Yesterday the City of Anaheim’s social media page wished us a Happy Indigenous People’s Day, mainly in the context of telling us there’ll still be street sweeping (but not tickets. THAT irritates me – when people know they won’t be getting street sweeping tickets, most of ’em don’t bother moving, and our street sweeper wastes gas and man-hours driving everywhere but mostly not getting any sweeping done, might as well not bother.)

But I digress already. The thing is, at least ten Anaheim residents shot back that it’s COLUMBUS DAY DAMMIT, and not to be “woke” and “wimpy” and “politically correct” and “DEI”, and even making a point to express their support for ICE raids. Isn’t that a kick in the pants, the same assholes who cheer on Trump’s violent unconstitutional mass deportations also worship at the altar of the Original Illegal Alien from Italy, Christopher Columbus? Just goes to show, if it still needed showing, that it’s got nothing to do with crime or border security, IT’S ALL RACISM.

As a man on the move, a man about town, with a hectic go-go schedule, I simply wrote: “I’m with the city here! Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! ICE out of Anaheim! And sweep them streets! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” But our old friend Cynthia Ward, who can’t help but exude both poetry and history, went much farther:

Folks are welcome to celebrate the life of a complete loser, that’s the beauty of America. Y’all get to fly any flag, sing any song, honor any individual you choose. Have at it. But don’t insist that the rest of us comply. I don’t honor rapists, murderers, and failures, no matter what some folks want to call the day.

Columbus failed by every possible measure.

His financial sponsors sent him to Asia, but he failed.

Although credited with “discovering America,” he never set foot on the North American mainland, sailing no further north than Havana. So why would I celebrate someone without connections to our continent?

He was tasked with returning with gold to repay his investors. Failing in this goal, he forced indigenous people to return to Europe as slaves, while those remaining on the islands where he was “governor” were so badly abused and overworked that within one generation the Arawak/Taino nation was wiped out in a genocide.

Columbus failed as a human being, showing himself to be so unspeakably cruel that he was imprisoned by his own crew, and his 3rd return to Spain was in chains to answer for his heartless abuse. While he gained his freedom, his titles and honors were stripped from him, and only shortly before his death did he finally receive just enough monetary reward to escape dying in poverty.

I prefer to honor the Indigenous People we know for a fact existed here, and actually “discovered” North America, unlike the failure of Christopher Columbus. But then I have never felt intimidated or infuriated at honoring people who are not white.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the day, no matter what you want to call it, and remember to move our cars so the street sweepers can keep Anaheim looking as nice as possible, for all of us.

************

Not to mention, MY ancestor Leif Erikson discovered the continent for Europeans 500 years before Columbus, and he managed not to kill, enslave, sicken, rape and impoverish great masses of people, or anybody for that matter.

***********************

So, why do YOU think Trump lovers also think the world of Christopher Columbus? This IS an open thread, so your thoughts are welcome. There are the obvious answers:

1. They love anything that they think (rightly or wrongly) us liberals and normal people hate, or that might make us uncomfortable – “OWNING THE LIBS” they call it. They’ll do ANYTHING that they think’ll piss us off – where would they be without us? (I’ve noticed that they recently even started posting random Bible verses apropos of nothing – Like that’s supposed to bug us? Us many of whom know the Bible better than them? Whatever! Two Corinthians.)

2. Relatedly they’re triggered by whatever’s not exactly as they remember it as a kid. They fear change, and want to “make America GREAT again,” meaning erasing any sort of progress since the 1950’s. And nobody questioned the heroism and perfection of Columbus back then.

3. And in fact Columbus does have a lot in common with their Orange-y God. Not that Trump would have ever had the guts to sail across an unknown ocean, but he sure would have stolen everything and everyone once he got there, feeling entitled to it all because might makes right, and LOOK I’m white! And these MAGAts salivate over that greed and cruelty, calling it “strength.”

4. But also, more PROXIMATE, Trump did just issue some big stupid Columbus proclamation:

Today our Nation honors the legendary Christopher Columbus — the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth. [gag] This Columbus Day, we honor his life with reverence and gratitude, and we pledge to reclaim his extraordinary legacy of faith, courage, perseverance, and virtue from the left-wing arsonists who have sought to destroy his name and dishonor his memory…

Guided by steadfast prayer and unwavering fortitude and resolve, Columbus’s journey carried thousands of years of wisdom, philosophy, reason, and culture across the Atlantic into the Americas — paving the way for the ultimate triumph of Western civilization less than three centuries later on July 4, 1776…

Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage.  Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces.  Under my leadership, those days are finally over — and our Nation will now abide by a simple truth:  Christopher Columbus was a true American hero…

Yeah fuck you Stephen Miller or whatever White Supremacist functionary wrote all that. Here in Anaheim we celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day today, and I’ll have a lot of pictures in a bit that I’ll add here. This Saturday is NO KINGS DAY. And the assertion and celebration of our indigenous cultures is an essential part of BEING THE INSURRECTION against MAGA fascism.

Open Thread