When was old George born, anyway?

Manchester Union Leader ^ | February 16, 2004 | Editorial

[billorites]

TODAY is George Washington's birthday. Except that George Washington was born on Feb. 22, and today is Feb. 16. But as far as the federal government knows, his birthday is today. It may be the CIA's fault, but without a full investigation we'll never know.

We wonder what Washington would think of what Washington has done to his birthday. "They did what to what, now?"

It probably would confuse him, federal bureaucratic incompetence not having been invented until after his time. He'd most likely wonder why we stand for it. "Since when do Americans let their government tell them when and what to celebrate?" he might ask.

Since we discovered the three-day weekend, we'd answer.

The whole thing is a giant farce. It's like a sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus:

Government: "Today is George Washington's birthday!"

Citizen: "No it isn't."

Government: "Yes it is!"

Citizen: "No it isn't!"

"Government: "Yes it is! It says so right here on the calendar."

Citizen: "You just scribbled that on with a pen!"

In addition to being Pythonesque, it's Orwellian. Only the government can get away with declaring something to be what it clearly is not.

The sad result is that most Americans have forgotten all about Washington's real birthday. Instead of celebrating the birth of the father of our country on his actual birthday, we take off a totally unrelated day and spend it hunting for the best sale price on cars and furniture. As we shop, another bit of our heritage falls by the wayside.

[billorites]

[Triple Word Score]

Yes, but in three days off we can go several states away by car, if we want, and Grandma isn't cranky from her awful wooden dentures when we visit. Huzzah for the three-day-weekend.

George'd be jealous.

[leadpenny]

There is also the little matter of our calendar being corrected by eleven days (I believe it is 11 days) sometime after his birth.

[HenryLeeII]

First, there were no wooden dentures; they were made of wire and springs, and used cow's teeth, pocelain, and other materials for the teeth. Secondly, the General could go through several states in three days, being the finest horseman and one of the most well-traveled Americans of his time. But, more importantly, when Washington was born (February 11, 1732, Old Style) England and her colonies had not yet switched over to the Gregorian calendar, but when he was a child, the switch was made, eleven days were added to even out the calendar in some manner, and the General gave his birthdate all through his life as Feb. 22, 1732.

[Triple Word Score]

You must be a couple of timezones ahead of me--you know, where the states are smaller, and you have that poor Yankee counterfeit of what we out West call a sense of humor.

[Ole Okie]

Perky Katie wants to know:

Well, was he honorably discharged from the army?

You say "Yes"?

Well, then, where's his pay stubs?

Why was he honorably discharged?

Probably some scandal hidden there somewhere. Is he going to release all his records?

Oh, he's dead?

I didn't even know he was sick.

[Right_Handed_Writer]

Wasn't the whole idea of President's Day based on the problem of all the various holidays that were being celebrated for all the various President's birthdays throughout the year? I thought the intent wasn't to slight ol' George but to collectively honor them all?

\\\\ S I G H //// even Bubba!

[Allegra]

Well, today was my mother's birthday.

Ol' George is in good company on that one if the 16th is his true birth date.

May they be sharing a nice glass of port in Heaven.

[Devereaux]

Officially, there is no holiday known as "President's Day".

Title 5, United States Code, Sec. 6103. - Holidays (a) The following are legal public holidays:
New Year's Day, January 1.
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., the third Monday in January.
Washington's Birthday, the third Monday in February.
Memorial Day, the last Monday in May.
Independence Day, July 4.
Labor Day, the first Monday in September.
Columbus Day, the second Monday in October.
Veterans Day, November 11.
Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November.
Christmas Day, December 25.

[Cowboy Bob]

Wasn't the whole idea of President's Day based on the problem of all the various holidays that were being celebrated for all the various President's birthdays throughout the year? I thought the intent wasn't to slight ol' George but to collectively honor them all?

President's Day was the result of combining Washington's Birthday with Lincoln's Birthday. The consolidation was done to make room for ML King's Birthday (which, by the way, isn't celebrated on his birthday).

Apparently there is a limit on the number of Federal Holidays in a year.

[cruiserman]

we take off a totally unrelated day

I wish.

[Sloth]

Only the government can get away with declaring something to be what it clearly is not.

Like 'same-sex marriage'.

[Protagoras]

George'd be jealous mortified.

