About that whole "Greatest American" poll

[mrmitchell]

FDR certainly a valid contender- take out Reagan and put FDR in and you have a very valid list, but CLINTON? He shouldn't be in the top 5 anymore than Reagan.

Clinton didn't come from riches like many of the other tops; he is a mental genius; he is probably the greatest single national politician in the last 50 years; he's quite the philosopher; he understands the average man's issues AND politics and can achieve goals satisfying both concerns; he is insanely well liked (ie find me someone who doesn't like Clinton and I will prove to you he is insane.)

It doesn't really have much at all to do with being from AR; hell, for that, I could nominate Maya Angelou, Johnny Cash, Win Rockefeller, Hillary Clinton, William Fulbright (william?), or jillions of others. No, Bill truly soars above the average and out of that list there is to pick from, he DEFINITELY merits being in the top 5.

The only reason he is as overlooked as he is is that his Presidency was so universally successful for our great nation. No controversy, no memory span...

But I'm not totally loony Gepap. I would place FDR and Washington easily above Clinton (so far, but I have a feeling he'll keep on impacting America for long to come.)

[GePap]

Plenty of Americans have risen from lowly backgrounds to go far and have been very succesful, reaching top places in the government.

That does not mean they trully belong in the Top 5 Americans.

I mean, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton- all of them were crucially important to the development of the country. Yet none of them made the top 5. Were are the great Justices of the Supreme Court? Thurdgood Marshall, the first African American on the Bench? He would have as good a claim to the top 5 as Clinton, but in reality I don;t think either wpuld belong.

I disagree with Regan's politics, but you know what? He would have as much claim to be in the Top 5 as Clinton, so how can one complain about Regan but think Clinton shjould be there?

hell, Theodore Roosevelt belongs up there more than either of them. Edison would belong up higher than them.

[GePap]

Also, why the **** is Aussie Catholic Nut Mel Gibson there?

And Bret Favre!?
Pat Tillman!?

Jesus, if you want great football stars, we have better ones.
If you want some patriotic Hero, why not Sgt. Murphy, or some actual winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor?

Edit: Murphy is on the list.

Let me add my outrage at Rush Limbaugh, Michal Moore, Elen Degeneres and Dr. Phill being even in the Top 100.

[DRoseDARs]

Reposted from someone somewhere else:

Re: Reagan winning "Greatest American" -- I am **AMAZED** . . .

. . . that anyone actually watches the Discovery Channel.

But seriously, here's why he won:

1) The poll was conducted by AOL. Hence, it was most heavily advertised on AOL.

2) AOL is the country's most popular dial-up service.

3) With broadband internet becoming steadily more popular and less expensive across the nation, the largest group of AOLers today are probably rednecks -- or, more broadly (and more politely), those who live in rural parts of the country where broadband is not available and cheap.

4) Rednecks vote Republican.

5) There was only one real Republican in the top five. Everyone else was on our side.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by mrmitchell
JohnT, you cannot laugh. OPRAH WINFREY beat out Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

I know you may not like ol' FDR because he did so much for the conditions of all the workers under your iron capitalist fist, but it pretty much makes the list lose all worthwhile value that him nor Bill Clinton nor any artist at all are in the top 5.

This isn't my poll. And I would've had FDR in my top-10, possibly 5.

As for artist, the only American artist due a top-5 listing is Elvis Presley. No if, ands, or buts about it.

Clinton would make a top-50, possibly top-30, imho. But I would rank the other Bill, Gates, higher.

Oprah is just a joke and is an example why this thing isn't due anybody's attention. Except as a means to feel superior.

[mrmitchell]

3) With broadband internet becoming steadily more popular and less expensive across the nation, the largest group of AOLers today are probably rednecks -- or, more broadly (and more politely), those who live in rural parts of the country where broadband is not available and cheap.

IIRC the broadband situation in Mississippi is pretty bad (something like only a few small cities have high speed access) but everywhere else in the country I'd say even in rural areas things are starting to go high speed.

Hell. Even in Camden we had 900 people on cable internet a couple years ago (definitely more, and plus DSL too, by now.)

[JohnT]

Originally posted by mrmitchell

Clinton didn't come from riches like many of the other tops

Neither Lincoln, Franklin, or Reagan came from families of "riches."

However, despite expectations, Martin Luther King Jr. came from a long-standing respectable family based in SW Atlanta - his father, in his role as head of Ebenezer Baptist Church might have been the most politically connected black man in Atlanta from the Depression to the start of the Civil Rights Movement, when his son took over. Coretta Scott was a well-heeled young lady when King met her in the early 1950s while they were in school in Pennsylvania.

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by mrmitchell

IIRC the broadband situation in Mississippi is pretty bad (something like only a few small cities have high speed access) but everywhere else in the country I'd say even in rural areas things are starting to go high speed.

Hell. Even in Camden we had 900 people on cable internet a couple years ago (definitely more, and plus DSL too, by now.)

Well, don't expect your local city councils to develope public broadband access available. The Big ISPs are trying to squash such plans in some communities.

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs


Well, don't expect your local city councils to develope public broadband access available. The Big ISPs are trying to squash such plans in some communities.

You talking about that Philadelphia thing?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
The Big ISPs are trying to squash such plans in some communities.

Substitute "in some communities" with "everywhere in the US."

[Jaguar]

I voted for Reagan every time the poll was linked to, but only to annoy people.

[GePap]

I can see why Oprah is in the Top 100. She makes well over 150 Million a year, and I don;t think a bucnh of men really have a clue just how immensely popular an entertainer she is. She has a day show and yet all the Presidential nominees have to go on her show and kiss her ass.

She is probably the most successful, richest, and most influential black woman ever in the US. (by this I do not mean she is more historically important than Rosa Parks, or the first ever black congresswoman, or so forth, but she certainly is more influential)

As for the Broadband thing- thank God I live in NYC, were the providers of broadband have far more political and finalcial pull than anyone in dial-up.

[JohnT]

I don't have any problem with Oprah being a nominee, but she's not as important or "great" as FDR. And that's not opinion.

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Substitute "in some communities" with "everywhere in the US."

They aren't doing it in Reno; our city council is perfectly happy bending over and taking it (or rather, letting the citizens take it...) from the cable companies and the ISPs. Our council is very business-friendly. Never met a bad deal they didn't like...

[GePap]

Of course she is not. Though if you had a more comprehensive, less redneck national poll I bet you she still makes it in.

What astounded me is I caught a minor glimpse of one of these circuses on Discovery, and they were talking about Reagan, and Ann Coulter was on some sort of judgin panel.

Ann Coulter! The show lost any and all shreds of dignity in my mind after seeing that.