Should Americans Feel Guilty?

In this I celebrate the Plymouth Rock spirit -- "the grit and indomitable perseverance that characterize American efforts in every department of activity," -- that Alexis de Tocqueville saw in the country he toured in the early nineteenth century.

If we must assume guilt and blame for mistakes, or bad judgement in the past, we are allowed to claim credit for our successes.  What follows is a far from exhaustive list of some of those things we can be proud of and should take credit for.  A work in Progress.

Recent science:

Kepler Mission

Messenger

Dawn

New Horizons

Hubble Telescope

Magellan Explorer

Ulysses Explorer

Galileo Explorer

Pathfinder

NEAR Shoemaker

Cassini–Huygens

Genesis

Stardust

Voyager Explorers

Mariner Explorers

Pioneer Explorers

Galileo Explorer

Pathfinder

NEAR Shoemaker

Cassini–Huygens

Genesis

Stardust
Gemini
Apollo
Kuiper
Landsat
Lunar Orbiters
Ranger
Surveyor
Spirit Rover
Opportunity Rover
Deep Space 1 & 2 Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterVikingGPS
Mercury
Went to the moon – six times

Fermi Lab

JPL

W.M.Keck Observatory
Sanford's Underground Research Facility
LIGO
SETI Institute
Lick Observatory

Some of our documents are said to be well written:

The Constitution

The Bill of Rights

The Declaration of Independence

The Federalists Papers

We did some work in medicine to work toward a healthier world:

Cure for Diphtheria

Cure for Invasive H. Flu
Cure for Malaria
Cure for Measles
Cure for Pertussis
Cure for Pneumococcal Disease
Cure for Polio
Cute for Tetanus
Cure for Typhoid Fever
Cure for Yellow Fever
Eradicating Smallpox
Cure for chicken pox

Writing some of the best literature in the world:

Poor Richard's Almanac

Common Sense
The Scarlet Letter

Of Mice and Men

The Raven

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Portrait of a Lady

The Call of the Wild

The Duties of Children to Their Parents

Moby Dick

The Crucible
As I Lay Dying

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

The Sun Also Rises

Catch 22

The Open Boat

Gone with the Wind

Slaughterhouse Five

Death of a Salesman
Leaves of Grass

Charlotte’s Web

A Farewell to Arms

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Ethan Frome

On the Road

A Streetcar Named Desire

The Bell Jar

O Pioneers

The Big Sleep
Atlas Shrugged

The Sound and the Fury

Long Day’s Journey into the Night
In Cold Blood
A Raisin in the Sun

Franny and Zooey

The Waste Land

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Glass Menagerie

Winesburg, Ohio

All the King’s Men

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Great Gatsby

The Catcher in the Rye

The Grapes of Wrath

Fahrenheit 451

In Cold Blood

East of Eden
Native Son

The Old Man and the Sea
The House of Usher

Cannery Row

Invisible Man

The Maltese Falcon

Dandelion Wine

Our Town

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
The Red Badge of Courage
The Deerslayer

We take pride in some things we built:

Trinity Church

Robie House

Seagram Building

Wrigley Building

St. Patrick Cathedral

The Rookery

Lake Point Tower

Tribune Tower
Sears Tower
Woolworth Building

35 East Wacker Jeweler's Building

Golden Gate Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

Wrigley Field

Guggenheim Museum

Metropolitan Museum of  Art
Transcontinental Railroad
The Boulder Dam

Erie Canal

The Panama Canal

Watt's Tower
Cloud Gate
Crazy Horse Memorial
Mt Rushmore
Gateway Arch
General Sherman NYC
The Chicago Picasso

Taliesin

Falling Water
Farnsworth House
The Empire State Building

We advanced our country and the rest of world:

Louis and Clark Expeditions
Louisiana Purchase
NATO
Reconstruction
Marshal Plan

Truman Doctrine
Berlin Airlift

Winning World War I

Winning World War II

Defeating the USSR
Liberated France - twice

Freeing the slaves

United Nations

Schools that are rated as the best in world:

Harvard University

Stanford University
MIT
UC at Berkeley
Princeton
Caltech
Colombia
University of Chicago
Yale
UCLA
Cornell
University of Washington
University of Pennsylvania
Johns Hopkins
University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin
NYU
Northwestern
U of I
University of Minnesota
Duke University
Washington University
Rockefeller University
University of Colorado
University of North Carolina

We made some good medical centers:

Cleveland Clinic

St. Jude Children Research Hospital
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Mayo Clinic
University of Maryland Medical Center
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Massachusetts General Center
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

