Cinco de Mayo

[MadtownPacker]

Not sure if this is considered a party day in the midWest or East but over here it is kinda like St. Pattys day where regardless of race, color, or creed people like to get their drink on and what better day to have an excuse then on a Saturday!

I aint gonna lie, it aint even the real Mexican independence day and even if it was I wouldn't care. Same as most holidays it is just an excuse for peeps to get together and alcohol companies to get $$$.

Not that you need one but are any of you using it as an excuse to get swerved?

[Iron Mike]

I'll probably drink a few of these con limon:

http://www.novamex.com/product_images/sangria_bottles.gif

Happy Battle of Puebla Day, Mad!!!

[oregonpackfan]

Naw, I'm just using it as a day to get a bunch of "Honeydo's" done.

[GrnBay007]

Sounds like a good reason to have a margarita(s) today!!
:P

[K-town]

Not sure if this is considered a party day in the midWest or East but over here it is kinda like St. Pattys day where regardless of race, color, or creed people like to get their drink on and what better day to have an excuse then on a Saturday!

I aint gonna lie, it aint even the real Mexican independence day and even if it was I wouldn't care. Same as most holidays it is just an excuse for peeps to get together and alcohol companies to get $$$.

Not that you need one but are any of you using it as an excuse to get swerved?

I'm here at work now (AACK), but by 4:30 I will be at THE BAR
drinking me some Dos Equis and some tequila.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

[MateoInMex]

My drinking will start at exactly 4PM. Plus, I have a baptism tomorrow. Everyone who hasn't been to a Mexican baptism,

I encourage you all to attend one in your life, kind of like a trip to Mecca for Muslims.

Feliz 5 de Mayo

[HarveyWallbangers]

Have some brews on me. BTW, what is the beer that Mexicans drink? I've heard that Corona isn't real popular with the locals, so what do folks in Mexico drink?

[Joemailman]

In case you were wondering what the day is all about:

The 5th of May is not Mexican Independence Day, but it should be! And Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday, but it should be. Mexico declared its independence from mother Spain on midnight, the 15th of September, 1810. And it took 11 years before the first Spanish soldiers were told and forced to leave Mexico.

So, why Cinco de Mayo? And why should Americans savor this day as well? Because 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862.

The French had landed in Mexico (along with Spanish and English troops) five months earlier on the pretext of collecting Mexican debts from the newly elected government of democratic President (and Indian) Benito Juarez. The English and Spanish quickly made deals and left. The French, however, had different ideas.

Under Emperor Napoleon III, who detested the United States, the French came to stay. They brought a Hapsburg prince with them to rule the new Mexican empire. His name was Maximilian; his wife, Carolota. Napoleon's French Army had not been defeated in 50 years, and it invaded Mexico with the finest modern equipment and with a newly reconstituted Foreign Legion. The French were not afraid of anyone, especially since the United States was embroiled in its own Civil War.

The French Army left the port of Vera Cruz to attack Mexico City to the west, as the French assumed that the Mexicans would give up should their capital fall to the enemy -- as European countries traditionally did.

Under the command of Texas-born General Zaragosa, (and the cavalry under the command of Colonel Porfirio Diaz, later to be Mexico's president and dictator), the Mexicans awaited. Brightly dressed French Dragoons led the enemy columns. The Mexican Army was less stylish.

General Zaragosa ordered Colonel Diaz to take his cavalry, the best in the world, out to the French flanks. In response, the French did a most stupid thing; they sent their cavalry off to chase Diaz and his men, who proceeded to butcher them. The remaining French infantrymen charged the Mexican defenders through sloppy mud from a thunderstorm and through hundreds of head of stampeding cattle stirred up by Indians armed only with machetes.

When the battle was over, many French were killed or wounded and their cavalry was being chased by Diaz' superb horsemen miles away. The Mexicans had won a great victory that kept Napoleon III from supplying the confederate rebels for another year, allowing the United States to build the greatest army the world had ever seen. This grand army smashed the Confederates at Gettysburg just 14 months after the battle of Puebla, essentially ending the Civil War.

Union forces were then rushed to the Texas/Mexican border under General Phil Sheridan, who made sure that the Mexicans got all the weapons and ammunition they needed to expel the French. American soldiers were discharged with their uniforms and rifles if they promised to join the Mexican Army to fight the French. The American Legion of Honor marched in the Victory Parade in Mexico, City.

It might be a historical stretch to credit the survival of the United States to those brave 4,000 Mexicans who faced an army twice as large in 1862. But who knows?

In gratitude, thousands of Mexicans crossed the border after Pearl Harbor to join the U.S. Armed Forces. As recently as the Persian Gulf War, Mexicans flooded American consulates with phone calls, trying to join up and fight another war for America.

Mexicans, you see, never forget who their friends are, and neither do Americans. That's why Cinco de Mayo is such a party -- A party that celebrates freedom and liberty. There are two ideals which Mexicans and Americans have fought shoulder to shoulder to protect, ever since the 5th of May, 1862. VIVA! el CINCO DE MAYO!!

[MJZiggy]

Nice bit of history there Joe. Now, where's my drink 'cause it's a party day today on the east end of the country too.

[Joemailman]

http://www.uec-hawaii.com/images/margarita.jpg

[MJZiggy]

Well now that's just gonna get me in trouble. I believe I'll have two...

[Little Whiskey]

this morning i had a fishing trip planned. so as i was packing the cooler, i threw in a few coronas. on the water by 7....3 fish by 9:30. two brown's and 7lb walleye!!! God bless cinco de mayo!!

[MadtownPacker]

About an hour ago at the store I was in line buying some margarita mix and salt when one of these two dudes behind me said to the other "we should have bought some beaner stuff". I just looked in his face and smiled. Then one asked me where the Tequila was, I told him it was at home already cuz I always have some. He asked if it was the good kind. I told him it was the kind that is locked in the glass shelves.

When I started paying for my stuff I looked at their beer and saw it was some Canadian shit. BIG BLUE was the name of it. some fat looking cans. I then told them "you guys are buying French shit". One said it was Canadian, I said thats the same thing. The other said it depended on what part of canada. I said it didnt matter cuz French is like one of their national languages. Then I turned to the cashier and said "and canada doesnt do shit to help out the US!".

At they point they didnt say another goddamn thing. I walked out smiling.
Guess I set them assclowns straight. :D