Wonkette
Did you know that according to THE LAW, this holiday is simply called “Washington’s Birthday” and not “President’s Day,” as the mattress stores and car dealers have taught you to believe. According to one person on the Internet, the misconception — like most misconceptions, as well as abortion — stems from some liberals getting together back in the day and trying to ruin America.
This guy on the Internet, “Mike gamecock DeVine” of the RedState blog community, links to this history of the name:
In 1968, Congress passed the Monday Holidays Act, which moved the official observance of Washington’s birthday from Feb. 22 to the third Monday in February. Some reformers had wanted to change the name of the holiday as well, to Presidents’ Day, in honor of both Lincoln and Washington, but that proposal was rejected by Congress, and the holiday remained officially Washington’s Birthday.
Nevertheless, there was a popular misconception that the day had been officially renamed…While the name change has never been authorized by Congress, it has gained a strong hold on the public consciousness, and is generally used on calendars, in advertising, and even by many government agencies. There have been attempts to introduce legislation requiring federal agencies to call the day Washington’s Birthday, but these have never gotten very far. No matter what’s in the law books, the popular usage is now well established…
Did you think that basic and possibly accurate description was awful and unpatriotic and liberally biased? Heh… heh… you retarded liberals believe everything. “gamecock” over there has the REAL history for you:
Reformers? Code word for the liberals that have been trashing American history as a tragedy and the Founding Fathers as mere slave owners for the past 40 years.
Their propaganda in academia and media is the reason for the so-called “strong hold” of the false name of the holiday on the public consciousness. The liberal that wrote the above let’s her guard down when she mentions her dismissal of the law. Their contempt for the real America and the Founders extends to the framers of the highest law that is the U.S. Constitution, so why would they have any respect for a “mere” statute? The only “law” they respect are those made up by activist judges that violate their Oath to uphold the Constitution.
[...]
Yet, all the “reformers” care to recall is that he was a slaveowner. Yes, he was a slaveowner, but he fathered a nation that put slavery on the path to destruction and which has freed more of humanity from tyranny than in all of human history. Ironically, many of the so-called reformers that would have us celebrate James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon, also conveniently looked the other way when evaluating the greatest enslavers and murderers of humanity in the Soviet Union and Red China.
FINE WE’LL CALL IT WASHINGTON DAY, good sweet crikey fuck, man. Sounds like someone still hasn’t gotten over what Lincoln did to the South, hmm?
The cultural hijacking of Washington’s Birthday [RedState]
I guess his history teacher never told him that Washington was a liberal? Make that a radical liberal.
A bunch of old racists in Colorado Springs objected to the Muslin’s picture on a President’s Day sign. I thought we were all Muslin now?
http://www.gazette.com/articles/presidents_48070___article.html/obama_commissary.html?referrer=digg
Wait. So Washington was both a martinet generalissimo who crushed the spirit of the Continental Army AND he fathered a nation that put slavery on the path to destruction?
And there’s nothing ironic about celebrating Tricky Dick Nixon AND Pol Pot. Also.
Oh hey, he’s actually factually right (http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2009.asp) but also very very wrong.
Incidentally, did he also complain that MLK day should be called “Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.”? I thought not.
“Yes, he was a slaveowner, but he fathered a nation that put slavery on the path to destruction”
Ha-ha-ha. How about this: “Yes, I’m a murderer, but I killed someone which led to the prosecution and the eventual demise of a murderer, me.”
Man, we modern day liberals sure are busy. What with trying to rename Washington’s b’day & being in charge of the MSM & ensuring free abortions for everyone & helping to elect a half-breed muslin to the presidency, we barely have time for our favorite standards of tree-hugging, bra burning & whale saving. Also.
And can you commie scum please put teh Saint back in Valentine’s Day. HHEEEENNNGGG?
I’m deeply offended by ‘gamecock’s’ disregard for the laws of grammar…
“The liberal that wrote the above let’s her guard down when she mentions her dismissal of the law.”
WHA???
Texan Bulldoggette: Shit. I hugged a whale, saved a bra, and burned a tree. I am FAIL.
Yeah, liberals need to fucking cut it out with all the Nixon-loving.
PS: I heard that Ted Kennedy once kissed James Buchanan on the mouth. MURDERER.
Texan Bulldoggette: You’re forgetting about our “War on Christmas” and our plan to force-feed arugula to all American children. Also.
