You could hear a pin drop!

[BodybyFisher]

At a time when our president and other politicians tend to apologize

for our country's prior actions, here's a refresher on how some of

our former patriots handled negative comments about our country.

These are good

JFK'S

Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when

De Gaulle decided to pull out of NATO. De Gaulle said he wanted all US

military out of France as soon as possible.

Rusk responded,

"Does that include those who are buried here?"

De Gaulle did not respond.

You could have heard a pin drop..

~~~~~~~~~~~~

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was

asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an

example of 'empire building' by George Bush.

He answered by saying,

"Over the years, the United States has sent many of

its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom

beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for

in return is enough to bury those that did not return."

You could have heard a pin drop..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers

were taking part, including French and American. During a break,

one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you

heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft

carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he

intend to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three

hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are

nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to

shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to

feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand

gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a

dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and

from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships;

how many does France have?"

You could have heard a pin drop..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included

Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French

Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large

group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a

French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many

languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, "Why is it that

we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than

speaking French?"

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the

Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't

have to speak German."

You could have heard a pin drop..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.

At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport

in his carry on.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked

sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in

France !"

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look.. Then he

quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day

in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen

to show a passport to."

You could have heard a pin drop..

[KHE]

I like the last two stories!

[Marika]

One of many reasons why I support Ron Paul. He wants to cut off foreign aid and I agree with him 100%. Why do we give money to all these foreign countries for them to insult us and kick us in our asses? Cut 'em off!!

[JimD]

Our foreign cousins can be guilty of short memories and selective memories from time to time.

The attention getter I like is the US pulls out of the UN and insists the UN pull out of the US.

Sink or learn to swim, folks.

[Ranger]

I'll add one. Many years ago United Airlines was contracted by Japan Airlines to teach their pilots to fly the 747. They where doing some training in Hawaii and as they where making an approach over Pearl Harbor, the Japanese pilot looked out the window and asked "Where is the Arizona"? The UAL instructor pilot responded, "Right where you left it". You could have heard a pin drop.

[BodybyFisher]

I'll add one. Many years ago United Airlines was contracted by Japan Airlines to teach their pilots to fly the 747. They where doing some training in Hawaii and as they where making an approach over Pearl Harbor, the Japanese pilot looked out the window and asked "Where is the Arizona"? The UAL instructor pilot responded, "Right where you left it". You could have heard a pin drop.

I like it!

[MAC]

Our foreign cousins can be guilty of short memories and selective memories from time to time.

The attention getter I like is the US pulls out of the UN and insists the UN pull out of the US.

Sink or learn to swim, folks.

The problem with throwing the UN out is that participation will become more of an inconvenience and chances are we would lose veto power. Also, at least with the U.N. here, we can keep an eye on the bastards.

[WarrenJ]

Also, at least with the U.N. here, we can keep an eye on the bastards.

In the spirit of "keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

[firefoot0315]

Also, at least with the U.N. here, we can keep an eye on the bastards.

In the spirit of "keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

While that is valid, I am of the mind that we should pull out of the world stage and try to fix our own problems for a bit. I know that's not practical with how tied up we are in everything, but think early 1900s. We may not have been the *greatest* nation in the world, but 1. we hadn't established that yet, and 2. we were still up there, still a nation to be reckoned with. The way I see it, we've been playing world police since WWII, and precious few people appreciate it. Let them be Communists or Anarchists or whatever their greedy hearts desire, let them oppress themselves and torture themselves and rip themselves to ribbons in civil wars. Why is it our problem? And if they turn their sights on us, nuke em. In the words of the great Teddy Roosevelt, speak softly and carry a big stick. It's great to be the most powerful nation in the world, but what does that really get for us? Certainly not admiration, thanks, or anything more than grudging reluctant respect. Let them sort their own messes out. Meanwhile, we can concentrate resources on real issues that affect us here on our own soil. We can put a republican back in office, create real lasting jobs, bring jobs home from Asia, and get it to where we the people live without fear and uncertainty in the workplace. Being the world police doesn't guarantee me or you a job tomorrow. And anyhow, even if we did forfeit some influence it's not like we'd cease to be the world's greatest nation. We have too much of a reputation built up for that to just go away. Then when everyone here who wants work has work and we're self reliant again, we can rejoin the world stage and worry about other people's problems again. Or not. I wouldn't be heartbroken if we said screw em all, or kept out alliance and aid limited to those who appreciate it.