Pontificating on President's Day

 When I was a kid, we had Washington's Birthday as a holiday. That was celebrated on February 22. In 1971, the federal government started celebrating it on the third Monday in February. This came as a result of the Congress passing the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. There were some states that celebrated Lincoln's birthday on February 12.  For those of us in the South, Robert E. Lee's birthday was January 19. Stonewall Jackson's birthday was January 21.

Although all of the advertising and most media sources refer to the holiday as President's Day, the federal government still calls it Washington's Birthday.

I don't believe in the entire concept of Monday holidays. If you think that this is a good idea, why don't we celebrate Thanksgiving on the third Monday in November?  Christmas on the third Monday in December? How about New Year's Day on the first Monday in January? Easter on the first Monday in April? The Fourth of July on the first Monday in July? More on that in a minute. Let's face it, we moved Memorial Day from May 30 to the last Monday in May. Is anything sacred? 

Many years ago, an employee asked me, "Why do we celebrate the Fourth Of July on July 4?" I just looked at her and kind of stared in disbelief. She said, "I am serious. I don't understand." So, I spent about five minutes explaining that the holiday is actually called Independence Day and then explained why it was celebrated on July 4. When her father picked her up that afternoon, he thanked me for explaining it to her. He told me that she had asked him that morning and he just laughed because he thought that she was joking. He said that he and his wife were considering moving her to a private school for her senior year. I told him that would probably be a good idea.

The Federal government doesn't call Washington's Birthday President's Day because they don't want to deal with public complaints about the holiday name. One of the most frequent complaints is that Martin Luther King has a holiday of his own and that forty-five Presidents share one day. This is simply not true. The fact is that forty-four Presidents get no recognition from the federal government.

The question that begs asking about MLK Day is, would there have been an MLK Day if there was never a President Abraham Lincoln? If not for Lincoln and 600,000 dead American soldiers, would slavery have ever ended? Personally, I don't believe that Lincoln went to war to free the slaves. He went to war to keep the Union together. That cause did not generate the level of support that Lincoln needed to continue the war. He decided to make the war about freeing the slaves to get more public support in the North. The Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863. The Civil War started in 1861. What's your explanation for the delay? 

Do we need to replace Martin Luther King Day with King-Lincoln Day? At least one of those two guys was a man who didn't abuse women, cheat on his wife and have problems with alcoholism. That will give you something to ponder while waiting for the government to release all of the King files. Just out of curiosity, why don't the Democrats in Congress push a bill requiring that all of the King files be released within thirty days like they did with Epstein?