Slaveowners put this great nation on the path towards the destruction of slavery! Yep. Like how every other developed nation had outlawed it by the turn of the 19th century, but the slavery destroying US kept it around for another 70 or so technically, and virtually for another 170. Hoo-ha. That is sure some trail blazing slave destroying. Hey, I like donuts. I figure if I keep eating them in great volume, I will destroy them eventually. The stupid hurts.
annieB: He was just celebrating Redundant Apostrophe Day, a holiday that is also celebrated by the festive burning of grammar books. It comes just before Capslock Day, when festive folk lobotomise each other with bbq implements, before banging their bleeding heads on computer keyboards.
Abraham Lincoln was such a RINO.
The true colors of a moron are shown when an apostrophe is inserted before the S in basically any word.
1968. That explains everything. Excuse me while I kiss the sky.
BTW, fuck the frenemies shit. That column is incoherent to the point of psychosis and the RedState commentators are dumber than dirt. I’d rather spend a day with Paultards debating monetary policy than 5 minutes with those clowns.
Who was it that sad that reality had such a liberal bias?
Call it Washington’s Birthday for all I care. I’m not against celebrating the contributions of people who were highly flawed. It’s important to remember their flaws, that’s all. He helped found our nation. Great. Fab. I’m all for the holiday. Let’s just not pretend like Washington (or Jefferson, or Ben Franklin, or any of the other men who helped frame our country’s first laws) was some kind of perfect Leave It to Beaver-style Christian dad like all the conservatives want to believe.
Numbat Dundee: WIN. Also.
CURSES! *SAID*, not sad. Well, sad that I can’t fucking spell.
Iggy Plop: You may want to rethink that. The thing about Redstaters is that they are generally too chicken-shit to actually voice their opinions when face-to-face with someone who might challenge them (anyone other than their hunting dogs, in other words). Ron Paul supporters, on the other hand, are more than willing to talk your ear off about the future of the UN for DAYS.
Ok in my no doubt lefty poisoned librul edumacation, I always learned it was President’s Day b/c our 2 greatest Presidents, Washington and Lincoln, were both born in February, and so the day is to honor them both.
So What the &*%^ does TrukNutz for Gamecocks have against Lincoln…hehhhhhhh?
Curses! Foiled again by the vigilence of Mr. Devine Cock Game. However, my plans to call Labor Day “May Day” continue undetected.
lovethebomb: Hey, I like donuts. I figure if I keep eating them in great volume, I will destroy them eventually.
I know! I know! That’s why I keep telling my environmentalist/vegeatarian friends why I have to eat teh cows. If brave carnivores like me don’t act swiftly and decisively with all our might, those four-legged environmental menaces would overrun the earth!
AnnieGetYourFun: “And, as you know, reality has a well-known liberal bias.”
Steven Colbert, 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Gives me a happy just thinking about it, and it’s been a crappy day so thanks for that.
Gamecocks : Washington as Slaveholder :: Christ Potatoes : Making fun of Jesus
Lascauxcaveman: Ooh! Is it time to make fun of Jesus, again? Excellent!
Lascauxcaveman: Along the same lines, I tell my friends that it is actually more cruel to eat free range cattle than caged/penned cattle, as you are depriving them of a fairly good life, and thus causing them great sadness. When you kill/eat a cow that’s been kept in a pen, it is probably glad to die. Thus, veal is the ultimate in cruelty-free cuisine. If anything, you should get a medal for kindness every time you eat veal.
Wait…we celebrate James Buchanan?
When the fuck did this start?
‘The only “law” they respect are those made up by activist judges that violate their Oath to uphold the Constitution.’
…Such as the activist judges that installed W as president in 2000?
Maybe we call it that because it isn’t actually his birthday any more?
Besides, did even George himself know his own damned birthday? Stupid Julian to Gregorian conversion! Lincoln had the good sense to be born in the American calendar!
Dave J.: I guess our pretend boyfriend Nate Silver over at 538 would call us Rational Progressives.
Perhaps Hungry Rational Progressives
“Mike gamecock DeVine”: The most *fabulous* porn name ever!
Susan B.: “the so-called reformers that would have us celebrate James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon”
Yes, who are these people? Is this a straw man, or some kind of super straw man?
Yes, he was a slaveowner, but he fathered a nation that put slavery on the path to destruction and which has freed more of humanity from tyranny than in all of human history.
Huh? This wingtard is dumber than a bag of Palins. Freed more of humanity from tyranny than what in all of human history?
The diarrhea must just flow from his ears and nose.
NYNYNY: Individually they are the Straw Men, but when librulism strikes, they combine together to form MegaStrawMan
bonghitsforjesus: “Mike gamecock DeVine”: The most *fabulous* porn name ever!
