My forwarded email rants for the night

I got two emails forwarded to me that just set me off. Both were political and had two of my biggest pet peeves in them.

The first one featured the line: If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading this in English, thank a solder"

Here is my reply:

The historian in me always gets hung up on this line:

“If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.  “

See, if you aim to make this statement jive with history, you’re going to need to thank the family of a British veteran of the French-Indian War. During that war, the French drove out of Quebec and started to take the northern British colonies. The British sent in the full Army and with support from the Colonial militia, held the French in check.

Now some little known facts from this war.

- George Washington suffered his first military setback after he attempted to hold a captured French fort only to have to surrender. It should be noted that Washington had a commission secured in the British Navy but his mother refused him from accepting it.

- The British sought to recoup the cost of the war by raising the taxes on the colonials who’s homes, businesses and persons were saved from becoming French. The ingrates claiming ‘no taxation without representation’ would attack their former protectors without wearing military uniforms and then fall back to mingle with the civilian population.

Keep in mind that the Iraqi government has collected an estimated $35 billion in oil revenues since last fall. In that same timeframe, the United States has paid $45 billion for reconstruction with $0 paid by the Iraqis themselves for the efforts.

 

Next was a question of a candidate's lack of wearing a flag pin (full disclosure, I support said candidate):

 

What is really up with #48? This one just gets me going.

I mean we have troops on two battlefields, we’re up to our necks in debit to China of all nations (yes, they have been buying up the debit bonds), oil is over $110 a barrel, the economy is tanking thanks in part to deregulation and greed but let’s vote for our next president based on if they wear a flag pin, or went to Muslim school, or was a POW or is a Woman?

How about let’s vote for the person who’s got the best plan to get us out of debit, start working to have an energy plan that is not oil based and get out of Iraq so we can go into Afghanistan to find the people who really did plan 9/11.

Better yet, how about being able to describe the person’s plan that you picked and why you think it’s the better plan.