Sally Hemmings’s University of Virginia

Haha! This story is great. These guys were on here a month or so ago with some other funny story about William Tell. Very funny stuff.

This load of nonsense gets persisted through sites like this. Though funny, it is completely unlikely including the hilarious photoshop job on the page. The Onion for history.

Hahaha! I love the part in the story about the rotunda at the university. I’m gonna go back to read it again.

Dang, Mother Hubbard! Simmer down a bit. The story is just for the fun of it. They’ve even got a page that says it’s all fake. Get a sense of humor.

@Ted, re: today’s generation: I’m thinking if the name of the blog doesn’t tip you off, a bit of historical misinformation may be the least of your problems.

@ted I’m gonna hop in here for violet.

The correct question isn’t, “Do you take the time…” The correct question is, “Shouldn’t you take the time?” If you’re a student, like Violet said, a bit of misinformation is the least of your problems.

Ted, I don’t think it’s condescending to make the case that people need to pay more attention. And if it is, I guess that’s okay with me. You seem to argue for the idea that it’s alright for people to not inquire, not have their bullshit detectors on, etc., and that satirists and their ilk should cater to that incuriosity instead of challenge it or ignore it.

I think that sounds like protecting ignorance, and I don’t think there’s anything valuable about that.

And with regard to “rewriting history,” well, that’s not what satire is. It is not an attempt to corrupt actual history for advantage, but a tool (in theory) for pointing out things like hypocrisy or simple absurdity (and sometimes just for fun, which is perfectly legit). It can be funny because of its very distance from reality–the humor is in the contrast between the two.

And if occasionally satire is lost on people, well, I don’t think that’s an argument for getting rid of satire; I think it’s an argument for becoming more aware.