Real American Heroes

mscard88

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Mark
Not posted for political crap but there's a little in this article. Just recognition for the tremendous sacrifice and job these guys are doing to help. Good to know we still have unselfish people in this country.

Let this sink in for a minute.....Hundreds and hundreds of small boats pulled by countless pickups and SUVs from across the South are headed for Houston. Almost all of them driven by men. They're using their own property, sacrificing their own time, spending their own money, and risking their own lives for one reason: to help total strangers in desperate need.


Most of them are by themselves. Most are dressed like the redneck duck hunters and bass fisherman they are. Many are veterans. Most are wearing well-used gimme-hats, t-shirts, and jeans; and there's a preponderance of camo. Most are probably gun owners, and most probably voted for Trump.

These are the people the Left loves to hate, the ones Maddow mocks. The ones Maher and Olbermann just *know* they're so much better than.

These are The Quiet Ones. They don't wear masks and tear down statues. They don't, as a rule, march and demonstrate. And most have probably never been in a Whole Foods.

But they'll spend the next several days wading in cold, dirty water; dodging gators and water moccasins and fire ants; eating whatever meager rations are available; and sleeping wherever they can in dirty, damp clothes. Their reward is the tears and the hugs and the smiles from the terrified people they help. They'll deliver one boatload, and then go back for more.

When disaster strikes, it's what men do. Real men. Heroic men. American men. And then they'll knock back a few shots, or a few beers with like-minded men they've never met before, and talk about fish, or ten-point bucks, or the benefits of hollow-point ammo, or their F-150.

And the next time they hear someone talk about "the patriarchy", or "male privilege", they'll snort, turn off the TV and go to bed.

In the meantime, they'll likely be up again before dawn. To do it again. Until the helpless are rescued. And the work's done.

They're unlikely to be reimbursed. There won't be medals. They won't care. They're heroes. And it's what they do.
 
If I could "like" this post more than once, I would.
Our country was built on people helping people, regardless of political, religious, or other leanings - what happened (rhetorical question, of course)?

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Was watching someone covering the Henry boaters. Interviewed a man who was watching all that was going on in Texas from the comfort of his couch (lived outside of TX) and decided he wanted to help. Not by donating to a charity but instead went out and BOUGHT A BOAT, hooked it behind his pickup and headed to TX.!;)
 
Conservative, male, Trump voters are heroes.
And also "the quiet ones".

Got it.

This is total ******** attempted to be disguised as not a political post.

I live here and I see who is doing what. while I don't have time to make some flowery post about who the people really are that are helping out, I will tell you who it is. It is everybody. every single person in my neighborhood has banded together to send supplies that direction white black red yellow green liberal-conservative everybody. it's not any one group more than any other group.

Everybody at the airports around here have gathered to fly their multimillion-dollar aircraft and deliver supplies. Not just redneck truck driving done loving Trump voters. Everybody here is doing what they can to help. this original post is complete b******* propaganda.
 
The "left" does not hate these people.
What the Left argues against are politicians and pundits who pander to this portion of the electorate for their own ends.

IBTL.
 
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Politics. Guess it was bound to be introduced. :(
 
The original post was 100% political it specifically calls out Trump voters and the left-leaning people that don't like them. It couldn't have been more political from the get-go
 
That is not the point of the story. Folks volunteering their time and vehicles (trucks, boats, planes, whatever) to help those in need is the point of the story. I made my statement at the beginning basically saying ignore the politics and read about what the volunteers are doing. If they're Trump voters or Hillary, WGAF. Helping those in need is the story, whether as these fellas are doing, what you're doing, what I'm doing (contributing $$$ to Salvation Army), and what many thousands across this great country are doing. I think you missed the point of the story and allowed politics to influence you.
 
That is not the point of the story. Folks volunteering their time and vehicles (trucks, boats, planes, whatever) to help those in need is the point of the story. I made my statement at the beginning basically saying ignore the politics and read about what the volunteers are doing. If they're Trump voters or Hillary, WGAF. Helping those in need is the story, whether as these fellas are doing, what you're doing, what I'm doing (contributing $$$ to Salvation Army), and what many thousands across this great country are doing. I think you missed the point of the story and allowed politics to influence you.
I did not miss the point. I did not vote for either major candidate but I did vote. For the first time in my life I did not vote for a major candidate. But I voted. I found the article to reek of jingoism and more than a little condescending and a not-so-thinly veiled attempt at a guilt trip. I'd like a reference on the source of the article.

Real American Heroes are people to go to work everyday to support their families.
Real American Heroes are people who stay home to take care of the family while the spouse works.
Real American Heroes are the people who work multiple jobs to take care of their families.
Real American Heroes are the people who work all day then go to school so they can get a better job to take care of their families.
Real American Heroes may not even be Americans but live in the US and help their neighbors.
Real American Heroes are not always male.
Real American Heroes don't need a disaster to be heroes.
 
