Image: Jared Rodriguez /T r u t h o u t;
Adapted: Wesley Fryer, Allie_Caulfield

A thought this Columbus Day Weekend 2014 in America:
Columbus Day “commemorates the landing of Columbus in the New World on October 12, 1492. It was unofficially celebrated in a number of cities and states as early as the 18th century but did not become a federal holiday until the 1937,” quoting History.com.
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“Time for the US to Dump the Word ‘Homeland'”
“It’s time to do away with the word “homeland.”

As the situation with ISIS continues to escalate, and as worries about terrorist attacks on US soil continue to spread, we’re hearing the term “homeland” mentioned more and more.

Ever since it first stole the spotlight with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in the months after 9/11, the term “homeland” has become ingrained in US society.

But, as Chris Matthews pointed out on his MSNBC show recently, there’s something strange and creepy about the term.

Matthews said that, ‘It’s a term used by the neocons, they love it. It suggests something strange to me. Like who else are we defending except America? Why don’t you just say ‘America’? … What are we talking about when we say ‘homeland’? What’s it about?'”

“First, it’s really not a new word at all.

In fact, it’s been around for a very long time and has a very dark history.”

“It’s time to retire this artifact of the Nazi era.

Let’s rename the Department of “Homeland” Security, and remove from the United States’ self-description this dark, strange and creepy term.”
By The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program | Op-Ed.
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