https://x.com/thesovereignceo/status/2093534577717371056?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
The left LOVES renaming and redefining things. Changing Lake Ontario to “Lake America” is stupid. I agree. But I don’t want to hear a peep about the sacred importance of keeping names and language unchanged from people who have spent years participating in: • “Latinx” replacing Latino/Latina • “Pregnant people” and “birthing people” replacing pregnant women and mothers • “Chestfeeding” instead of breastfeeding • “Menstruators” and “people who menstruate” instead of women • “Trans women are women” • She/them/their/ze/zir/they and the endless expansion of pronouns • “Unhoused” instead of homeless • “Undocumented person” instead of illegal immigrant • “Justice-involved person” instead of offender • “Incarcerated person” instead of prisoner/inmate • “Sex worker” instead of prostitute • Redefining “equity” as something fundamentally different from equality • “Equity-deserving groups” and “equity-seeking groups” • “Racialized” instead of racial minority/non-white • “Global majority” instead of minority • “Person with a uterus” • “Primary bedroom” instead of master bedroom • “Blocklist/allowlist” instead of blacklist/whitelist • Renaming schools, streets, buildings, awards and sports teams • Changing geographic names deemed colonial or offensive • Changing public signage because the existing language is deemed outdated, offensive or insufficiently inclusive • Knocking down, removing or relocating historical statues and monuments • Changing street signs and place names because contemporary politics no longer approves of the person or history they represent You don’t get to spend a decade arguing that language, definitions, monuments, signage and historical names must change with the politics of the day — and then suddenly discover the sacred importance of preserving historical names when someone you don’t like picks up the Sharpie. Either renaming things for political and ideological reasons is stupid, or it isn’t.
Pick a principle.
I 100% agree that renaming Lake Ontario is stupid. The Canadian province was named after the lake, not the other way around, and there is simply no reason to change the name. Yet, the point stands, the left re names crap regularly for equally stupid reasons. How about we just stop re naming things.
23 comments:
A great piece. The left has been renaming and redefining for decades, if not longer. Definitions can change organically over time. We can find articles speaking to how some words we use today were used very differently in the past. We can see legitimate or rational changes in names in the past as well. These things both happen. But the left imposes changes to reflect their ideological agenda goals, not because there's a legitimate reason for the renaming and redefining.
I don't think Trump's penchant for renaming things like bodies of water is particularly necessary, but I don't think it's at all stupid. He's clearly making a point and the point is not without merit. It's part of his "mission" to restore the notion of American exceptionalism...which is what "MAGA" is all about. If the image of our nation had not been so despoiled by enemies foreign and domestic, if the regard for our nation had not unjustly diminished, I doubt he'd seek to rename anything (except maybe the Kennedy Center).
Trump just likes trolling the LEFT, which is why the rename. Childishness.
I enjoy the hell out of it!
I agree that Trump is childishly trolling both Canada and the ASPL for some unknown reason. This is even stupider than the gulf.
Yet, even given that, he’s got a very long way to go before his renaming things catches up.
I just saw an FB post from Robert Gagnon wherein it was confirmed there was at one time a map from the 1600s which named the lake "Lake America" (in French). Two separate articles confirmed that was the case, though one of them suggested at that time its name was dependent upon which people were referencing it. At that time, it had several names, of which "Ontario" and "America" were but two.
I thought it was rather humorous given the outcry by the Trump-haters. Perhaps this bit of history was brought to his attention prior to his choosing to "re-name" it. I'd doubt it, but it's possible. For me, it's enough it made heads explode.
"This is even stupider than the gulf."
Actually no. Indeed the Gulf wasn't "stupid" at all. Our nation isn't "America", though we often refer to it as such. Our nation...as you well know...is
The United States of America. We are a part of the continent of North America, which you know as well, as is Mexico. Naming it the Gulf of America isn't the least bit illogical, and I'd argue we're more entitled to be associated with it than either Mexico or the communist Cuba.
All in all, I'm proud of our president for caring enough about our status in the world that he'd do even something as trivial as this to promote our exceptionalism.
Art shared on FB the the original name for the lake WAS Lake America!
Based on the research I’ve done, I’ve seen no evidence of that being the case. Yet, the simple facts remain.
The plovince was named after the lake, not the other way around.
The US/Canada border runs through the lake, under what provision can a US president rename non US territory? Do borders matter, or do they not?
Regardless, it’s stupid and childish, just like the rest of the renaming of stuff.
Well, if it’s on Facebook…
Then Gulf of The Americas, might have been more appropriate.
Again, what authority does a US president have to rename non US territory?
Why not rename Mexico then?
The documentation was confirmed.
