The death of dear Jerry and a fit of Wikipedia has left me wonderin'. I wonder, specifically, how the Deep Reds1 (as I like to call 'em) see Britain. I figure it's a fifty-fifty mix of admiration for all the wars we've fought together and contempt for all the wars we've fought.In any case, I wonder how the Megachurch folk would react to what I have just read on Wikipedia: our TV-watching population voted Darwin (who you may remember from the £10 note) number four in the list of "Great Britons". While we're on the topic, quite a few of my picks didn't make the top 100, but I am very glad to see number 28 make an appearence. And America, you'll probably be interested to know that we found room for Thomas Paine. I'm not sure what he'd have made of that.
1. YOU DECIDE.
7 comments:
The Discovery Channel re-worked the format, concluding that Ronald Reagan was the greatest American of All Time, with 75% of the vote. Oprah Winfrey and GWB both made the top ten too, unlike Einstein, JFK and Edison.
I hope we never go over to TV votes for parliamentary elections. This dystopia is only half facetious.
I still don't know who Jerry is. m
Just another corporal in the war on freedom. Wait, do I mean war for freedom? No, I had it right the first time.
I'm moved that you chose to list the illegal war in Iran over WWI. But seriously, people in America love the English; a poll would definitely show that the US likes you more than everyone else in the world combined. Besides, American girls go nuts for English accents.
Top Americans;
Edison, Hamilton, John Adams, Madison, Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Franklin, Woodrow Wilson, King, Einstein (if you can call him American), Asimov, John Marshall, Kissinger, Cabot Lodge. In no particular order.
Top British;
Wilberforce, Pitt, Pitt, Churchill, Darwin, Watt, Moore, Burke, Hayek, Locke, Smith, Brunel, Newton.
But then, I'm heavy on politics and engineering, less so on literature and the arts. And anything before 1500 is dead to me.
As for the British, we've got short memories over here. But I'm still upset over the 54'40" line. We should own Canada.
Shhh, don't say that. The Canadians may be listening.
Yeah, well, we ought to own Washington State! I WILL FIGHT YOU1
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