Today is what used to be celebrated in this country as Lincoln's Birthday because Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States from 1861 to 1865, was born on this date in the Year Of Our Lord 1809 in a log cabin in Kentucky. The anniversary of his birth now receives scant attention, if any in the media and among the populace. How soon we forget. I mean come on, people, he freed the slaves.
In addition, the birthday of George Washington, first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen, used to be observed on February 22nd. But both Lincoln and Washington have been relegated to the ash heap of history and replaced in our national conscience and calendar by something called Presidents Day that occurs on the third Monday of February so that federal employees could have yet another three-day weekend. That's not according to me, that's according to Lyndon Baines Johnson. This year the date is February 17th and all US presidents will be remembered as great citizen-patriots, every last one of them, or so we are encouraged to think.
This post is (a) deadly serious, (b) mildly iconoclastic, (c) excuciatinly accurate, (d) a pathetic attempt at humor (British, humour). Pick one.
Could I pick more than one?
ReplyDeleteIn the hope that it will help improve relations between the US and Canada, yes. Thank you, Red.
Delete(a) You are always serious.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am, but I am always (or at least usually) the other choices as well. Sometimes I can be downright silly. Choosing just one was meant to be difficult. Thank you, Tasker.
DeleteOh, dear! How the mighty are fallen, or at least, relegated to the footnotes of history.
ReplyDeleteI think it may simply be a case of out of sight, out of mind. And the unending dumbing down of the American people. And the revisionists of history having their way. Maybe it’s not so simple. Thank you, Janice.
DeleteSince I don't think you were trying to be funny I will have to choose excruciatingly accurate. Remember when we used to celebrate Lincoln's birthday with a day off school? Then 10 days later we had Washington's birthday off. Now according to ads on TV Presidents'Day celebrates Ronald Reagan with a whole day of movies and Death Valley Days.
ReplyDeleteI do remember. When we lived in Rhode Island both birthdays were school holidays. After we moved to Texas (a former Confederate state), Lincoln’ birthday disappeared from the radar. Back then, southerners cringed when “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was performed. I’m glad the we have moved on as a country. I think Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have A Dream” speech in 1963 helped achieve that but it took some time.
DeleteDeath Valley Days and Reagan instead of Lincoln and Washington is too sad for words and simply bizarre. You nailed it with excruciatingly accurate. Thank you, Emma.