The 20 Greatest Americans

Byrnzie · July 2007

bootlegger10 · July 2007

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 Johnston - 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

You chose Malcom X over Martin Luther King, Jr.?

FinsburyParkCarrots · July 2007

I would have put Stokely Carmichael above either. :cool:

jlew24asu · July 2007

cool thread. list isnt bad either. :high five:

jlew24asu · July 2007

bootlegger10 wrote:

You chose Malcom X over Martin Luther King, Jr.?

good point. malcom was a hateful man

bootlegger10 · July 2007

jlew24asu wrote:

good point. malcom was a hateful man

Yeah, the fighting racism by being a racist kinda guy.

godpt3 · July 2007

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.

Alex_Coe · July 2007

Why does Jack Johnson get on the list but not George Washington or Franklin D. Rooselvelt? Oh, nice, he was a boxer. Woop-de-doo. If I punched people in the face for money, would you put me on the list too?

godpt3 · July 2007

Alex_Coe wrote:

Why does Jack Johnson get on the list but not George Washington or Franklin D. Rooselvelt? Oh, nice, he was a boxer. Woop-de-doo. If I punched people in the face for money, would you put me on the list too?

Don't forget, he invented an adjustable wrench, too. LOL. A modern-day George Washington Carver, for sure.

MLC2006 · July 2007

if you're going to stoop to such douche levels as putting musicians on above founding fathers, wouldn't you at least put Hendrix or Van Halen on there?

and yeah, I'd put Martin over Malcolm.

and if we're talking about race, how about Branch Rickey? he brought in the first black player (Jackie Robinson) and the first Latino player (Roberto Clemente).

oh yeah, I'm putting Timberlake on that list. he's got his own HBO show coming up AND he fucked Brittney Spears when she was hot.

Byrnzie · July 2007

Alex_Coe wrote:

Why does Jack Johnson get on the list but not George Washington or Franklin D. Rooselvelt? Oh, nice, he was a boxer. Woop-de-doo. If I punched people in the face for money, would you put me on the list too?

He was more than just a boxer. You should check out the Ken Burns documentary on him.
He was the first black american heavyweight. He fought years of prejudice and mistreatment from the authorities. He was one of the first and the biggest symbols of black freedom and independence in America. He was the Mohammed Ali of his age, and Ali himself was greatly influenced by him with regards to his political ideas, his braggadocio ways, his pride in his race, e.t.c.

Byrnzie · July 2007

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.

All three were representative of that facet of America which deserves to be celebrated above all others - a search for freedom, and an idea that we can evolve as human beings. America was founded as a break from the old world. These characters have all contributed brilliantly to taking that idea a step further.

Purple Hawk · July 2007

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 Johnston - 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

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."

godpt3 · July 2007

Byrnzie wrote:

He fought years of prejudice and mistreatment from the authorities. He was one of the first and the biggest symbols of black freedom and independence in America.

Rosa Parks?

Byrnzie · July 2007

MLC2006 wrote:

if you're going to stoop to such douche levels as putting musicians on above founding fathers, wouldn't you at least put Hendrix or Van Halen on there?

I've always placed artists on a footing above politicians and other businessmen.

Byrnzie · July 2007

jlew24asu wrote:

good point. malcom was a hateful man

I disagree. He wasn't hateful. He was rational. He saw the 'turn the other cheek in the face of violence and oppression' as preached by MLK for what it was - stupid, and unpractical.

Purple Hawk · July 2007

Byrnzie wrote:

I disagree. He wasn't hateful. He was rational. He saw the 'turn the other cheek in the face of violence and oppression' as preached by MLK for what it was - stupid, and unpractical.

i think it's convenient you list TJ instead of alexander hamilton, a big government elitist, as one of your top 20....if you weren't obsessed with diversity, you'd replace TJ with Hamilton.

Byrnzie · July 2007

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."

I was hoping people would create their own lists. How about giving us yours?

Abookamongstthemany · July 2007

Cool list, Byrnzie.

Apparently some people here think your views are supposed to reflect their own. Maybe they'll learn to grasp the concept of differing perspectives one of these days.

Byrnzie · July 2007

Purple Hawk wrote:

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."

I don't regard any of these people as 'liberals'. In fact, I don't even know what the word means. I would say 'rebels' may be a more appropriate description.

MLC2006 · July 2007

Byrnzie wrote:

I've always placed artists on a footing above politicians and other businessmen.

ok, if politicians are left out, here's some names that should've been on the list:

Leo Fender/Les Paul
Robert Johnson
Hank Williams
Jimi Hendrix
Johnnie Cash
Babe Ruth
Howard Stern
Michael Jordan
Steven Spielberg
George Lucas
Madonna
Michael Jackson
Lenny Bruce
Henry Ford
Alexander Graham Bell

oops, you had a few of those people on there.

if we're putting politicians and dignitaries in, Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, FDR, MLK, Douglass, hell, probably even Lincoln. and possibly even Jefferson Davis as he played a huge part in the shaping of this country. I would not have personally put Robert Kennedy on the list.

The 20 Greatest Americans

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