I was always fond of Mark Twains idea for a more accurate American flag.....
"And as for the flag for the Philippine Province, it is easily arranged. We can have a special one - our States do it: we can have just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones".
"We have pacified some thousands of the islanders and buried them; destroyed their fields; burned their villages, and turned their widows and orphans out-of-doors; furnished heartbreak by exile to some dozens of disagreeable patriots; subjugated the remaining ten millions by Benevolent Assimilation, which is the pious new name of the musket; we have acquired property in the three hundred concubines and other slaves of our business partner Sultan of Sulu, and hoisted our protecting flag over that swag. And so, by the Providences of God – and the phrase is the government's, not mine – we are a World Power. Mark Twain on the March 8, 1906 Moro massacre of 600 natives."
If your not familiar with this little nugget of US history you should go to the WilsonsAlmanac link and read it all... I still read here every day...thanks again for your work.
Thanks, Dusty. I am not surprised by your link... saddened but not surprised. We've been such assholes around the world for such a long time, haven't we?
Thank god for Mark Twain then and Jon Stewart now. Our comedians are the only ones who seem to be able to tell the truth.
Actually, some sites list an extended version of the quote: "There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people for a purpose which is unattainable."
Sigh. I miss Zinn a lot. If you haven't read A People's History..., by all means do so. I won't promise it's an easy read; it isn't. But every American needs to confront those things face-on. His collection of essays, The Bomb, is also worthwhile. I haven't quite worked up the strength to take on the book of sources for A People's History; it's very complete and a bit formidable. :-)
8 comments:
Tell that to Scalia. Or the Georgia State Board Of Corrections.
Yes. Lord help us all...
I was always fond of Mark Twains idea for a more accurate American flag.....
"And as for the flag for the Philippine Province, it is easily arranged. We can have a special one - our States do it: we can have just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones".
http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/blog/2008/04/mark-twains-flag-for-american-colony-in.html
He was pissed because he had heard about this...
"We have pacified some thousands of the islanders and buried them; destroyed their fields; burned their villages, and turned their widows and orphans out-of-doors; furnished heartbreak by exile to some dozens of disagreeable patriots; subjugated the remaining ten millions by Benevolent Assimilation, which is the pious new name of the musket; we have acquired property in the three hundred concubines and other slaves of our business partner Sultan of Sulu, and hoisted our protecting flag over that swag. And so, by the Providences of God – and the phrase is the government's, not mine – we are a World Power.
Mark Twain on the March 8, 1906 Moro massacre of 600 natives."
http://wilsonsalmanac.blogspot.com/2010/03/mark-twain-furious-at-us-massacre-of.html
If your not familiar with this little nugget of US history you should go to the WilsonsAlmanac link and read it all...
I still read here every day...thanks again for your work.
Thanks, Dusty. I am not surprised by your link... saddened but not surprised. We've been such assholes around the world for such a long time, haven't we?
Thank god for Mark Twain then and Jon Stewart now. Our comedians are the only ones who seem to be able to tell the truth.
The quote is from the late lamented historian Howard Zinn. Now THERE was a great American.
Actually, some sites list an extended version of the quote: "There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people for a purpose which is unattainable."
Sigh. I miss Zinn a lot. If you haven't read A People's History..., by all means do so. I won't promise it's an easy read; it isn't. But every American needs to confront those things face-on. His collection of essays, The Bomb, is also worthwhile. I haven't quite worked up the strength to take on the book of sources for A People's History; it's very complete and a bit formidable. :-)
Thanks. It is going on my list.
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