It’s said that when John Paul Jones’ ship the Bonhomme Richard was in tatters, and captain of the British ship Serapis demanded his surrender, Jones cried out, “I have not yet begun to fight!” Upon which a petty officer said to himself, “There’s always some dumb bastard who doesn’t get the word.”
Both phrases live on in the Navy, the second one probably more relevant today. They both popped into my head when I read this scary coal-boosting op-ed piece from “up Nort'” in Minnesota.
