I played a lot of Civilization and Axis & Allies in high school back in the day when they were still board games.  Matter of fact, I still have my Axis & Allies game, I wonder if it would be worth anything.  I think I still have all the pieces too.

quote author=skiguy link=topic=1093.msg7045#msg7045 date=1211896755]The only reason I can't say Iraq was contrived, was that for 10+ years prior to the invasion, nearly every administration and intelligence agency around the world thought Saddam had or was actively pursuing WMD's.The Arabs, particularly the Palestinians, have some valid reasons for hating Israel.Ahh, but look at the skimpy evidence put forward to support the WMD claim.  I would also argue that Saddam's regime was contained.  I thought so then and have seen nothing since to convince me that he was a threat, regional or otherwise.[

My grandfather was a beef rancher in Oklahoma, where the family still lives.  When the depression hit and the beef market slowed down my grandfather wildcatted for oil on the family farm.  He hit a big one and we had a well on the farm that produced well into the 50's.  When I was a kid, the rig he used to drill sat in the barnyard.  There are still natural gas wells on the place.  I have seen pictures of my Grandfather pulling the rig around the farm in the 30's with an old Holt Caterpillar tractor that we still used in the 780's when I was in high school.  My family was one of the ones that stuck it out through the dustbowl in Oklahoma.  My Grandmother has told me stories of the dust storms and one of the things she hated the most was that no matter what you did, the dust still got into everything.  Now that I am older, I wish I had listened better to the stories my Grandparents told before they passed away.

What about Andrew Jackson.  He defined American politics for much of the 19th century.  historians still talk about Jaksonian Democracy.  He was also forceful and driven.  If it were not for Jackson, much of the American south, specifically Florida, would still belong to Spain or the Indians.  they didn't call him “Old Rough and Ready” for nothing.  He also had very concrete ideas about the role and authority of the President, ideas which still rverberate today in the way in which president's execute their power.

We lost at Pearl Harbor, Bataan, and the Phillipines (round 1).  These were early battles before we were completely ramped up to full steam.  After that, we pretty much rolled the Japanese all the back to their mainland (of course heavy losses were incurred throughout).  I don't think we ever lost a battle in the European theater unless you count Kasserine Pass in the Italian campaign.  The Brits and Russians suffered many defeats before we really turned the tide.

Don't Forget The Battle of the Bulge,  we (the US) suffered a major defeat before regrouping and counterattacking.  There was also the meatgrinder defeats in both the Vosges Mounatins of Northern France and the Huertgen Forest.  These battles are largley forgotten because they are not sexy enough for popular history.  In both places the Germans brought the US forces to a standstill and did not give up any ground until they retreated due to eventsw on other parts of the front.  Lastly, there is the allied defeat in Market-Garden inwhich the British 1st Airborne Division was not destroyed, it simply ceased to exist, albeit after heroic resistance for far longer than anyone thought possible.

Star-Spangled Banner,  Call me corny, but I choke up every time I hear a good rendition of it.  It is one of the best songs ever written, right up there with Amazing Grace and the other great Hymns.