With the possibility of great rewards, we invented a couple of gadgets:

Flat boat

Bifocals

Crackers

Fire Hydrant

Cupcake

Refrigerator
Model T

Washing Machine
Television

iPad/iPhone

Industrial robots

Lasers

Handheld calculator

Personal Computer

Social Media
Lightening rod

Coffee percolator

Circular Saw
Mail Order

Dental Floss
Cotton Gin

Milling machine

Doorbell, electric

Sewing machine

Combine

Wrench

Morse code

Circuit breaker

Sleet plow

Sleeping train car

Rubber

Grain Elevator
Ice cream maker

Pressure sensitive tape

Baseball
Gas Mask

Jack hammer

Safety pin

Dishwasher

Elevator brake

Burglar alarm

Potato chips

Clothes pin

Merry-go-round
Egg beater

Condensed milk

Equatorial sextant

Toilet Paper – in rolls

Pencil eraser

Ironing board

Dust pan

Electric stove

Escalator

Musical
Vacuum cleaner

Repeating rifle (lever action)

Jelly bean

Twist drill

Postcard

Ratchet wrench

Breakfast cereal

Cowboy hat

Rotary printing press (web)

Urinal (restroom version)

Chuckwagon

Motorcycle (steam-powered)

Paper clip
Barbed wire

Refrigerator car

Paper bag

Tape measure

Vibrator

American football
Pipe wrench

Clothes hanger

Can opener (rotary)

Feather duster

Rowing machine

Railway air brake

Earmuffs

Silo

Jeans
Fire sprinkler (automated)

Spork

Ice cream soda

Jockstrap

Forstner bit

QWERTY

Dental drill (electric)

Mimeograph

Synthesizer

Airbrush

Phonograph

Carbon microphone

Carton

Cash register

Oil burner

Electric chair

Photographic film
Mixer (cooking)

Filing cabinet (horizontal)

Telephone directory

Screen door

Gramophone record

Slot machine

Softball
Induction motor

Kinetoscope

Drinking straw

Stepping switch

Revolving door

Ballpoint pen

Touch typing

Salisbury steak

Metal detector

Iron (electric)

Fan (electric)

Salt water taffy

Solar cell

Thermostat

Machine gun

Skyscraper

Popcorn machine

Cotton Candy

Frozen Food

Chocolate chip cookie

Pantyhose

Modern Suspension Bridge

Potato chips

Condensed Milk

Disc Record

Carbide lamp

Fly swatter

Thumbtack

Key punch

Mercury-vapor lamp

Assembly line

Safety razor (disposable)

Windowed envelope

Radio direction finder

Hearing aid

Microwave Oven

Nuclear Bomb

Disposable Diaper

Fiber optic cable

Flexible flyer

Payphone

Stop sign
Tabulating machine

Shredded wheat

Babcock test

Smoke detector

Ferris wheel

Tesla coil

Rotary dial

Pastry fork

Schrader valve

Bottle cap

Dimmer

Bicycle seat (padded)

Internal combustion powered tractor

Zipper
Pinking shears

Mousetrap

Medical glove

Volleyball

Cotton candy

Muffler

Tapered roller bearing

Ice cream scoop

Charcoal briquette

Tea bag

Offset printing press

Airplane

Windshield wipers

Baler (round)

Automatic transmission

AC power plugs and sockets

Banana split

Dragline excavator

Batting helmet

Ice pop

Typesetting

Billiards cue chalk

Candy corn

Remote control

Semi-automatic shotgun

Filing cabinet (vertical)

Sousaphone

Nickel-zinc battery

Postage meter

Teddy bear

Periscope (collapsible)

Mercury arc valve

Air conditioning

Curtain rod

Paper towel

Candy apple

Skee ball

Paper shredder

Suppressor

Gin rummy

Headset

Fifth wheel coupling

Erector Set
Binder clip

Automobile self starter

Road surface marking

Autopilot

Electric blanket

Traffic light (electric)

Formica (plastic)

Regenerative circuit

Traffic cone

Metal detector

Iron (electric)

Fan (electric)

Salt water taffy

Solar cell

Thermostat

Machine gun

Skyscraper

Popcorn machine

Fortune cookie

Skeet shooting

Single-sideband modulation

Hamburger bun

Lincoln Logs

Supermarket
Cloverleaf interchange

Tow truck

Condenser microphone

Light switch (toggle)