Isn’t she the one who ate the turd in Pink Flamingos?
Village Discount really is a pretty good thrift store. At least assuming that’s the one in Akron.
“…good sweet crikey fuck…”
seemeth as if DeVine could use one of those…
I propose we celebrate a different randomly selected president each year. We owe more to Grover Cleveland than we like to admit. Until then I think the holiday should be renamed POTUS day.
Electric Zen: For The Win. Srlsly
I’m getting seriously worn out from all the holidays we have to wage war on. I’d ask for a day off, but then I’d just have to declare war on myself. Being a liberal sucks.
Paul Tardy: Reformer!
George Washington contributed greatly to the dilution of the African gene pool of the human beings he mistreated horribly (by keeping them as workers with no human rights at all) by constantly having sex with the women he purchased. This evil man may have told the truth about the cherry tree. He was certainly more hush hush about all the cherries he popped on the old plantation, if you know what I’m saying. In fact, there’s a good chance old Mike Gamecock DeVine is descended from George Washington and his black sex slaves. The founding fathers were great men, in that they were extremely adept at spreading the old wild oat seeds.
There. I said it. That means every liberal in history believes the same thing, and President’s Day has been a massive shadow conspiracy aimed at discrediting those men in the 1700’s. Because President’s Day made us all rich.
Yeah, that’s the ticket. And Republicans wonder why people think they are complete fucking idiots.
And none of you blame Andrew Johnson…
Let’s blame Jimmy Carter, for being bi-partisan and sometimes not.
IT’s WORSE than he ever dreamed! There are varying STATE laws! Federalism is only a few letters off from Socialism!!This is from Wikipedia (so you know it is definitive):
“approximately a dozen state governments have officially renamed their Washington’s Birthday observances as “Presidents Day”, “Washington and Lincoln Day”, or other such designations. However, “Presidents Day” is not always an all-inclusive term.
In Massachusetts, while the state officially celebrates “Washington’s Birthday,” state law also prescribes that the governor issue an annual Presidents Day proclamation honoring the presidents that have come from Massachusetts: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and John F. Kennedy.[2] (Coolidge, the only one born outside of Massachusetts, spent his entire political career before the vice presidency there. George H. W. Bush, on the other hand, was born in Massachusetts, but has spent most of his life elsewhere.)
Alabama uniquely observes the day as “Washington and Jefferson Day”, even though Jefferson’s birthday was in April.[3]
In New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois, while Washington’s Birthday is a federal holiday, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is still a state holiday, falling on February 12 regardless of the day of the week.
In California, Lincoln’s Birthday is also a legal state holiday, however, observance is frequently moved to the Monday or Friday occurring closest to February 12. When Lincoln’s Birthday is observed on the Friday preceding Washington’s Birthday, the resultant four-day weekend is commonly called “Presidents’ Day Weekend”, particularly by retailers in their sale advertisements.
In Washington’s home state of Virginia the holiday is legally known as “George Washington Day.” “
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And FDR caused The Great Depression and Bush will be redeemed in 100 years. I think we should introduce a new holiday and call it Bullshit I Pulled Out Of My Ass So I Won’t Look As If I’ve Been Wrong About Everything Since 2000 Day. Of course, we’ll soon have to put it on a shelf in a dark closet along with all the other distractions disguised as nonsense non-issues. You know, like Freedom Fries and the bumperstickers that say Let’s Keep Christ in Christmas.
Freedom Fries. Wow, good times, good times.It’s Hobo Beans all the time now.
Great illustration! But I don’t think Village Discount can claim that they are Ohio’s best thrift store anymore. Years ago, we used to boom down I-71 from Cleveland to Columbus just to blow scads of cash we didn’t have at the Village Discount on South Arlington, and it indeed was everything it claimed to be. Not no mo’! Our last two visits there were depressing. Just sad! Nothing wortwhile in the way of flabbergasting objets behind the mile-long counter, and clothes — well, it never was a place for clothes, really, unless you wanted to dress like a fat Ohio downstater, where couture is pretty much the fashion equivalent of Truck Nutz. What’s the best Ohio thrift now? Goodwill is on an extended bender of creating new stores and expanding services. For my munnies, they are the ones who rock more headbangingly than any other. What, however, is with those out-of-control book prices?
I see both sides of the argument. I can see why someone will say that it’s woman’s decision. At the same time, I also wonder whether abortion is the only option for unwanted pregnancy. I see merits of both sides, but also the downsides as well.