Reply #15: I've been known to pull pedigree rank in conversations like this ;)

[markpkessinger]

Mind you, I do NOT believe that genealogical background of any sort makes anybody any more or less of an American, so this is a tactic I use ONLY when a teabagger type suggests I am somehow less of an American than s/he is based on my political views. Usually, it goes something like this:

Really? I'm not sufficiently "American" for you? My father's family was in this country a good 40 years prior to the revolution, and part of my mother's line traces back to the original Plymouth settlement. When was it you said your family came here? Oh, and two of my direct ancestors (one on each side of the family) were Revolutionary War soldiers. And several direct ancestors fought in the Civil War (all on the Union side). My Dad and his two brothers all served in WWII (Dad in the Navy, in the Pacific, and his two brothers in the Army in Europe). So, tell me again how it is that I'm not "American" enough?

That usually shuts down the "un-American" line of argument. Again, this isn't something i typically trot out for the purpose of bragging about it. From where I sit, I regard it as little more than an accident of history. The fact that I am aware of the history has mostly to do with the fact that most of my ancestors made their way to central Pennsylvania and stayed there, as did subsequent generations. But I do pull it out whenever some teabagger type starts in with the "un-american" line of argument; if they're going to play that game, so will I!