The 20 Greatest Americans

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  • intodeep
    intodeep Posts: 7,249
    Byrnzie wrote:
    Off the top of my head, and in no particular order:

    Henry Miller - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Miller
    Allen Ginsberg - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Ginsberg
    Jack Kerouac - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerouac
    William S Burroughs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S_Burroughs
    Mark Twain - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_twain
    Thoreau - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoreau
    Whitman - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_whitman
    Chomsky - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chomsky
    Hunter S Thompson - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S_Thompson
    Mohammed Ali - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Ali
    Jack Johnson - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_%28boxer%29
    Bob Dylan - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan
    Thomas Jefferson - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson%2C_Thomas
    Robert Johnson - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson_%28musician%29
    Eddie Vedder - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Vedder
    Charles Bukowski - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bukowski
    Robert Kennedy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kennedy
    Bill Hicks - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Hicks
    Malcolm X - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X
    Jonhhy Cash - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Cash

    I did not get a chance to read the entire thread but surely if you are going to consider musicians Miles Davis should be toward the top of that list. By far above Eddie Vedder. Also another musician i would consider above those you listed would be Woody Guthrie.
    Charlotte 00 | Charlotte 03 | Asheville 04 | Atlanta 12 | Greenville 16 | Columbia 16 |Seattle 18  | Nashville 22 | Ohana Festival 24 x2 | Atlanta 25 x2
  • jlew24asu
    jlew24asu Posts: 10,118
    godpt3 wrote:
    was that supposed to be comical?

    Burroughs, Kerouac, Bill Hicks??? C'mon, are you stoned or stupid??? If that's your idea of great Americans, then we, as a nation, are not only royally screwed but we also deserve to be screwed.

    its just his opinion. I certainly do not agree with his list, but thats fine. feel free to make your own so he and the rest of us can rip that apart too.
  • Flannel Shirt
    Flannel Shirt Posts: 1,021
    American Soldier
    Superman
    David Ortiz
    My Dad
    My Mom
    Ed Vedder
    Flavor Flav
    Chris Farley
    Atticus Finch
    Arthur Ashe
    George Washington
    JFK
    Flannel Shirt
    MIKE MOORE - FOR PRESIDENT
    All that's sacred, comes from youth....dedications, naive and true.
  • Rushlimbo
    Rushlimbo Posts: 832
    RainDog wrote:
    *Jack Kerouac was a Republican and Goldwater supporter.

    *Malcolm X told his supporters to never trust a liberal.

    *Johnny Cash was deeply religious and, with the exception of being someone who supported the weak and destitute, was "socially conservative."

    *Hunter S. Thompson, in relation to his rabid gun facination, once said, "I think George Washington owned guns. I've never seen any contradiction with that. I'm not a liberal, by the way. I think that's what's wrong with liberals. I believe I have every right to have guns. I just bought another huge weapon. A lot of people shouldn't own guns. I should. I have a safety record. Guns are a lot of fun out here."

    *Purple Hawk obviously doesn't know much about the people on Byrnzie's list.

    By the way, good choices Byrnzie.

    Hehehe. Nicely done.
    War is Peace
    Freedom is Slavery
    Ignorance is Strength
  • Byrnzie
    Byrnzie Posts: 21,037
    Flannel Shirt wrote:
    American Soldier
    Superman
    David Ortiz
    My Dad
    My Mom
    Ed Vedder
    Flavor Flav
    Chris Farley
    Atticus Finch
    Arthur Ashe
    George Washington
    JFK
    Flannel Shirt
    MIKE MOORE - FOR PRESIDENT

    I just can't look at Flavor Flav again in the same way after that ridiculous real life dating show he just made.
  • Byrnzie
    Byrnzie Posts: 21,037
    intodeep wrote:
    I did not get a chance to read the entire thread but surely if you are going to consider musicians Miles Davis should be toward the top of that list. By far above Eddie Vedder. Also another musician i would consider above those you listed would be Woody Guthrie.

    I agree that on second thought Miles Davis should have been in my list. I'm also thinking maybe Jack London too.
  • Cosmo
    Cosmo Posts: 12,225
    You forgot Johnny Unitas and Willie Mays.
    Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
    Hail, Hail!!!
  • Ahnimus
    Ahnimus Posts: 10,560
    Andrew Jackson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_jackson

