All this week I have been thinking about Christopher Columbus. It is like staring at a maggot enveloped animal carcass on the side of the road and trying to figure out what it used to be. Mostly I think about this man who was welcomed by the Taino people. A people he would owe his life to and by the same token take all of theirs. He was like a parasite. A foul intestinal worm sent from the stool of Europe who slivered his way into their lives and sucked them dry.
Then I started thinking about why the United States of America would choose this man to crown with a national holiday. The myriad answers that bubble to the surface of my mind are just as indigestibly foul as Columbus himself. The thoughts of "positive" reasons clink with that cheap plastic sound of the fake money I learned with as a kid. So if you haven't asked yourself before, Why does the USA choose to continue its recognition of this man officially? , you should.
If you don't like the answer you came up with sign a petition here...
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/end-columbus-day/r9J1rMMT
or find out some more about the man America celebrates. He is no myth, would that he were.
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