100 Greatest...

[tigerbob]

Lewinsky is a media circus. It isn't important. They shouldn't have discussed it.

Disagree. If you're going to discuss everything, you can't ignore some elements because some people view them as trivial. You discuss them all and then let the voters decide based on what they feel is trivial.

Otherwise, how do you get 2 groups of protagonists to agree what is 'fair game'?

 

[FistyTheBadger]

Disagree. If you're going to discuss everything, you can't ignore some elements because some people view them as trivial. You discuss them all and then let the voters decide based on what they feel is trivial.

Otherwise, how do you get 2 groups of protagonists to agree what is 'fair game'?

Okay, I do agree with that. But knowing television like I do, my proviso would be that the debate has to be actual-factual legitimate.

 

[Missourian]

[/LIST]

GREAT BRITONS............................................................GREAT AMERICANS
1.....Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)..............................1.....Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)
2.....Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 - 1859).......................2.....Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)
3.....Diana, Princess of Wales ((1961 - 1997)........................3.....Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)
4.....Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)......................................4.....George Washington (1732 - 1799)
5.....William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)..............................5.....Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)
6.....Sir Isaac Newton (1643 - 1727)...................................6.....George W Bush (b. 1946)
7.....Queen Elizabeth 1 (1533 - 1603)..................................7.....Bill Clinton (b. 1946)
8.....John Lennon (1940 - 1980)..........................................8.....Elvis Presley (1935 - 1977)
9.....Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758 - 1805)....................9.....Oprah Winfrey (b. 1954)
10...Oliver Cromwell (1599 - 1658)....................................10....Franklin D Roosevelt (1882 - 1945)

The Greatest American - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
100 Greatest Britons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'd be pretty happy with the Greatest Britons list is I were British, with the exception of Princess Di and John Lennon.


The American list is a disaster after #5, I would remove 6-10 and replace them with Thomas Jefferson, Henry Ford, William Brown Ide, William H. Seward and Stephen F. Austin. I'd also reluctantly remove Reagan. Move everyone else up and put Neil Armstrong at the bottom.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

The idea of the Discovery Channel allowing aired criticism of someone who, rightly or wrongly, has become an American icon doesn't entirely ring true to me either. I suspect the same was true of Reagan and Bush. I wonder whether the Lewinsky thing was brushed under the carpet as well....

In which case, one wonders, what the hell was the point of the show in the first place?

Anyone who would dare question anything "Father Abraham" did during his lifetime is immediately attacked by the Lincoln Cult, so I would say that it is unlikely they went into any great detail about the flaws of Lincoln. I am kind of surprised that Reagan made it higher on the list than Lincoln, however. Most people regard Lincoln as the greatest President in American history.

 

[Epsilon Delta]

Ughhh, Reagan!? Clinton?! Bush?! ...Oprah!?! What a fatal list.

C'mon, where's John Dewey?? I mean, at least Albert Einstein (He should count, after all, he was an American citizen for his last 15 years). And I would've put Henry David Thoreau there for good measure.

 

[tigerbob]

Okay, I do agree with that. But knowing television like I do, my proviso would be that the debate has to be actual-factual legitimate.

Yes, otherwise the whole exercise is pointless. To keep everything within bounds, you'd have to have a very strong and impartial moderator. Not sure who that would be. Rush? Keith Olbermann?

 

[FistyTheBadger]

Yes, otherwise the whole exercise is pointless. To keep everything within bounds, you'd have to have a very strong and impartial moderator. Not sure who that would be. Rush? Keith Olbermann?

As much as I hate volunteering, because I need the money...

 

[tigerbob]

Well, we've seen a few more, and IMHO better suggestions for Great Americans that were on the list in the OP. I've copied those mentioned along with the names of those that suggested them. I've also added the ones I mentioned earlier were top of mind from my perspective. Feel free to agree, disagree, or add...

Thomas Paine (BatBoy)
Thomas Jefferson (BatBoy, Missourian)
James Madison (BatBoy)
George Patton (Modbert)
Alfred E Newman (Harry Dresden - he may have been joking)
Henry Ford (Missourian)
William Brown Ide (Missourian)
William H Seward (Missourian)
Stephen F Austin (Missourian)
John Dewey (Epsilon Delta)
Albert Einstein (Epsilon Delta) - not sure this really counts, but I guess he died an American
Henry David Thoreau (Epsilon Delta)
Charles Townes (Tigerbob)
Robert Goddard (Tigerbob)
Thomas Edison (Tigerbob)
Howard Hughes (Tigerbob)
Robert Oppenheimer (Tigerbob)

 

[tigerbob]

Oh, I thought of one more.....

Thomas Paine (BatBoy)
Thomas Jefferson (BatBoy, Missourian)
James Madison (BatBoy)
George Patton (Modbert)
Alfred E Newman (Harry Dresden - he may have been joking)
Henry Ford (Missourian)
William Brown Ide (Missourian)
William H Seward (Missourian)
Stephen F Austin (Missourian)
John Dewey (Epsilon Delta)
Albert Einstein (Epsilon Delta) - not sure this really counts, but I guess he died an American
Henry David Thoreau (Epsilon Delta)
Charles Townes (Tigerbob)
Robert Goddard (Tigerbob)
Thomas Edison (Tigerbob)
Howard Hughes (Tigerbob)
Robert Oppenheimer (Tigerbob)
Andrew Carnegie (Tigerbob)

 

[FistyTheBadger]

Well, we've seen a few more, and IMHO better suggestions for Great Americans that were on the list in the OP. I've copied those mentioned along with the names of those that suggested them. I've also added the ones I mentioned earlier were top of mind from my perspective. Feel free to agree, disagree, or add...

