The first military engagement of the Texas Revolution happened at the Battle of Gonzales on Oct. 2, 1835. I know this, because the Republican Party of Texas just sent me an email telling me so.

Texas GOP also explained to me that the Mexican government had sent the people of Gonzales a message demanding that the Texans return to them the cannon Texans were using to defend the colony of Gonzales. The defiant Texans created a flag and hoisted over Gonzales, inviting the Mexican army to “come and take it,” referring to the cannon in question.

So, that makes today the 184th annual “Come and Take It Day” in Texas, and in honor of that anniversary, Texas GOP is giving me a chance to “showcase [my] Texas pride while supporting our effort to keep Texas red” by giving them a $35 donation in exchange for a cheap white t-shirt with a black-and-white graphic depicting a black star with a white GOP elephant inside it and a black silhouette of Texas inside the elephant, a decidedly phallic-looking cannon and the words “COME AND TAKE IT.”

Ummm, no thanks Texas GOP. But Happy Come and Take it Day anyway. (Oh, and P.S.: We spell Pride with an capital P.)

— Tammye Nash