Hey! Be careful! It's not the platform, right? Like X or Instagram? It's whether or not the report can be verified.
When I post from Twitter or IG, I do so for several reasons.
1. Because the post contains video or other media that I cannot post otherwise, or that there is context in the original post.
2. Because I find the Twitter or IG post to be amusing, interesting, or unique in how it addresses an issue.
3. Because posting and attributing the work and research of others, is easier and usually better than trying to recreate their context after doing my own research and restating what has been said.
4. I often do not post things from social media because I cannot verify the accuracy of the information, or because it has been fact checked as false.
5. Posting a link from Twitter, IG, or FB and commenting on it (while allowing others to check the details themselves) isn't the same as simply saying that XYZ on FB said it so it must be True.
6. The point of the post remains valid, the huge trend of renaming things is almost always stupid no matter who does it. I'll grant that, in some cases, going back to the (as best it can be determined) the oldest common name can be a good thing.
I've spent days trying to find any sources that back up this claim and haven't been able to do so. The "original" name for the lake was almost certainly bestowed by one or more of the indigenous tribes which lived in the area and was almost certainly not "Lake America".
Likewise, I'm waiting for an example of Trump's legal authority to rename territory which is not part of the US.
Well, if it was "confirmed" then it must be True. We could go down a list of things that were "confirmed" which have been demonstrated to have been confirmed in error.
I'll note that you haven't provided any primary source material for this conformation, nor have you provided the legal justification for renaming territory which is not US territory by a US president?
What was the quote often credited to Lincoln I believe) about dogs having 5 legs?
What's next on the renaming list from Trump? MN, KS, MO, AL, AK, AR, CT, HI, IL, IA, KY, MA, MI, MS, NE, N/S Dakota, OH, OK, TE, TX, UT, WI, WY
How far does this practice go? Lake Superior's name is derived from an English adaptation of both French and Native terms which carry the same meaning. Erie, and Michigan are also derived from native names for those lakes. Obviously the Mississippi, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Ohio, Connecticut, Merrimack, Potomac, and Chesapeake are all up for renaming as well, right?
I get it, Lewis and Clark (among others) gave names to everything they saw, most of which were intended to make the people they named them after proud or to curry favor with those in power. Yet, how many of those natural features had names that predated the Corps of Discovery by decades?
My point remains. This re naming of stuff for political reasons is stupid at this point in history. Especially since Trump's purported reason (Lake Ontario was named after the province) is wrong. If y'all complained when the DFL did it, I fail to see how you can cheer Trump. Finally, what gives any US president to re name territory which is not part of or controlled by the US?
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BpAAqC9De/
Whoops.
Gagnon seems to agree with me on this issue, and posted the same Maher clip I did to make the same point I'm making.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DBAn1ZQMT/
I agree with Gagnon on lots of things, as I agree with Trump on lots of things, yet the fact that I don't agree on this is the one that gets y'all all riled up?
7. I post stuff from other sources because there are a lot of people who communicate better than I do, and I see no reason to try to recreate someone else's work when I can link to it, give them the credit, and make comments if appropriate.
My point of the original name being Lake America being history, was just to rebut the horrid thing that Trump did. Someone renamed it Lake Ontario. As for confirmation, the article posted carried the information from history. A lot of FB are factual information and a lot of what I follow are historical site teaching history. And they rarely share things I don't already know from reading hundreds of books on history.
Responding to your "Whoops," It still show that the title did exist at some point. And that is the humorous part of wanting to name it now. Although I think the renaming by Trump is just a childish troll.
Based on what I saw from Art's source, Gagnon, he acknowledged that the picture he posted was AI, with the actual map also n the thread.
I'll repeat, it is virtually impossible that the "original" name was "Lac America" and almost certain that it had at least one or two other names before 1620.
I agree that to take Dan and (apparently Art's) approach to dismiss anything from social media as having little worth is foolish, yet to merely cite "I saw it on FB" as your source is equally foolish. I wouldn't say that "a lot" of social media is actually accurate history, but I get your point. Without links though, it is hard to asses.
The very fact that I haven't been able to find one historical reference to the "Lake America" name seems strange if it was really called that at one point. As Art pointed out (although it doesn't really help his argument) America is a name that encompasses virtually the entire land mass of the Western Hemisphere so Trump's use of the name as a substitute for the US is kind of stupid anyway.
I agree. My "Whoops" is about Gagnon (Art's source) seeming to have changed his tune. I could not find the post that Art apparently was referring to after an extensive search of his FB page.
But, childish trolling doesn't seem like the most pressing need in the US right now. Especially as Trump seems to lack the authority to re name non US territory. Unless borders don't matter any more.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10236592319012589&set=a.10213207242880301
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