Marshmallow creme

Superheterodyne receiver

French dip sandwich

Torque wrench

Crystal oscillator

Grocery bag

Hydraulic brake
Blender

Silica gel

Toaster (pop-up)

Eskimo Pie

Jungle gym

Polygraph

Flowchart

Adhesive bandage

Headrest

Garage door

Convertible

Water skiing

Radial arm saw

Audiometer

Bulldozer

Cotton swab

Instant camera
Locking pliers

Cheeseburger

Automatic volume control

Masking tape

Reuben sandwich

Tilt-A-Whirl

Garage door opener

Power steering

Drive through

Liquid-fuel rocket

Bread slicer

Jukebox
Garbage disposal

Pressure washer

Resonator guitar

Kool-Aid

Corn dog

Negative feedback amplifier

Recliner

Ice cube tray

Bubble gum

Clip-on tie

Electric razor

Iron lung

Freon

Tampon (applicator)

Eyelash curler

Sunglasses

Frozen food

Cyclotron

Tiltrotor

Car audio

Cheesesteak

Bathysphere

Chocolate chip cookie

Thermistor

Electric guitar

Strobe light

Aerogel
Bug zapper

Miniature snap-action switch

Toilet brush

Golf cart

Staple remover

Radio telescope

Tape dispenser

Landing Vehicle, Tracked

Multiplane camera
Frequency modulation

Impact sprinkler

Trampoline (modern)

Acrostic (puzzle)

Richter magnitude scale

Black light

Parking meter

Surfboard fin

pH meter

Gomco clamp

Reed switch
Phillips-head screw

Stock car racing

Programming languages

Compact fluorescent lamp

Chair lift

Strain gauge

Bass guitar

O-ring
Photosensitive glass

Digital computer

Shopping cart

Sunglasses (polarized)

Klystron

Cyclamate

Beach ball

Fiberglass

Xerography

Nylon
Operant conditioning chamber

Soft serve ice cream

Teflon

Yield sign

VU meter

Starting gate

Twist tie

Automated teller machine

Vocoder

Fluxgate magnetometer

Aerosol Bomb

Deodorant

Acrylic fiber

Electric guitar (solid body)

Bazooka

Magnetic proximity fuze

Slinky

Microwave oven

Cruise control

Space observatory

Blowout preventer (annular)

Tupperware

Spoonplug

Chipper teeth

Filament tape

Credit card

Diaper (waterproof)

Transistor

Defibrillator

Supersonic aircraft

Acrylic paint

Magnetic particle clutch

Windsurfing

Hair spray
Cat litter

Halligan bar

Hand dryer

Rogallo wing

Cable television

Flying disc

Video game

Radiocarbon dating

Airsickness bag

Ice resurfacer

Atomic clock

Holter monitor

Crash test dummy

Compiler

Aerosol paint
Artificial snowmaking

Leaf blower

Hamming code

Teleprompter

Sengstaken-Blakemore tube

Stellarator

Cooler

Wetsuit

Correction fluid

Well counter

Airbag

Bread clip

Barcode

Artificial heart

Heart-lung machine

Voltmeter (digital)

Marker pen

WD-40

Apgar scale
Gilhoolie

Wiffle ball

MASER

Carbonless copy paper

Crossed-field amplifier

Zipper storage bag

TV dinner

Acoustic suspension loudspeaker

Model rocketry

Door (automatic sliding)

Mogen clamp

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Synthetic diamond

Radar gun

Sling lift
Crosby-Kugler capsule

Hard disk drive

Harmonic drive

Vibrating sample magnetometer

Lint roller

Kart racing

Industrial robot

Operating system (batch processing)

Fortran

Videotape
Particle storage ring

Skid-steer loader

Laser

Confocal microscopy

Sugar packet

Air-bubble packing

Borazon

Gamma camera

Cryotron

Doppler fetal monitor
Cable tie

Lisp programming language

Carbon fiber

Integrated circuit

Fusor

Weather satellite

Spandex

Child safety seat

Artificial turf

Magnetic stripe card

Global navigation satellite system

Combined oral contraceptive pill

Obsidian hydration dating

Gas laser
Spreadsheet (electronic)

Wearable computer

Frozen carbonated beverage

Biofeedback

Communications satellite

Chimney starter

Light-emitting diode

Electret microphone

Jet injector
Laser diode

Glucose meter

Kicktail

Computer mouse

BASIC

Balloon catheter

Geosynchronous satellite

Buffalo wings

Plasma display

Moog synthesizer

8-track cartridge

Permanent press

Carbon dioxide laser
Liquid crystal display (dynamic scattering mode)

