Gotta Love The Aussies

[Homerun04]

I thought you would all appreciate this. I can not wait to visit Australia someday to say "Thank You" to them. Enjoy.
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You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was
actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper
an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So, an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know
what an American is, so they would know when they found one.

"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German,
Spanish, Polish, Russian, or Greek. An American may also be Canadian,
Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian,
or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee,
Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache or one of the many other tribes known
as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or
Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan.
The only difference is that in America, they are free to worship as each
of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For
that, he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed
thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the
world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of
Independence, which recognizes the God-given right of each man and woman
to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every
other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was
overrun by the Soviet army twenty years ago, Americans came with arms
and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the
morning of September 11, 2001, Americans had given more than any other
nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best -- the best products, the best books, the
best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the
least. The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes
your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores,
the homeless, tempest-tossed. These, in fact, are the people who built
America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September
11, earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the
World Trade Center victims were from at least thirty other countries,
cultures, and first languages -- including those that aided and abetted
the terrorists.

So, you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did
General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao, and every blood thirsty tyrant in the
history of the world. But, in doing so, you would just be killing
yourself, because Americans are not a particular people from a
particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit and
freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.