Booty: Embarassed By History

Let us imagine, on the Friday of Independence Day weekend here in my country, that something quite horrific happened in Boston Harbor a few months ago. Let us also imagine that the something in question was caused by the combined errors of a British multi-million dollar company and the U.S. Federal Government. For the final twist to our fiction, imagine the Boston Board of Tourism putting out a poster with the famous picture above faithfully reproduced upon it. The caption superimposed thereon reading:

This Isn't The First Time Boston Has Survived The British

Would anyone, I wonder, even bat an eye? Would Americans themselves have called it offensive and demanded that Boston Tourism pull their heads out of their collective ass and pull the add campaign as well? Or would there be hearty chuckles about tea parties and freedom and "What would John Adams have said?"

My personal guess is the latter, because the U.S. loves her Revolution dearly and will gleefully wipe Britain's face with it even coming up on two hundred and fifty years later.

Now, change the picture, switch to the War of 1812 and drive on down to New Orleans:
NOLA tourism pulled this add due to extreme pressure not from Britain, but from the U.S. in her many permutations. For some reason I cannot understand, my country would just as soon forget our second War for Independence as learn from it and remember those who fought and died. The Battle of New Orleans in particular gets short changed due - I personally believe - in large part to the cultural mixed bag of men and women who stood on the earthworks at Rodriguez Canal and preserved the infant U.S. My ancestors included.

Would the campaign have fared better if the picture had been of FEMA trailers and the caption had read:

This Isn't The First Time New Orleans Has Survived The Federal Government

Either one, after all, would be perfectly accurate.

The Boston Massacre via Boston Tourism Guide; New Orleans Poster via Blog of New Orleans