Presidents’ Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. It was historically the celebration of George Washington’s birthday, which occurs on February 22, but in 1971 it was moved to the current date in order to create more three day weekends as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, and henceforth became commonly known as Presidents’ Day (although the name was never officially changed from “Washington’s Birthday).
In 2015, Presidents’ Day shouldn’t be a time of celebration considering how far we have fallen as a Republic, and how completely awful and corrupt modern U.S. Presidents have become. Whereas the founding fathers of the nation were intellectual giants who incidentally also served as statesmen, every President since I’ve been alive has been little more than an empty suit politician. Cowardly, power-hungry, petty, bloodthirsty, vapid. These men wouldn’t know the definition of the word statesmen if their life depended on it. Even more worrisome, based on the crop of leading contenders for the Presidency in 2016 (another Bush and another Clinton), it doesn’t look as if we will be having any new Presidents to celebrate any time soon.
The inspiration for this post actually came from a brief clip a friend sent to me from the movie “The Gambler.” In it, John Goodman describes what he calls “the position of fuck you,” and at the end he notes that the American Republic was founded upon this principle, but we have since squandered the position.
If you don’t like profanity, don’t watch. Otherwise, enjoy:
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
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When Edward Snowden is old enough he will run for President then we will have a true defender of freedom.
I don’t think the holiday was simply termed “Presidents Day” until some time in the last 15 or so years. I remember being irritated that I was being told I should celebrate Chester Alan Arthur and Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon and LBJ and FDR and, well, anyway who ever holds the office rather than celebrating George Washington.
According to one web site, states individually changed the designation of the holiday and by the early 2000’s about half the states used the celebrate-your-rulers-plebes! “Presidents Day” version while half still referred to it as Washington’s Birthday
Very intersting, thanks for sharing 🙂
FALSE, your “facts” are wrong. (1) In 1968, Congress passed the Monday Holiday Bill to create 3 day weekends to promote tourism commerce. The holiday in February, on the 3rd Monday was Washington Birthday Holiday. It STILL IS NAMED THAT, never has Congress changed it. (2) In 1971, Nixon issued an Executive Order, that does NOT have the force of law, calling it Presidents Day, an arrogant self-serving promotion of himself. How fitting that Nixon was forced to resign as a president due to Citizen action in a Grand Jury. (3) On Lincoln’s Birthday (12 February) in 1999, the IMPEACHED Clinton was acquitted by the Senate. The same day Senator Teddy Kennedy introduced a bill to change the name to “Presidents Day”. The bill failed in Senate Committee, so did not get a vote in the full Senate, and therefore was not sent to the House for a vote.
First of all, calm down. You can make a point without sounding like a spaz.
Yes, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, was passed in 1968, but it didn’t take effect until 1971.
Yes, the day was never officially changed from “Washington’s Birthday” to “Presidents Day,” but it is now commonly known as such.
You need to relax.
Michael, I beg to differ. The previous writer’s tone does not strike me as sounding like a “spaz” which is definitely what I hear as hate speech couched in a demeaning, arrogant tone on your part.
How is it that you allow yourself to perform like this on this Free Thought blog? Or am I mistaken in that because this is your blog, that you feel entitled to edit and insult those who you deem, under your own personal version of cognitive bias, to be in some way inappropriate and in need of your correction?
In other words, look in the mirror, Teach!
You can beg to differ, that’s what the comment section is for!
However, I reserve every right to also participate in the comment section.
Thank you Ariel Gail MacLean. Mr. Krieger’s reply to you was more civil. That’s progress. A point to be made is that just because “everybody is doing it” does not mean that everybody is correct in any one action or statement. Truth is truth, whether or not “everybody” knows the truth, accepts the truth, or exercises the truth, or even if one body, chooses to reject the truth, because “everybody” else is, in his opinion.
By the way, Mr. Krieger, for the most part I agree with your post, about the absence of “Statesman” in the mind of current crop of elected servants, or those who seek to be elected.