He might like the advances in material confort and science, but when he saw what happened to our freedoms because of the politicions' greed for power, he might conclude it wasn't worth it. It's been a steady erosion since he left office and it's rapidly reaching the nadir.

[Protagoras]

Jefferson had it right. He insisted no holidays be made in his name.

[FourPeas]

Instead of celebrating the birth of the father of our country on his actual birthday, we take off a totally unrelated day and spend it hunting for the best sale price on cars and furniture.

I've always found this particularly distasteful: America - Land of The Sale.

[Born Conservative]

Three days off? What's that all about?

[Triple Word Score]

Hmmm.

I'm not so sure. In many ways I am far more free than any 18th century man or woman could have imagined.

I didn't attend church yesterday, and I didn't get fined or questioned. I am a religious minority in my community, but I don't live in fear that I will be tormented for that.

Everybody I know, male or female, over 18, who isn't in the military can quit his or her job with no notice, live wherever he or she wants, own property, enter or leave a marriage at will. My parents could not have forced me to marry or not to marry. I can inherit from them just the same as my brother can. Children cannot legally be lashed or maimed for misbehaving--they are not legally the property of their parents, and have recourse if their parents neglect them.

I can own a firearm if I want one--and it doesn't matter who I am or what race I belong to, as long as I have not led a criminal life. This may not be true in all states but it's true in mine. Yes, we're letting far too many criminals free and it has forced us to confine ourselves behind locked doors while the lawbreakers own the sidewalks and streets--but we have the power to rise up and make that stop any time we want to. We haven't insisted because of political correctness--but that isn't something imposed on us. It's something we've foolishly taken upon ourselves, and it will pass.

The advances in material comfort and science are not so easy to dismiss if you consider how they have inhibited the ability of politicians to control us. They don't dare impose a tax on the internet. I can buy just about anything I want and have it in days. Politics is principally the allocation of values and that is actually less centralized than it's ever been. Information is the highest valued resource today. Do I want a copy of the Starr Report? It's mine for the asking--I can get it dozens of ways. Do I want to wear a T-shirt critical of my government? I'm free to do it anywhere, and if any private party harasses me, I can take my case to court and win.

Corruption and power-hungry politicians were not just invented, but I think we have them hamstrung about as well as we ever have. Thanks to the internet we can run circles around anyone who tries to scam us. Clinton didn't have a chance against a Lucianne or a Drudge--he could not keep his deepest evil secret from public view. The Senate may have failed to convict him, but I'm not sure he would have even been impeached for what he did a century ago.

You can tell me I have fewer freedoms than a woman in George Washington's time would have had--but I don't believe it. I think that liberty was far more connected to property ownership, connections, education, gender and race then tha nit is now. I think we're freer now than we were then. I think George Washington would suffer sensory overload if he could see us now, but I'm not sure he'd regard our lives as less free than the people of his time. Propertied white landowners had most of the liberty now. It's far more evenly distributed today than ever.

No, I think what would offend him far more is the erosion of the people's right to refuse taxation...and I think he'd immediately see that payroll deduction is the blinder we all wear that keeps us from fully appreciating how we're being drained. Yet for all of that the poorest among us are wealthier than he could have dreamed we'd ever be.

[Drammach]

Very eloquently said.. And quite correct in it's assumptions..

[HenryLeeII]

Actually, the official Federal holiday is Washington's Birthday. "President's Day" was the result of an executive order by Richard Nixon as a one-time honoring of all former presidents. The Fed. govt. never changed the name officially.

[HenryLeeII]

You must be a couple of timezones ahead of me--you know, where the states are smaller, and you have that poor Yankee counterfeit of what we out West call a sense of humor.

From your earlier reply I had no way of knowing whether you were using the wooden denture yarn in a tongue-in-cheek manner or not. Also note that I addressed my reply to leadpenny and billorites as well as you, since they were involved earlier. The reason I put that info in my reply is because Freepers usually have a natural curiosity regarding the reality behind myths. As far as me being a Yankee, you're off by several hundred miles geographically and culturally, seeing as how I'm a died-in-the-wool Virginian, you know, a resident of the Mother of Presidents, the Mother of States, the Birthplace of America! An' I got me a sense o' humor bigger 'n C'nnetycitt...;>)