SQUID

Argon laser

Adaptive equalizer (automatic)

Snowboarding

Kevlar

Hypertext

Cordless telephone

Space pen

Minicomputer

Compact Disc

Chemical laser

Dynamic random access memory

Thermosonic bonding

Backpack (Internal frame)

Calculator (hand-held)

Racquetball
Virtual reality

Turtle Excluder Device

Zipper (ride)

Lunar Module

Electromagnetic lock

Laser printer

Bioactive glass

Wide-body aircraft

Taser

Charge coupled device

Mousepad

Chapman Stick

Markup language

Wireless local area network

Surf leash

Uno (card game)

Personal computer

Fuzzball router

Supercritical airfoil

Microprocessor

Floppy disk

String trimmer

Memristor

E-mail

C (programming language)

Video game console

Global Positioning System

PET scanner
Magnetic resonance imaging

Personal watercraft

E-paper

Recombinant DNA

Catalytic converter (three-way)

Mobile phone

Voicemail

Heimlich maneuver

Post-it note

Scanning acoustic microscope

Quantum well laser

Universal Product Code

Digital camera

Ethernet

Breakaway rim

Gore-Tex
Human-powered aircraft

Chemical oxygen iodine laser

Slide Away Bed

Popcorn bag

Bulletin board system

Winglets

Polar fleece

Control-Alt-Delete

Total internal reflection fluorescence microscope

Space shuttle

Paintball

Graphic User Interface

Internet
Blind signature

Laser turntable

LCD projector

Pointing stick

Polymerase chain reaction

Atomic force microscope

Stereolithography

Digital Micromirror Device

Perl

Luggage (tilt-and-roll)

Fused deposition modeling

Tcl

Ballistic electron emission microscopy

Electron beam ion trap

Nicotine patch

Firewall

Resin identification code

ZIP file format

Selective laser sintering

Sulfur lamp

Ant robotics

Spinner (wheel)

CMOS image sensor
DNA computing

Segway PT

Quantum cascade laser

Bose–Einstein condensate

Screenless hammer mill

Scroll wheel

JavaScript

Adobe Flash

Bait car

Virtual reality therapy

HVLS fan

Torino scale
Phase-change incubator

Bowtie cotter pin

iBOT

SERF

Doggles

Fermionic condensate

Slingshot (water vapor distillation system)

Nanowire battery

Bionic contact lens 

Trongs

There has been time to draw a few nice pictures:

Death of General Wolfe

View from Mount Holyoke,

The Jolly Flatboatman

Washington Crossing the Delaware

The Veteran in a New Field

Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California

Portrait of the Painter’s Mother

Gallery of the Louvre

Kindred Spirits

The Grass Fire

Sugar Shack

American Gothic

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Nighthawks

Freedom from Want
Christina’s World

Madam Pierre Gautreau

The Banjo Lesson
The Old Guitarist

World's best art houses:

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Philadelphia Museum of Art
National Gallery of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
Art Institute of Chicago
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Brooklyn Museum
Museum of Modern Art
Baltimore Museum of Art
Getty Center
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Guggenheim

We brought convenience and thrift in travel, food, and housing:

McDonalds

Holiday Inn

Levittown

No need to list the songs:

Blues

Rock and Roll
Jazz
Gospel

Country & Western
Jug Band Music
Bluegrass
Zydeco
Americana
Honkytonk
Hip Hop

Libraries rated among the best in the world:

Library of Congress
Stephen Schwarzman Library
Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library
Harold Washington Library
Armstrong-Browning Library
Morgan Library
Boston Public Library
Hearst Castle Gothic Study
Fisher Fine Art Library

Known for good movies:

Citizen Kane
Casablanca
The Godfather
Gone with the Wind
Lawrence of Arabia
The Wizard of Oz
The Graduate
On the Waterfront
Schindler's List
Singin' in the Rain
It's a Wonderful Life
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Some Like It Hot
Star Wars
The African Queen
Psycho
Chinatown
Dead Poets Society
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Grapes of Wrath
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Maltese Falcon
Dr. Strangelove
Bonnie and Clyde
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
High Noon
To Kill a Mockingbird
Double Indemnity
Doctor Zhivago
North by Northwest
West Side Story
Rear Window
King Kong
The Birth of a Nation
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Clockwork Orange
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Philadelphia Story
From Here to Eternity
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Sound of Music
The Third Man
Fantasia
Rebel Without a Cause
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Vertigo
Stagecoach
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Silence of the Lambs
Network
The Manchurian Candidate
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
An American in Paris
Shane
The French Connection
Forrest Gump
Saving Private Ryan
Ben-Hur 1959
The Shawshank Redemption
Wuthering Heights
The Gold Rush
American Graffiti
The Deer Hunter
Giant
Titanic
Fargo
Duck Soup
A Night at the Opera
Mutiny on the Bounty
Frankenstein
12 Angry Men
Easy Rider
Patton
Tombstone
The Jazz Singer
My Fair Lady
Sophie's Choice
A Place in the Sun
The Last Picture Show
The Searchers
Unforgiven
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Toy Story
Yankee Doodle Dandy

