With the US Mid term elections coming up tomorrow in the USA, some of our most famous Greek Americans have got together to encourage people to vote, telling them that Democracy was their idea first and that Americans shouldn't mess with democracy, but get out and vote!
George Stephanopoulos, Bob Costas, Nick Galifianakis, Maria Menounos, and Chris Sarandon star in the hilarious little video which they called "Heck Yeah! We Invented Democracy." and even Tina Fey has a guest spot with her phrase from her SNL skit...'Drepome, Drepome, which means I'm ashamed....', as do Arianna Huffington and Betty White.
The video was made by Hellenext, one of our Global Greek Organisations, whose aims are to engage the next generation of Greek Americans and have them embrace the core values that their Greek Heritage represents - a respect for education, an entrepreneurial spirit and a striving for excellence!
The Greek American involvement in politics has always been particularly strong and in 1988 got the closest to the top of the political ladder, when Governor Michael Dukakis, the Democratic Party Presidential Nominee lost to George Bush.
The first Greek American who had ever got so close to the Presidency was Spiros Agnew,
who served as Richard Nixon's Vice President from 1969 to 1973, but had to resign because of criminal charges, otherwise he may well have become the first Greek American President when Nixon was impeached.
Recent US politics have seen an increase in the number of Greek Americans standing for office, something we welcome, but we would like to see more of them, as Greek issues become more and more complex, issues on which Greece needs as much support as possible.
For that reason, we thought we would help all those who would like to VOTE GREEK AMERICAN in tomorrow's elections, by listing them for you in this post.
We tried but didn't manage to find a central list of Greek American candidates (perhaps that is something which one of the Greek American Organisations such as AHEPA or AHI could put together, irrespective of party affiliations) but we are able to provide this list thanks to Andrew Kaffes of A.G. Kaffes and Associates in Washington.
If you want to read more about them, please click on the link to each candidate's website.
If you want to read more about them, please click on the link to each candidate's website.
It is worth noting that Gus Bilirakis, Zack Space, Dina Titus, Shelley Berkley, Niki Tsongas and Suzanne Kosmas are members of the Hellenic Caucus in Congress, while Gus Bilirakis is the Co-Chair and a very active proponent of Greek Issues such as the rebuilding of St Nicholas at Ground Zero and protection of religious sites and artefacts in Cyprus.
US House of Representatives
Incumbents
John Sarbanes (D-MD) Website http://www.johnsarbanes.com
*Niki Tsongas (D-MA) Website http://www.nikitsongas.com
and
*Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL) Website http://www.kosmasforcongress.com
who, although not Greek by blood, but via marriage, or osmosis, as Niki Tsongas says, carry their Greek surnames proudly, and are very much part of the “Greek American” delegation.
Candidates
Dean Scontras (R-ME) Website http://www.scontras2010.com
US Senate
Candidates
Alexi Giannoulias (D) IL Website http://www.alexiforillinois.com
Charlie Crist (I) FL Website http://www.charliecrist.com
We wish all our Greek American candidates, including all those running at local level, such as Mariyana Spyropoulos , Maria Pappas, and Frank Skartados, and regardless of party affiliation, the best of luck in tomorrow's elections and look forward to seeing them cooperate positively with, and support the Greek Government as much as they can at this difficult time in Greece's history!
Καλή Επιτυχία!!!P.S We had already posted our article when we found it, but we found the relevant post and brief bios of each candidate at USA Greek Reporter useful.
Let's be honest here. Lasagnia is a Hellenic creation. Look it up.Just as is Pizza and the bag pipes. We nowknow that ARchimedes invented the first computer, just before being stabbed in the back by a Roman. Had he lived... Hero of Alexandria not only invented the steam engine but mechanical devices that pre date slot machines and pin ball machines. Plus SO MUCH MORE. But these many many things were all from the brilliance of our ancestors. Other than Maria Menounos, what do we have today?
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