Posted on 10/11/2010 7:37:34 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
For at least the past 30 years, the Left has slammed Christopher Columbus like clockwork on or around Columbus Day so much that it has already become a tiresome cliché. The DUmmies have followed this tradition this year as could be expected. Hey, DUmmies! There is absolutely nothing original about slamming Columbus around Columbus Day but that hasn't stopped the DUmmies as you can see in this THREAD, "Why do we still celebrate Columbus day?" YAWN! So let us now watch the DUmmies recycle the same old hackneyed slams against Columbus in Bolshevik Red while the commentary of your humble correspondent, noting that his cousin attended Christopher Columbus High School until he was forced out due to its change to Fort Apache, is in the [brackets]:
Why do we still celebrate Columbus day?
[Stand by for yet more completely UNORIGINAL leftwing slams on Christopher Columbus.]
Columbus was not the first to discover America. Everything about this legend is wrong. You can't discover something that was already there and already occupied by people. The Vikings were apparently there first, maybe even some Chinese folks, but it's been proven long ago that Columbus was not the first. Yet tomorrow is a federal holiday, no mail delivery, and a day off for millions of Americans.
[And a day off for the DUmmies...but then every day is a day off for them.]
Hell, Chris was looking for a route to China for gold when he stopped off in the Bahamas, and he left disaster in his wake for the local inhabitants, and we know the rest of the awful truth, yet we still teach this bullshit fable to our kids.
[And this DUmmie gets an "F" for originality.]
Come on America, face it, we need to drop the fables and get real about history.
[Real history like how the Aztecs were cutting the living hearts out of their captives in Mexico? Oops! We need to overlook such inconvenient historical truths. But for those interested, here is an absolutely brilliant ARTICLE on this topic. The author must be a genius.]
I believe there were people here a long time ago. Before the Vikings, before even the Chinese.
[Latvians?]
Exactly, so the whole Columbus fairy tale is silly
[Yeah, an absolute myth. His ships never went farther than Barcelona.]
Ask the Navajos and Apaches who discovered America
[The Hopi Elders?]
Because the Italian-American community holds onto this tradition. I should say first that I don't know what it's like in places where there are no Italians, Italian-Americans, or where the old world traditions are dead:
[You must not have been to Wolf Point, Montana. I've been there and, believe me, no Italian for at least a hundred miles.]
As a people who also experienced prejudice, I can't for the life of me understand why Italians can't empathize with native americans, and shift to another day for their cultural celebrations. Its not like there aren't plenty of Italian TRUE heroes they could choose!
[How about Iron Eyes Cody? Ironically, despite playing many Indian roles in the movies and passing himself off as an authentic Indian, he was really a full-blooded Italian.]
In any case, I am very fortunate to live in a part of the country where we recognize tomorrow as Indigenous Peoples Day, and that is what my son will grow up with.
[So you live in Berkeley, CA?]
Some even have the theory that Columbus was not Italian
[Latvian?]
he was a plague bacillus that's only thing the pervert did- his crew were dripping with dis ease.
[This from a DUmmie with the drips.]
Columbus was an idiot who got lost
[If only he had taken a right at the Sargasso Sea, he would have found China.]
And his idiocy lives on today. Not just with Columbus Day, but the fact that the indigenous people of this continent are still called "Indians", because Chris the idiot didn't know where he was.
[I once wanted to be PC and called an Indian a "Native American. He got pissed and told me that Indians ALWAYS referred to each other as Indians.]
The term 'Indians' for native peoples is somewhat offensive at the least
[Except to the Indians themselves. What they really hate is the PC term, "Native Americans."]
It's best to ask them what they personally prefer. Most I know personally prefer Indian.
[BINGO! The truth is out. I learned this at Friendship, Indiana one summer. They had an Indian craft festival there and if you looked carefully most of the "Indian crafts" were made in China. Plus the "Indians" didn't look a bit Indian...except for one guy who really was Indian. He was making some leather crafts so I carefully commented to him in a PC way that it was great to finally see some authentic "Native American" crafts at the festival. He stopped what he was doing, gave me a dirty look, and said, "We NEVER use that term. We call ourselves INDIANS." Since that day, I have complied and call them what they want to be called...Indians.]
More importantly, why DON'T we celebrate Leif Eriksson Day?
