June 27, 2005
Greatest American Vote Over! - Liberals break F keys in responding.
The best part about the final outcome of the Greatest American Vote is reading the ranting and wailings of people from the left (Warning: Language). The winner, as selected by the American public, is President Ronald Reagan!
In our other discussions, I didn't disclose my preference of George Washington--who led our country to independence and rejected the idea of an imperial president.
Below in order of votes is the Top Ten. (The Top 25 in order can be viewed here.)
01. Ronald Reagan
02. Abraham Lincoln
03. Martin Luther King, Jr.
04. George Washington
05. Benjamin Franklin
06. George W. Bush
07. Bill Clinton
08. Elvis Presley
09. Oprah Winfrey
10. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Do any of you have the same sense of dismay that I do in reading that Bill Clinton barely beat out Elvis Presley and Oprah Winfrey? Now, you can guess whether my dismay is because Clinton only barely beat Elvis or Oprah or that that they didn't beat the pants off of Clinton--so to speak. The choices show a considerable lack of knowledge of our history by Americans, but the choices are certainly better than those from a similar BBC poll given exactly two years ago, in which the British public selected Homer Simpson as number one and Mr. T as number four--both ahead of Washington, Clinton, and Roosevelt (showing no appreciation for his support in WWII.)
That ends this contest. Not my pick, but not a bad choice.
Posted by GM Roper at June 27, 2005 06:00 PM | TrackBackI'm getting so darn tired of being right all the time.
Posted by Mustang at June 27, 2005 09:36 PM
That's an AOL online survey you're using to prove you're right all the time?
I just consulted with Zeus and he told me *I'm* right on this question, namely Martin Luther King did far more to advance this country. So there, I've got objective scientific methodology on my side to prove it also!
___________
Have trouble with hyperbole do you steve?
GM
Posted by steve at June 27, 2005 11:52 PM
heh
Six of the top ten list would not have made my top 100. One because he was an unprincipled scoundrel (not Clinton: he was worse than that), another because he's simply vastly over-rated and the others because they just don't matter.
Still, that four of my top ten picks made the cutâ€â€Âand three of them in the top fiveâ€â€Âis heartening. Maybe the pool for the American electorate isn't as subliterate as it seems.
;-)
OTOH, there are those troubling six non-greats who made the list...
Oh, and as heartening as it is to see GWB outrank Clinton, it's too early to rank him in the top 10, IMO. Maybe top 25. Give it 20 or 30 years. Time will tell the tale.
Oh, and I was disappointed to see George Washington ranked so low. After all the phone-ins I made...
:-)
Posted by David at June 28, 2005 05:09 AM
The list is ridiculous. I mean, just plain ridiculous. FDR is rated below Bush, for starters? Like a commenter said above, you've got to give Bush time. I wouldn't put him on my list probably ever, but time will tell if he truly belongs there. But Oprah and Elvis beating out FDR? That's ludicrous.
This, of course, negates the fact that it's ridiculous to ask a question like "Who's the greatest American?" anyway. What does that question even mean? What objective means are there to determining such a thing? Is it a "victory" of sorts for conservatives to have had Reagan at the top of the list, or do they, too, note that the list is heavily biased toward the recent and against history?
Posted by Fargus at June 28, 2005 06:07 AM
Oprah? Oprah?
And the BBC is such a SPOC. (steaming pile of crap) This is a country of people who, when asked about religion on their last census, gave an overwhelming response of "Jedi Knight". mmkay?
Posted by Oyster at June 28, 2005 06:32 AM
no trouble with hyperbole, or not any more than those who believe, apparently sincerely [!], that an AOL on-line 'poll' is indicative of anything given how easily on-line polls are hacked, scammed...
Posted by steve at June 28, 2005 06:53 AM
Great post, GM! Fargus has a good point. Gosh, y'all did up there, pretty much. After I stopped dancing around and going “Nyah-nyah†at the lefties like KOS, I calmed down and realized that, hey, with all due respect to Reagan and Bush, the Founding Fathers needed to fill out the top five, and probably most of the top 20.
This Discovery Channel beauty contest was pure entertainment, as suggested by Steve. Oprah? Elvis? And, that devil who messed on the blue dress, Clinton? I'm wondering if Clinton-fan Matt Lauer picked the original top 100 list. We know from Tom Cruise that Matt's not so sharp with psychiatry* (whoddathought), so maybe there is some dim bleed-over into a few other subject areas, methinks.
*N.B. This, mind you, is not an implicit endoresment for Scientology, nor a denegration of the noble profession of pschiatry, nosiree.
Posted by The MaryHunter at June 28, 2005 10:58 AM
Thanks TMH, but the post was by my side kick Woody, he of the brilliant satire mode. And funny as hell too!
Posted by GM at June 28, 2005 11:02 AM
hey, if we're relying on AOL on-lines hackable polls, why not rely on scientology? what's good for the goose...
Posted by steve at June 28, 2005 12:20 PM
Steve, did ya notice that the only folk getting upset about this are those of you on the left? Us knuckle dragging, neandertholic, wing nut rightwingers are merely amused. We know that is is self selective. We know that is is unscientific. We know that although Mr. Reagan is in fact held in high esteem by many many americans (and indeed members of the global community) but we also know that he is not THE most important American except in the opinion of people that elected to vote in this online and tv poll. By the way, you might want to know that AOL polls are more often than not leaning to the left. Heh!
Posted by GM Roper at June 28, 2005 01:00 PM
I don't doubt it, AOL polls tend to be unreliable whatever the outcome. half the fun of the polls is to see which side more successfully hacks the poll of the day! I'm not upset about anything, I think it's all rather silly to talk about on-line polls, no less than silly to talk about what my favorite [and only real] god Zeus thinks about who is the greatest bestest American in the greatest bestest country ever ever ever.
Posted by steve at June 28, 2005 09:23 PM