And then we discovered a few things:

Charge conservation
Chloroform
Petroleum jelly
Chemical potential
Red Delicious apples
Phobos
Torosaurus
Amalthea
Phoebe
Tyrannosaurus
Seyfert galaxies
Propane
Golden Delicious
Smoking-cancer link
Sinope
Zener diodes
Barnard's Star
Covalent bonding
Heparin
Vitamin A
Oviraptor
Electron diffraction
Pluto
Heavy hydrogen
Cosmic radio waves
Positrons
Homeostasis
Heavy water
Polyvinylidene chloride
Elliptical galaxies
Muons
Vitamin E
Sodium thiopental
Niacin
Electron capture
Fluoropolymers
Animal echolocation
Carme
Lysithea
Plutonium
Cyanoacrylate
Streptomycin
Americium
Curium
Promethium
Cloud seeding
Warfarin
Miranda
Serotonin
Tetracycline
Nereid
Berkelium
Californium
Barium stars
Ananke
Polio vaccine
Einsteinium
Rapid eye movement
DNA structure
Mendelevium
Antiproton
Porous silicon
Kaon
Antineutron
Neutrino
Nucleic acid hybridization
Van Allen radiation belt
Antiproton
Seafloor spreading
Eta meson
Xi baryon
Cosmic microwave background radiation
Quark
Lucifer asteroid
Hepatitis B virus
Aspartame
Pulsating white dwarfs
Up quark
Down quark
Mosher's acid
Interstellar formaldehyde
Reverse transcriptase
Opiate receptors
Australopithecus "Lucy"
J/ψ mesons
Charm quark
Binary pulsars
Leda
Seaborgium
Bok
D mesons
Hepatitis B virus vaccine
Tau lepton
Rings of Uranus
Upsilon mesons
Bottom quark
Restriction endonucleases
Charon
Metis
Thebe
Rings of Jupiter
Oncogene
Pandora
Prometheus
Atlas
Larissa
Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine
Puck
Portia
Juliet
Cressida
Rosalind
Rosalind
Desdemona
Cordelia
Ophelia
Bianca
Tumor suppressor gene
Rings of Neptune
Proteus
Despina
Galatea
Thalassa
Naiad
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Top quark
Comet Hale-Bopp
Embryonic stem cell lines
Interstellar vinyl alcohol
Sedna
Psamathe
Mab
Perdita
Cupid
Makemake
Eris
Dysnomia
Hydra
Nix
Human genome and variation mapping
Di-positronium

For us, the impossible doesn't have to take that long:

During the 3-1/2 years of World War 2 that started with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and ended with the Surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945, we produced the following:

22 aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 48 cruisers, 349 destroyers, 420 destroyer escorts, 203 submarines, 34 million tons of merchant ships, 100,000 fighter aircraft, 98,000 bombers, 24,000 transport aircraft, 58,000 training aircraft, 93,000 tanks, 257,000 artillery pieces, 105,000 mortars, 3,000,000 machine guns, and 2,500,000 military trucks.

We put 16.1 million men in uniform in the various armed services, invaded Africa, invaded Sicily and Italy, won the battle for the Atlantic, planned and executed D-Day, marched across the Pacific and Europe, developed the atomic bomb, and ultimately conquered Japan and Germany.

===============================================

Food!!