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_jackson#Opposition_to_the_National_Bank
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • kenny olav
    kenny olav Posts: 3,319
    Wilfred Brimley
    Andrew Jackson
    Kirk Cameron
    William Henry Harrison
    Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
    Robert Alphonso Taft
    Mancow
    Chris Daughtry
    Bob Hope
    Jaws
    L Ron Hubbard
    John D Rockefeller
    James K Polk
    Tucker Carlson
    Dr. Phil
    Brigham Young
    Bob Uecker
    The Burger King
    Dick Armey
    and of course
    Barbara Bush
  • Eliot Rosewater
    Eliot Rosewater Posts: 2,659
    Kenny Olav wrote:
    Brigham Young
    Jesus Christ. I mean, Brigham You...I mean, Jesus, please tell me you're joking.
  • hippiemom
    hippiemom Posts: 3,326
    Purple Hawk wrote:
    you really think eddie vedder is a greater american than ronald reagan? if it weren't for the latter, the last bastion of conservatism would be gone...
    Um, yeah ..... and that would be a bad thing how? ;)
    "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~ MLK, 1963
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    hippiemom wrote:
    Um, yeah ..... and that would be a bad thing how? ;)

    Too easy :p
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • hippiemom
    hippiemom Posts: 3,326
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    Too easy :p
    I like the easy ones ... it's no secret that I'm lazy :D

    And yes, I DO think that Ed is a better American than Ronald Reagan. Of course, there are countless millions of Americans in that group with him. Pretty much anyone who hasn't gone way out of their way to damage the country is in it.
    "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~ MLK, 1963
  • my2hands
    my2hands Posts: 17,117
    Daniel Ellsberg
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    hippiemom wrote:
    I like the easy ones ... it's no secret that I'm lazy :D

    And yes, I DO think that Ed is a better American than Ronald Reagan. Of course, there are countless millions of Americans in that group with him. Pretty much anyone who hasn't gone way out of their way to damage the country is in it.

    Really, I was ashamed I didn't pick up on that one. :p


    I have never understood what people are talking about when they praise Reagan. It's almost like the 'thing to say' it seems.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Byrnzie
    Byrnzie Posts: 21,037
    my2hands wrote:
    Daniel Ellsberg

    Maybe. And maybe Seymour Hersch.
  • El_Kabong
    El_Kabong Posts: 4,141
    bootlegger10 wrote:
    Yeah, the fighting racism by being a racist kinda guy.


    actually, he renounced that and preached unity and brotherhood after going to mecca and africa and seeing ppl of every color there peacefully

    "Well, I've lived to regret that incident. In many parts of the African continent I saw white students helping black people. Something like this kills a lot of argument. I did many things as a [black] Muslim that I'm sorry for now. I was a zombie then — like all [black] Muslims — I was hypnotized, pointed in a certain direction and told to march. Well, I guess a man's entitled to make a fool of himself if he's ready to pay the cost. It cost me 12 years. That was a bad scene, brother. The sickness and madness of those days — I'm glad to be free of them."
    standin above the crowd
    he had a voice that was strong and loud and
    i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
    eager to identify with
    someone above the crowd
    someone who seemed to feel the same
    someone prepared to lead the way
  • El_Kabong
    El_Kabong Posts: 4,141
    Purple Hawk wrote:
    Noam Chomsky? are you serious? obviously you are...which is funny in and of itself. by the way, where's Rush Limbaugh? people actually heard of him!

    instead of the top "Americans" maybe you should rename the thread "the top 18 modern liberals with a few token nastolgic names tossed in of all time."


    huh??? chomsky is the most cited author in history! hard to make the argument ppl haven't heard of him!
    standin above the crowd
    he had a voice that was strong and loud and
    i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
    eager to identify with
    someone above the crowd
    someone who seemed to feel the same
    someone prepared to lead the way
  • El_Kabong
    El_Kabong Posts: 4,141
    Purple Hawk wrote:
    Of the top of my head...

    you have your daniel morgans, your john paul joneses, your teddy rosevelts, your andrew jacksons, your pat tillmans, your ronald reagans, your chuck norrises...your rush limbaughs and sean hannity's....


    seriously...eddie vedder and noam chomsky in your all time top 20 americans? who would actually take that seriously?


    andrew jackson - violated the supreme court and took land and property from native americans

    ronald reagan - too much to name...lying to congress, arming terrorists, using the cia to help run drugs, shreding and altering documents, secret illegal wars....
    standin above the crowd
    he had a voice that was strong and loud and
    i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
    eager to identify with
    someone above the crowd
    someone who seemed to feel the same
    someone prepared to lead the way
  • El_Kabong
    El_Kabong Posts: 4,141
    Byrnzie wrote:
    I agree that on second thought Miles Davis should have been in my list. I'm also thinking maybe Jack London too.


    have you read the iron heel?

    great list, btw, the kabong abides
    standin above the crowd
    he had a voice that was strong and loud and
    i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
    eager to identify with
    someone above the crowd
    someone who seemed to feel the same
    someone prepared to lead the way

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