled a bit myself and everyplace I go I find things that I like done better than the way the US does them. Obviously, AC is one of those places. I love the people, the food, the ocean, the diversity. I worked in Brazil for 2 six-month stints, and I loved it there, but when the customs agent asked me what I had been doing in Brazil for so long, I told that I was working, but this was my last trip back. When he said "Welcome home sir", I almost couldn't thank him for the lump in my throat. My country is like my family. Are they perfect? Hell no, some are total whacks. Do I love them, damn skippy, and I'd die to protect them too.

As for policing the world, I agree that we should stay home more. But when something happens in Bosnia or Darfur and it becomes genocide, there are those that scream for us to go help those poor people! So what then? Do we allow genocide like we did with the Jews in WWII? Some US citizens on this board are quick to criticize and cheer on those who moan about how we are going to hell in a hand-basket. I just thought it would be nice to read something positive about my country once, even if I had to post it.

Still ready to take those lumps...

WOW - a thread I can read all the way through and not get upset at any postings (LA has her points and I will take it as I think she intended it). Amen to all of you.

I too am PROUD to be both an AMERICAN & TEXAN (born and raised). We have been blessed to travel around this wonderful world at a young age and we have found many new friends and places we love, but we are always glad to come home.

America has been though troubled times before and we somehow get back together and come out stronger. We are divided and need to work together to make this better. I hold out hope and faith in ALL Americans.

Thanks to all of you and please (future posters) don't ruin this post with ranting.