GOD bless America

**Straight up** · 03-02-2008, 04:29 PM

Subject: A Message from John Cleese to the Citizens of the United States of America

In light of your failure to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately ...

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix -ize will be replaced by the suffix -ise.

Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize. You will relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent.

Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

8. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.

Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

9. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline)-roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager.

South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting Nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Commonwealth - see what it did for them.

12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters.

Watching Andie McDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try Rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; strawberries in season.

God save the Queen!

John Cleese

**ScottS** · 03-02-2008, 04:31 PM

This is a snope

http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/revocation.asp

**Bflobill 1125** · 03-02-2008, 04:33 PM

FUNNY STUFF! Take care

**hoselayer** · 03-02-2008, 04:33 PM

Let her come and try to change it .........again.

**Doc4** · 03-02-2008, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by hoselayer

Let her come and try to change it .........again.

"Don't mention the war. I did once, but I think I got away with it."

**SobBill2** · 03-02-2008, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by Doc4

"Don't mention the war. I did once, but I think I got away with it."

I actually got to say that when my ex had Korean students over for lunch!

**BroJohn** · 03-02-2008, 05:06 PM

Oh, this is funny.

Except for #11, which make good sense.

I think "Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II" is gonna have as much fun with this as Old Mad George did in the 1770's. I wish her good luck, in a somewhat perverse way.

TTFN.

-- John Gehman

**SlyGI** · 03-02-2008, 05:33 PM

That is GREAT!!!

I love #11. The Brits have GREAT Beer.

**castlecraver** · 03-02-2008, 05:41 PM

At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.

I'll take that one right now, please.

**rm71** · 03-02-2008, 05:42 PM

Gold.
Except #7. Wouldn't touch a British car with a 10 foot pole.

**theperfectstorm** · 03-02-2008, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Doc4

"Don't mention the war. I did once, but I think I got away with it."

Damn it, I was going for that one.

+1

**Texican** · 03-02-2008, 06:01 PM

Spoken by an Anglophile and someone who believes the United States should join the Commonwealth and be with the other English-speaking brethren, all I have to say is...

God Save the Queen.

**krawlx** · 03-02-2008, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by Straight up

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

This is one I've been wrestling with myself (not in usage, but in acceptability.) I cut these two words out of daily usage in high school, however shouldn't language be allowed to change? A recent William Safire column also noted a split, but many lexicographers are not opposed to the use of like in non-traditional ways. Of course, I'm guessing they were American!

**rabidpotatochip** · 03-02-2008, 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by rm71

Gold.
Except #7. Wouldn't touch a British car with a 10 foot pole.

Yeah, you'd be using a 3.048 meter pole.

**Walravine** · 03-02-2008, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by Straight up

11.The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager.

I have no problem with that.

Very funny bit. Thanks for posting it.

**Androclese** · 03-02-2008, 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by krawlx

This is one I've been wrestling with myself (not in usage, but in acceptability.) I cut these two words out of daily usage in high school, however shouldn't language be allowed to change? A recent William Safire column also noted a split, but many lexicographers are not opposed to the use of like in non-traditional ways. Of course, I'm guessing they were American!

No!