Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 09:24:04 -0400 From: "Bob Blakely" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>----- Original Message ----- >From: "Frantisek" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "P. J. Alling" <pentax-discuss@pdml.net> >Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2005 7:50 AM >Subject: Re: More Texas Photo Issues > > >> Indians and other people of colour probably >> didn't see much difference between the British colonies and the first >> US in 1776... Not until a lot of time later. > > >Absolutely true. It's not easy being the first of it's kind. The first of >everything is always fraught with flaws and needs to grow. The first >automobile was a very flawed invention compared to the vehicles we have >today. Not everyone was ready for the concepts of the new republic any more >than roads were ready for the first car. Those republics that followed had >the benefit of observing what worked well and what needed improvement. I >hope the exposure of both our flaws and our strengths was a help. > > >> That said, I don't mean the talk lowly of the system there - it sure >> was a model for many other countries, including the first Czechoslovak >> republic in 1918 (fortunately now, we no longer have a strong >> presidential republic...). >> >> I wrote that just that I find it funny, or even laughable and kind of >> stupid, when somebody talks about how "his" state was the oldest >> Contitutional Republic in existence... small minded patriotism, in my >> opinion. > >Well, I guess I'm just a small minded, kind of stupid patriot. I'm not sure >exactly how that makes a person small minded and kind of stupid, but maybe >that's because I'm small minded and kind of stupid. I'll try to do better >though by redressing others should they say something stupid and kind of >small minded concerning something they are proud of about their country. >Your excellent example is appreciated, and I'll be sure to give you the >credit, Frantisek, for this enlightenment as I redress them. Failures are a part of all governments -- all human institutions. And the successes are very few in human history. This is why we have the oft-forgotten term, which President Reagan was one of the few to recall for us, that this nation is proudly called ... ... "The Great Experiment". Collin KC8TKA -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .
