Happy Participation Trophy Day

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

A little bit early, but I figured I'd send it out now.

Columbus Day, 2025

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Today our Nation honors the legendary Christopher Columbus -- the original American hero,

www.whitehouse.gov

 

[Spacetime Inhabitant]

A little bit early, but I figured I'd send it out now.

Columbus Day, 2025

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Today our Nation honors the legendary Christopher Columbus -- the original American hero,

www.whitehouse.gov

So Trump believes the Bahamas are part of Asia. The way he made this proclamation he makes it sound like Columbus Day wasn't already an established US holiday, but that he created it.

 

[Terrell]

Yeah, the Native Americans might want to say something about who discovered America. Even if you don't want to count indigenous people there's this Leif Erikson fellow who beat Colombus by nearly 500 years.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

He later ventured onward to Cuba and other islands in the Caribbean — exploring their coasts and engaging with their people....

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. ...

He was just "engaging with their people." Critics are trying to "erase our history."

 

[Gospel]

Columbus described them as “friendly and generous locals.” I guess that’s the kind of behavior that makes American Hero's think, “We should enslave them".

 

[Derec]

So Trump believes the Bahamas are part of Asia.

How?

Just over 2 months later, on October 12, 1492, Columbus made landfall in the modern-day Bahamas. Upon his arrival, he planted a majestic cross in a mighty act of devotion, dedicating the land to God and setting in motion America’s proud birthright of faith. Though he initially believed he had arrived in Asia, his discovery opened the vast frontier and untold splendors of the New World to Europe. He later ventured onward to Cuba and other islands in the Caribbean — exploring their coasts and engaging with their people.

Reading comprehension fail.

 

[Derec]

Yeah, the Native Americans might want to say something about who discovered America. Even if you don't want to count indigenous people there's this Leif Erikson fellow who beat Colombus by nearly 500 years.

While both the ancient hunter-gatherers who crossed the land bridge across the modern-day Bering Strait, and the Vikings who made some temporary settlements in Vinland can be credited as discovering America as well, all three are legitimate discoveries as Erikson and Columbus did not know of the discoveries before them. I also think the Columbian discovery is very different than the other two, as I will explain below.

The ancient Siberian hunter-gatherers (the very fact that they discovered and settled the Americas belies the claims of them being "indigenous" in any ontological sense) were isolated from other groups of humans, and thus their discovery remained unknown.
Not that they knew that they discovered a brand new continent, as they did not have a concept of continents. They just walked in search of living space and food sources.
The Vikings probably did not realize they discovered a new continent either, and they neither stuck around nor publicized their discovery.

But when Columbus made landfall, it quickly became known throughout Afro-Eurasia, and precipitated settlement and trade - also known as Columbian Exchange - that fundamentally changed both parts of the world, for both good and ill.

Can you imagine Italian cooking without tomatoes?

Or Thai cuisine without hot chili peppers? And on the other side, Americas gained domestic animals like chickens, pigs and cows as well as plants like wheat, rice, onion, garlic and coriander - the last three going great with peppers, tomatoes and avocadoes in salsas and guac.

Leif Erikson did not accomplish that, and ancient hunter-gatherers came well before domestic plants and animals were bred on either side of the World. That is reason enough to recognize his discovery, even if it also led to negative consequences like the spread of diseases like smallpox and syphilis as well as things like the transatlantic slave (although Arab slave trade flourished both before and after the transatlantic version).

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

...

Just over 2 months later, on October 12, 1492, Columbus made landfall in the modern-day Bahamas.

...

Next you're going to tell us that Columbus wasn't a time traveler.

 

[Derec]

Next you're going to tell us that Columbus wasn't a time traveler.

Huh? "Modern-day x" is a phrase used when the writer/speaker uses the modern name of a territory to acknowledge that it was not known by that name in those days.
For example, BBC does not believe that Constantine the Great was a time traveler either.

I'm opposed to Trump as much as anybody here, but some of you are really grasping at straws to make him look bad.

 

[Terrell]

Yeah, the Native Americans might want to say something about who discovered America. Even if you don't want to count indigenous people there's this Leif Erikson fellow who beat Colombus by nearly 500 years.

While both the ancient hunter-gatherers who crossed the land bridge across the modern-day Bering Strait, and the Vikings who made some temporary settlements in Vinland can be credited as discovering America as well, all three are legitimate discoveries as Erikson and Columbus did not know of the discoveries before them. I also think the Columbian discovery is very different than the other two, as I will explain below.

The ancient Siberian hunter-gatherers (the very fact that they discovered and settled the Americas belies the claims of them being "indigenous" in any ontological sense) were isolated from other groups of humans, and thus their discovery remained unknown.
Not that they knew that they discovered a brand new continent, as they did not have a concept of continents. They just walked in search of living space and food sources.
The Vikings probably did not realize they discovered a new continent either, and they neither stuck around nor publicized their discovery.

But when Columbus made landfall, it quickly became known throughout Afro-Eurasia, and precipitated settlement and trade - also known as Columbian Exchange - that fundamentally changed both parts of the world, for both good and ill.

Can you imagine Italian cooking without tomatoes?

Or Thai cuisine without hot chili peppers? And on the other side, Americas gained domestic animals like chickens, pigs and cows as well as plants like wheat, rice, onion, garlic and coriander - the last three going great with peppers, tomatoes and avocadoes in salsas and guac.

Leif Erikson did not accomplish that, and ancient hunter-gatherers came well before domestic plants and animals were bred on either side of the World. That is reason enough to recognize his discovery, even if it also led to negative consequences like the spread of diseases like smallpox and syphilis as well as things like the transatlantic slave (although Arab slave trade flourished both before and after the transatlantic version).

It really doesn't matter whether or not Erikson shared what he found he still found it before Columbus. The point is that if you're not the first to find something, then you're not the discoverer.