Nov 192011
Sometimes even the Daily Show can come up with a good bit. Below is a recent one featuring a good case being made for the Thanksgiving holiday being set aside in favor of a return to recognizing Evacuation Day (an actual though now-forgotten holiday celebrating the British evacuating New York after committing some rather horrific war crimes).
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-november-17-2011/happy-evacuation-day
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More Americans died at the hands of the British in prison ships anchored in the East river through starvation, disease and other effects of intentional neglect and murder than died in all the battles of the Revolutionary War *combined.*
2 Responses to “Happy Evacuation Day”
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Here in Boston (and the three other municipalities that make up Suffolk County, MA) we DO celebrate Evacuation Day, though ours commemorates the day in 1776 that the Redcoats left Boston for good. Not so coincidentally, the holiday was first given legal status after the influx of Irish immigrants in the 19th century tipped the political balance in the city in their favor away from the Protestant Yankees that had control previously, and was a backdoor way of paying homage to the Irish patron saint since the British had set sail (for New York, whose later abandonment led to the other Evacuation Day) on March 17th.
I do agree that Sarah Vowell made a good case for remembering the NYC evacuation (and I respectfully submit that the Daily Show comes up with “a good bit” at a rate that outstrips almost all news or comedy shows, while being both funny and informative).
> the Daily Show comes up with “a good bit” at a rate that outstrips almost all news or comedy shows
They do. However, they come up with some just plain wrong stuff at an equivalent rate, with the result being that it all cancels out.