Real American Heroes are people to go to work everyday to support their families.
Real American Heroes are people who stay home to take care of the family while the spouse works.
Real American Heroes are the people who work multiple jobs to take care of their families.
Real American Heroes are the people who work all day then go to school so they can get a better job to take care of their families.
Real American Heroes may not even be Americans but live in the US and help their neighbors.
Real American Heroes are not always White Christian Men.

I believe the men mentioned in the article are what you describe above in their everyday life too. I'm sure there are non-white men ( beings you brought up race :rolleyes:) amongst these volunteers too.
 
That is not the point of the story. Folks volunteering their time and vehicles (trucks, boats, planes, whatever) to help those in need is the point of the story. I made my statement at the beginning basically saying ignore the politics and read about what the volunteers are doing. If they're Trump voters or Hillary, WGAF. Helping those in need is the story, whether as these fellas are doing, what you're doing, what I'm doing (contributing $$$ to Salvation Army), and what many thousands across this great country are doing. I think you missed the point of the story and allowed politics to influence you.
Mark, the political statements overshadowed the message you would like us to believe was the point of the story. It would have been easy to write the story without the political statements/claims/drumbeating if that was the author's intent. The political message was just some old meat and bread, the hurrah for 'mericans was just a bit of mayonnaise to make the six month old sandwhich semi-palatable (or to attract flies).
 
Mark, the political statements overshadowed the message you would like us to believe was the point of the story. It would have been easy to write the story without the political statements/claims/drumbeating if that was the author's intent. The political message was just some old meat and bread, the hurrah for 'mericans was just a bit of mayonnaise to make the six month old sandwhich semi-palatable (or to attract flies).

I did preface the article w/ a political warning, but see your point. And people still drink warm beer. :)
 
When I lived on a dead end street we got hit by a blizzard. Every guy with a shovel came out, dug out the street and a couple around it. Not as heroic as the guys in Texas, but we usually don't get lethal weather. Still, folks looking out for the common welfare are not limited to Trump voters.
The members of the Cajun Navy still command my respect, whatever their political stripe.
 
In before the...


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The members of the Cajun Navy still command my respect, whatever their political stripe.

That's all I posted the article for but some have to turn it into the SZ.

As I mentioned, kudos are not limited to just these men, but all who are helping in their own way, and as Bryan pointed out, there are many in his area.
 
That's all I posted the article for but some have to turn it into the SZ.

As I mentioned, kudos are not limited to just these men, but all who are helping in their own way, and as Bryan pointed out, there are many in his area.
You may be backtracking now since your post was called out, but you're pretty blind to think that article was inclusive of many groups. It was reported when first posted, but we let it stand as not quite politics but close. If it gets any closer, the thread will be locked.
 
The gulf coasters go help after the flood. In Baggs Wyoming we helped prevent the flood. Okay, so it was five years or so ago. I sent all my department employees that wanted to help (which turned out to be everybody) to Baggs to assist with sandbagging the river to "save" Baggs. Everybody, working together, got'er done. Baggs was the closest town to our project and a couple employees lived there.

The employees were paid for the day and my only stipulation was that safety checks were made before leaving the project site. We got a nice card from the Mayor...
 
Wow someone actually 'reported' it, imagine that. Never claimed it was inclusive of many, and my intention was only to post it as a "feel good" story. I even included a 'ignore the political crap' warning (see below) at the beginning hoping readers would see the good. I'm not backtracking at all and resent you saying that.

Not posted for political crap but there's a little in this article. Just recognition for the tremendous sacrifice and job these guys are doing to help. Good to know we still have unselfish people in this country.
 
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I'll say this much.. I think a BIG part of the reason for the perception of the country being "A DIVIDED NATION!!" is fueled by the media.. both sides have a hand at this. "Clickbait" style reporting used to be reserved for Tabloids and later places like Gawker. After about 2006 the media started having a bigger and bigger hand at catering to their extremes and working to drive fear and division, it's a way to make their audience more addicted to their brand

I have very little trust in any media outlet that has a vested financial responsibility to make its owner vast amounts of money... it is only natural in that case that your reporting is going to cater to its audience, and it will have to be extreme because if you are "boring" your viewers will tune in elsewhere. So I make a point to check everything from Fox to MSNBC, and everything in between.. and it's fascinating to see the same event reported 10 different ways. Also interesting to check overseas reporting... if you read the Guardian you would genuinely believe that the average American citizen lives in daily fear of being either wrongfully imprisoned or shot by trigger happy police officers (just like I'm sure our reporting of other countries is often not entirely true)

The reason I think that this division is largely a perception manifested by the media is because I've been in many situations personally where all sorts of different peoplecome together to help each other out. There are ofcourse small groups of people that carry a loud voice, but I believe the average person puts their differences aside 9 out of 10 times to help a fellow in need, whether the scale is large or small. Harvey is a good example of that, but someone else above mentioned shoveling neighbor's out, and even on a smaller scale there are examples of good humans out there everywhere

