runners-up for Top Ten DUmmies (primitives) of 2009

conservativecave ^ | December 19, 2009 | franksolich

[franksolich]

A very Merry Christmas to decent and civilized people all over the world, but stockings full of coal and sticks to the primitives who almost, but didn't quite, cut it in 2009.

The voting for TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009 didn't seem to go hardly the way I had predicted, but then and again, I've never had much success as a predictor, especially in elections.

When looking at the list of the nearly-wons among the primitives, one is reminded that in the 1700s in England (or perhaps it was during the 1800s in France), that an admiral (in England; or perhaps it was a general in France) was hanged for not doing a very good job.

There were others who had been similarly incompetent, and it was questioned why only one of them had been hanged, to which the response was that only one hanging was necessary so as to encourage the others to do better.

And so one reminds DUmmies 20-11 to try harder, for 2010.

[franksolich]

I hope this is of interest.

[UCANSEE2]

While ‘interesting’, I still don’t understand exactly what they are talking about.

[Chuckster]

He was British

Portrait of John Byng by Thomas Hudson, 1749

Admiral John Byng (29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757) was a Royal Navy officer. After joining the navy at the age of fourteen he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to Admiral.

Byng is best known for the loss of Minorca in 1756 at the beginning of the Seven Years' War. He was court-martialled and executed for failing to "do his utmost" to prevent Minorca falling to the French following the Battle of Minorca,

From Wikipedia

[Chuckster]

Oh, and he was shot, not hanged. So much bad history on the internet d;^)