I thought that this is as good a time as ever for a quote from a real man.

Theodore Roosevelt on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Right on, Teddy!

This dovetails nicely with the thread about the goings on outside gay Paris right now.

Cool. Thanks for posting.
By "red flag" he meant the communist flag? (because in 1907 it was pretty early to talk about the communist threat).

...yeah I was wondering the same question... what does the "red flag" part mean in 1907?

Anyway, Teddy Roosevelt is my favorite president. It is sad that now-a-days we can't have a pro-American anit-turst president anymore. I've begun to think that my America is dead, that I should have been born in 1900 when individualism still meant something Not now-a-days when socialism is the future for the rest of my life till' I'm near-death. Too sad I didn't live when Teddy was our main man

Teddy's reference to the Red Flag was most definitely against communism and 1907 wasn't too early.

Here's some links to give ya a hand.

http://www.crl.edu/content.asp?l1=5&l2=22&l3=39&top=48

http://www.cyberessays.com/History/106.htm

Trotsky had gained a leading place
among the Russian Social-Democrats by the time of the Second party
Congress in 1903. He represented ultra-radical sentiment that could
not reconcile itself to Lenin's stress on the party organization.

Twenty-two Bolsheviks,
including Lenin, met in Geneva in August of 1904 to promote the idea
of the highly disciplined party and to urge the reorganization of the
whole Social-Democratic movement on Leninist lines

Teddy foresaw the danger this represented to his ideal of what the world should be. Unfortunately many people did not and it was allowed to blossom and flourish leading to the cold war.

I know I have to repeat myself but Teddy Roosevelt is my favorite presidents of the 20th century and I think he was a visionary. Too bad we can only have one great president like T.Roosevelt per centry in American politics. So I'm waiting patiently for the next one... (been long enough you hear me BUSH!) but that's the glory of the American system. 8 out of 100 years we actually have a president worth of his place in politcs At least this crappy system is better than the Chinese sytem where you always you idiots in charge

Not now-a-days when socialism is the future for the rest of my life till' I'm near-death.

I'm always taken aback by the hostility towards socialism. I'm under the impression that you see this a derivative of communist-Stalinism... What is wrong with taking care of the poor. When a system brings 45 million inhabitants beneath the poverty level, with an anual income of $ 8000 per year for singles and $ 14.000 for a family of 4 or more, or 1 out of every 400 inhabits homeless (according to USA Today)...well, you might consider some humanity for these people. You might even consider a bit more social services and/ or welfare.... and see what you get: ............

Ted, are you aware that the US "poverty threshold" is totally different than the European one? Are you aware that the average American poor is actually richer than his European counterpart? Are you aware that a lot of European countries' "free health national system" (which isn't free at all, given how much we have to give out in taxes) have almost failed and generally people go to private clinics because the public ones offer a bad service and you have to wait on waiting lists for months before you get a visit?

Bulldog, yeah I mean I know socialism/communism was well and alive already in 1907, I just didn't expect President T. Roosevelt to be so much farsighted. Hats off to him.

Originally Posted by Ted

I'm always taken aback by the hostility towards socialism. I'm under the impression that you see this a derivative of communist-Stalinism... What is wrong with taking care of the poor. When a system brings 45 million inhabitants beneath the poverty level, with an anual income of $ 8000 per year for singles and $ 14.000 for a family of 4 or more, or 1 out of every 400 inhabits homeless (according to USA Today)...well, you might consider some humanity for these people. You might even consider a bit more social services and/ or welfare.... and see what you get: ............

It is all well and good, but you're doing it by taking 30%-50% of everyone else's money at gunpoint. It is the government threatening to send men with tazers and handcuffs and guns after you if you do not pay them almost 1/2 of everything you earn.

I don't like the idea of having armed men taking all of my money, but that's the world.

I like principles of freedom, and 10-20% tax rate wouldn't bother me if it included some provisions for the poor. But the trend in all governemnt all over the world is bigger government, more taxes, and more reliance on the government for everything. Socialism, by its very nature slowly trades away freedom for authoritarianism.

Just remember that the Nazi government was one of the most successful socialist governments ever.

And here's the bottom line right here. Why is it that the people who work the hardest and contribute the most to society have to pay for those that contribute NOTHING to society? If you make good decisions and become successful then you get punnished; if you start popping out kids in a failed marriage without regard for whether or not you can afford it, we reward you by paying all your bills!