Pecan Pie

Tater Tots

Meatloaf

Corn Dogs

Candy Corn

S'mores

Mac and Cheese

Donut Holes

Ranch Dressing

Milkshakes

Doritos

Russian Dressing

Swiss Steak

Key Lime Pie

Sourdough Bread

Cobb Salad

Pot Roast

Twinkies

Jerky

Fajitas

Banana Split

Cornbread

Jambalaya

Biscuits and Gravy

Chicken Fried Steak

California Roll

Grits

Crabcakes

Potato Chips

Peanut Butter Sandwich

Baked Beans

Popcorn

Clam Chowder

Lobster Rolls

Buffalo Wings

Barbecue Ribs

Barbecue Chicken

BLT

Apple Pie

Po' Boy

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cobbler

Real Pizza

Nachos

Philly Cheese stake
Hot Dogs
Reuben Sandwich
Cheeseburger

We had to build some organizations to manufacture and sell the inventions, provide services, and make life easier, safer, and healthier for the world:

HBO

Showtime

Hulu

WalMart

Amazon

Apple

Starbucks

Netflix

Southwest Airlines

Cummins'
Google
Lincoln Electric
Cosco
Whole Foods
Nordstrom
IBM
Intel
Coach
BET
News Corp
Berkshire Hathaway
GM
GE
Ford
CVS
Boeing
Microsoft
Home Depot
Target
Walgreens
Johnson & Johnson
UPS
UTC
Dow
Caterpillar
Disney
Cisco
Coke
Lockheed Martin
FedEx
Honeywell
Goldman Sachs
Oracle
Safeway
Deere
DuPont
American Express
Halliburton
Sears
General Dynamics
Time Warner
Nike
Macy's
Union Pacific
Northrup Grumman
Staples
Kimberly Clark
Xerox
Whirlpool
Kohl's
Dollar General
Kraft Foods
Goodyear
General Mills
eBay
Lear
TRW
Gap
Office Depot
Monsanto
Kellogg
CarMax
Visa
Facebook
Twitter
Toys R Us
JC Penny
Bed, Bath, and Beyond
Stanley
Black & Decker
Hilton
Corning
Discover
Eastman Kodak
Dean Food
MasterCard
Hormel
Avon
Avis
Campbell Soup
Borg Warner
Ralph Lauren
Hershey
Casey's General Stores
Foot Locket
PetSmart
Dick's Sporting Goods
Dillard's
In and Out Burger
Barnes and Noble
Harley Davidson
Indian Motorcycles
Mattel
Charles Schwab
Jet Blue Airways
Tractor Supply
Western Union
AMD
Wynn Resorts
Hanes Brands
Owens Corning
Big Boy
Joe's Crab Shack
Noodles & Co
Famous Dave's
Jersey Mike's
White Castle
Long John Silver's
Ruth's Chris Steak House
Boston Market
Perkins
Del Taco
Krispy Kreme
Hooter's
PF Chang's
Steak n Shake
Bob Evans
Bojangle's
Culver's
Waffle House
Ruby Tuesday
Five Guys
Red Robin
Carl's Jr
Jimmy John's
Golden Corral
Friday's
Whataburger
Cracker Barrel
Red Lobster
Outback
Denny's
Papa John's
IHOP
Arby's
Jack in the Box
Dairy Queen
Buffalo Wild Wings
Chile's
Olive Garden
Sonic
Domino's
KFC
Appleby's
Pizza Hut
Chic-fil-A
Dunkin Donuts
Taco Bell
Wendy's
Burger King
Subway

And there is always extra money to give away

American Cancer Society
American Heart Association
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
American National Red Cross
AmeriCares Foundation
Boy Scouts of America
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Brother's Brother Foundation
CARE USA
Catholic Charities USA
Catholic Medical Mission Board
Catholic Relief Services
Compassion International
Cross International
Cru
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Direct Relief
Doctors Without Borders USA
Feed the Children
Feeding America
Food for the Poor
Good 360
Goodwill Industries International
Habitat for Humanity International
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Lutheran Services in America
Make-A-Wish Foundation of America
MAP International
Marine Toys for Tots Foundation
Mayo Clinic
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Nature Conservancy
Operation Blessing International Relief & Development
Patient Access Network Foundation
Project HOPE
Public Broadcasting Service
Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
Salvation Army
Samaritan's Purse
Save the Children Federation
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Step Up for Students
Task Force for Global Health
United States Fund for UNICEF
United Way
YMCA of the USA
World Vision
Bailey House
American Wildlife Foundation
Helen Keller International
Children's Defense Fund
National Rifle Association
Coalition for the Homeless
National Council on Aging
Fisher House Foundation
Wounded Warrior Project
One Billion dollars/year to Africa for AIDS

No other country in history has a right to be as proud of its accomplishments as the United States - a truly exception nation.

A last note to address the America haters - the lists were made from assumed accurate sources and there could be the possibility that the haters will find out that an American invented the ball point pen in collaboration with a Frenchman, in an attempt to discredit the whole list.  If errors are found, I would appreciate a note.  I would also like to hear about omissions.