[A DUmmie wants to turn over a new Leif.]
I believe his original Old Norse name was Leifur Eriksson, pronounced "LAY-voor"
[I got it! First monday of September we have a holiday honoring him. LAY-voor Day.]
Chris accidently found this continent while looking for China, so I'm not sure what we should call Oct. 11th.
[The Day Before Columbus Day?]
Many theorize that syphilis mutated from yaws, a disease prevalent in Europe.
[After hearing about Monica Lewinsky, I have theorized that it mutated from jaws.]
because the Italians have a stronger lobby than the Scandinavians! I guess cement shoes are scarier than Lutefisk.
[I dunno, I've heard some scary things about Lutefisk.]
The Italian lobby in the US has consistently opposed formal recognition of any pre-Columbian contact between Europe and America.
[Take that, Latvians!]
I always call Indians Indians because of the term’s historical context. Everyone knows they are not from India.
Hmmm, you may be right but never heard of that. So Columbus did not think he'd reached India when he made landfall?
Okay, I cannot find the specific book right now. In my years in university, I heard both versions with proof for both accounts. Since we were not alive at the time, who knows which version is correct.
Oh, he thought he reached some islands off the coast of India alright, but there is some dispute as to whether “Indian” in the American sense came from the Spanish word for the Indies or whether it came from a corruption of “Pueblo en Dios”.
Well, one reason to celebrate Columbus Day is because without the explorers, we’d still be subjects in Europe. OK, if it wasn’t for Columbus, it could have been somebody else who opened up the New World around 1500 or so, but in our timeline and history, it is Christopher Columbus. We have too many dolts in the world.
I’d love it if it were true. It makes sense when you hear it. But in all my years of speaking Spanish I never put that together. I’d be interested in seeing it if you locate the book. Thanks.
EXTRA! EXTRA!!! NUTBAG COMMIE CONGRESSMAN ALAN GRAYSON SIGNS UP AND POSTS AT THE DUmp AND BEGS FOR MONEY!!!
This could be good!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9299138
I’ll continue to look for it. It sticks in my mind because I had learned from kindergarten on to high school that American Indians were called “Indians” because the word was derived from the Spanish word for the Indies. Then, I get to university and hear an alternate version.
Here we go:
First of off, the supposed phrase is “una gente en Dios” (my mistake for a not remembering it correctly). Secondly, skimming through Columbus’ diaries for the period, I see no mention of this phrase. So, this particular word origin theory appears highly suspect to me and likely wrong.
Bummer. It sounded good—very plausible.
I remember reading some of Columbus’ diaries back when I was in college. Does he call them Indios right from the start? Or does he use some other term?
I recall that he made first reference to the land and references to the inhabitants of the islands came a bit later.
Well, that is why we come here - to have fun and learn.
According to the Straight Dope, they were using the term Indie from the get-go:
Columbus carried with him a passport from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, written in Latin and dispatching him “toward the regions of India” (ab partes Indie) on their behalf.
... The original manuscript has not survived, but a printed copy made shortly after its receipt has. In the first paragraph Columbus says “In 33 days I passed from the Canary Islands to the Indies” (en 33 días pasé de las islas de Canaria a las Indias). His first reference to the inhabitants comes in the second paragraph: “To the first [island] which I found I gave the name San Salvador . . . the Indians call it Guanahaní” (A la primera que yo hallé puse nombre San Salvador . . . los Indios la llaman Guanahaní). In all he makes six references to India or the Indies, and four to Indios. Nowhere in the letter does he use a phrase resembling una gente in Dios.
It seems this “una gente en Dios” is sometimes taught in Indian schools, to boost tribal identity and pride. “We’re not called Indians by mistake. We’re called that because our people were so good and godlike.” Something along those lines, I imagine.
Thanks. I recall his description of the land coming first, but I did not know about the passport. Good to know.
The Indians I know would prefer to be called a playoff team, but it hasn’t worked out that way lately....
The DUmmies are just $10 away from Democrats retaing control of the House!
[Except to the Indians themselves. What they really hate is the PC term, "Native Americans."]
That is one thing for sure, they hate being referred to as Native Americans. FWIW, DUmmies have very small minds to worry about stuff like this on a regular basis.
Then you're not making it right. I haven't made any in years, but done right, it's delish.
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