Thomas Paine (BatBoy)
Thomas Jefferson (BatBoy, Missourian)
James Madison (BatBoy)
George Patton (Modbert)
Alfred E Newman (Harry Dresden - he may have been joking)
Henry Ford (Missourian)
William Brown Ide (Missourian)
William H Seward (Missourian)
Stephen F Austin (Missourian)
John Dewey (Epsilon Delta)
Albert Einstein (Epsilon Delta) - not sure this really counts, but I guess he died an American
Henry David Thoreau (Epsilon Delta)
Charles Townes (Tigerbob)
Robert Goddard (Tigerbob)
Thomas Edison (Tigerbob)
Howard Hughes (Tigerbob)
Robert Oppenheimer (Tigerbob)

Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman are better black women than Oprah Winfrey. Richard Nixon and Dwight D. Eisenhower were better presidents than George W. Bush. Paul Newman and Jerry Lewis (and a LOT of others) are better entertainer Americans than Elvis Presley. Theodore Roosevelt and John Fitzgerald Kennedy were better partying presidents than Bill Clinton.

 

[tigerbob]

Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman are better black women than Oprah Winfrey. Richard Nixon and Dwight D. Eisenhower were better presidents than George W. Bush. Paul Newman and Jerry Lewis (and a LOT of others) are better entertainer Americans than Elvis Presley. Theodore Roosevelt and John Fitzgerald Kennedy were better partying presidents than Bill Clinton.

Feel free to add them if you wish (make sure to duck if you add Tricky Dick).

 

[FistyTheBadger]

Feel free to add them if you wish (make sure to duck if you add Tricky Dick).

People find it almost impossible to look past Watergate.

 

[strollingbones]

What a couple crap-ass lists.
I'm not familiar enough with England to offer up some more important people, but c'mon, Princess Diana and John Lennon? Ones a whore and the other is just a musician.
And for the the US, Elvis, Oprah, Bill Clinton, George Bush. WTF is that? How about Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison?

why the comment on princess di....why are you trashing her like that...her husband carried on an on going affair...before, during and after their marriage...

she may have slept with a total of what..4 men...and yet she is the whore...

*gets out can of hair spray and bic*

 

[Article 15]

John Marshall

 

[FistyTheBadger]

why the comment on princess di....why are you trashing her like that...her husband carried on an on going affair...before, during and after their marriage...

she may have slept with a total of what..4 men...and yet she is the whore...

*gets out can of hair spray and bic*

I take it you disagree with him.

 

[strollingbones]

I take it you disagree with him.

i never like to hear men call a woman a whore or a slut....i find the moral judgement too harsh and ironic...men think a man who has been with many women is someone to be admired....and yet call women these names....

plus on the side of princess di...her humanitarian work should account for a lot...and why no mention of the men on the list that are whore dogs?

 

[mightypeon]

Sounds more like a list of top 10 Americans that people happen to know.
Or better, top 10 Americans that people think they know.

 

[tigerbob]

Updated list of suggested American Top 10...

Thomas Paine (BatBoy)
Thomas Jefferson (BatBoy, Missourian)
James Madison (BatBoy)
George Patton (Modbert)
Alfred E Newman (Harry Dresden - he may have been joking)
Henry Ford (Missourian)
William Brown Ide (Missourian)
William H Seward (Missourian)
Stephen F Austin (Missourian)
John Dewey (Epsilon Delta)
Albert Einstein (Epsilon Delta) - not sure this really counts, but I guess he died an American
Henry David Thoreau (Epsilon Delta)
Charles Townes (Tigerbob)
Robert Goddard (Tigerbob)
Thomas Edison (Tigerbob)
Howard Hughes (Tigerbob)
Robert Oppenheimer (Tigerbob)
Andrew Carnegie (Tigerbob)
Rosa Parks (FistytheBadger)
Harriet Tubman (FistytheBadger)
Richard Nixon (FistytheBadger)
Dwight D Eisenhower (FistytheBadger)
Paul Newman (FistytheBadger)
Jerry Lewis (FistytheBadger)
John Marshall (Article 15)

 

[editec]

Editec's List of 11 Significant Americans.

1.Roger Williams - established the first democracy in colonies - Rhode Island

2. William Penn - established first santuary for freedom of conscience in colonies - Pennsylvania

3. Sam Adams - Kept the US Revolutionary zeal alive post the Stamp act and brought the commoners and aristos together to make it happen.

4. Benjamin Franklin - Inventor extrordinaire, publisher - revolutionary -US diplomat most responsible for getting the funding necessary to keep the Revolution from ending for a lack of funds

5. Robert Morris - American finacier, and sometimes privateer. Chairman of the Secret Committee where he devised a system to smuggle war supplies from France a year before Independence was declared. Died broke

6. George Washington - Could have been King of USA. Knew better. Nuf said?

7. Andrew Jackson - Revolution courier at 13 years old. Hero of War of 1812. First non-arsitocratic POTUS. Pulled money from Federal banks.

8. Abraham Lincoln - Withstood the test of the Civil War.

9.Teddy Roosevelt - First conservationist POTUS. First trust buster. Overt nationalist.

10.Franklin D. Roosevelt - Saved Capitalism from its own self destructive nature and by doing so, saved the USA from some kind of unfortunate socialist experimentation or outright people's revolution.

11.Rev. Martin Luther King - You know how most of America's great cities weren't burnt to the ground in the turbulant 1960s? He's why.

 

[alan1]

why the comment on princess di....why are you trashing her like that...her husband carried on an on going affair...before, during and after their marriage...

she may have slept with a total of what..4 men...and yet she is the whore...

*gets out can of hair spray and bic*

Difference is, her husband isn't on the list.
He was/is a slut to.

On the American list, I think it's safe to say Clinton was slut.