By the way, this division thing isn't something new... you can go back to Kennedy and since then and find that there is always loud (but relatively small) groups of people at both ends of the spectrum

The media, especially CNN, has gotten a fair amount of egg on its face in recent history.. I think it started with MH370, CNN kind of became the butt of a lot of jokes following their inane coverage of that, and they've had trouble finding footing since then. Many people, including FNC, got their lickings during the election cycle and I think the division we're seeing now is largely part of their petulant recovery. I think everyone at this point would love to move on from the 24/7 coverage of Melania's Trump's shoes, emails, HRC, Russians, etc. It would be nice to just get back to actual news and world events..
 
The Cajun Navy are Real American Heros.
The people who are lending a hand to their neighbors are Real American Heros.
My cousin, who is a Washington State Highway Patrol chaplain - who was sent to assist in Texas is a Real American Hero.
The many linemen sent by power companies and REAs all over the country who are there or on their way to restore power are Real American Heros.

Why do the above statements get interpreted as saying "AND NOBODY ELSE IS A REAL AMERICAN HERO?"
 
The Cajun Navy are Real American Heros.
The people who are lending a hand to their neighbors are Real American Heros.
My cousin, who is a Washington State Highway Patrol chaplain - who was sent to assist in Texas is a Real American Hero.
The many linemen sent by power companies and REAs all over the country who are there or on their way to restore power are Real American Heros.

Why do the above statements get interpreted as saying "AND NOBODY ELSE IS A REAL AMERICAN HERO?"
They don't, but the OP takes many swipes at other groups. There is a difference.
 
Never claimed it was inclusive of many, and my intention was only to post it as a "feel good" story. I even included a 'ignore the political crap' warning (see below) at the beginning hoping readers would see the good. I'm not backtracking at all and resent you saying that.

Not posted for political crap but there's a little in this article. Just recognition for the tremendous sacrifice and job these guys are doing to help. Good to know we still have unselfish people in this country.

Nearly every paragraph in the article was directly political or contained some sort of dog whistle. Tough not to think that the whole point of the article was not the feel-good story of regular Americans sacrificing for others but rather a thinly veiled attack against those who reside on the opposite side of the political spectrum of the author.

I get what your saying and agree that there are heros. There were a lot of dudes with trucks who helped out. But there were also a lot of coastal city dwellers who donated money. There were midwesterners who drove/flew down (and still are) to help. I don't think we need to segment out who are the helpers in society. Fundamentally, people are people. Americans are Americans. Most of us realize that we are our brother's keeper. To separate us into 'Real' Americans and the Liberals does a disservice to all the heroic work being done.

Again, I agree with your sentiment, but there are literally hundreds of stories of regular heroism that don't contain divisive undercurrent that tears us apart in a time where we need to be on the same side.
 
"We" just allowed a very long discussion of religion. So in fairness an equally long political thread should be allowed.

Note to posters: Don't call each other #$%^&, (*&^, @#$^&, or $%^&* and it should pass for an acceptable discussion of a topic that is clearly a RoC violation.
 
They don't, but the OP takes many swipes at other groups. There is a difference.

For the record, I take no political swipes at those who jeopardize their lives to help those in need when disasters like Harvey occur. They are selfless individuals who give of themselves to help others.

OTOH, those who would loot in times like that deserve no mercy whatever.
 
"We" just allowed a very long discussion of religion. So in fairness an equally long political thread should be allowed.

Note to posters: Don't call each other #$%^&, (*&^, @#$^&, or $%^&* and it should pass for an acceptable discussion of a topic that is clearly a RoC violation.

Why not? I frequently call myself a dumbass. :devil:
 
They don't, but the OP takes many swipes at other groups. There is a difference.

You referring to me? Swipes. Really. You need to get over your dislike of me. Beats me why you seem to always jump on me when they are plenty of other posters who take 'swipes'. Unbeilieveavle.
 
You referring to me? Swipes. Really. You need to get over your dislike of me. Beats me why you seem to always jump on me when they are plenty of other posters who take 'swipes'. Unbeilieveavle.
Sorry, I should have written "original post" instead of OP. I would have felt that way no matter who wrote it, and I know you didn't write it, only quoted it.
 
Thank you. I know nothing of the author. A friend (yes I have friends lol) sent it to me.
 
Actually, we encourage reporting, since none of us read every thread (or even close to every thread). We also don't act on all reported posts, but they do get discussed.
 

Some trivia. The guy singing on those commercials is the dude from Survivor (Eye of the tiger).
After 9/11 they changed from "Real American Hero" to "Real Men of Genius"

^ This is the type of stuff that is in my head. Substance and valuable information leak right out.
 
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