No Ronald McDonald?
Discovery Channel viewers have picked a shortlist of the five greatest Americans of all time. It’s one of those memes that starts on the BBC or the CBC and spreads to US television, like The Weakest Link or those LiveJournal “If you were a bodily fluid, which one would you be?” exercises. This particular soap opera is sponsored by Tide.
The top five does not include Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Edison, Frankln D. Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, or Mark Twain.
It does, however, include Ronald Reagan.
Saturday, June 25th 2005 at 6:40 pm
God help us…I’m thinking of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Martin Luther King, Susan B. Anthony…
Saturday, June 25th 2005 at 7:30 pm
To be fair, MLK did make the cut. So did Benjamin Franklin, Lincoln, and Washington.
Sunday, June 26th 2005 at 4:51 am
Does Albert Einstein really count as an American ? He was German (born Ulm, 1879). Became an American citizen in 1940
Sunday, June 26th 2005 at 8:39 am
Bob, I’d argue that the quintessential American is an immigrant, particularly one who wouldn’t have been welcome at home. Choice trumps birth. :-)
Sunday, June 26th 2005 at 9:24 am
i would have put ronald mc donald at the top of my list – chicken mc nuggets – yummmy :)
Sunday, June 26th 2005 at 7:00 pm
And why not Reagan? What better representative of that “Persistent Vegetative State” our current leaders value so much?
Monday, June 27th 2005 at 5:35 am
Reagan has to be in the mix because he gave America a Presidential dimension of a “senior moment”.
Monday, June 27th 2005 at 5:42 am
Dervala, upon mature reflection, I’d agree with you. If only Ireland thought the same of the ‘Éireannach Nua’ citizens.
Monday, June 27th 2005 at 3:59 pm
Well, come on, after all this is America. What did you expect? :)
Thursday, June 30th 2005 at 7:45 am
Ronald Reagan, Ronald MacDonald….
potayto – potahto……
Monday, July 4th 2005 at 11:17 pm
How about a non-immigrant american….Chief Joseph for example….or Sacajaweja (sp?).
Tuesday, August 2nd 2005 at 5:36 am
Hmmm…I could have sworn there were more recent entries here.
Anyway, I hope you get over things soon. Take care.