Tag Archives: george washington

One Day to Celebrate the Constitution…Or Not

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  SEP 20

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Preamble to the Constitution, adopted  September 17, 1787

Last Saturday the nation celebrated the signing of the US Constitution at Independence Hall in Philadelphia 229 years ago.

There were parades and fireworks, great speeches and events all across the country.

Actually, there weren’t. The anniversary went by mostly unnoticed, unlike that for the Declaration of Independence, last July 4.

In fairness what is Constitution and Citizenship Day is a relatively new observance, dating back to 2004 and legislation sponsored by the late West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, although there have been observances of citizenship dating back nearly 100 years. Continue reading →

Why Samuel Adams Matters Today

BY FRANK HILL
Reprinted from TelemachusLeaps.com

And no, it is not because his name is on the great beer brewed by the Boston Lager Company.

Samuel Adams actually was not a very good brewer back in the day and probably lost more money borrowed from his wealthy dad than he ever made in any venture he undertook.

But he was a darned good writer and was able to catch the revolutionary spirit about as well as Thomas Paine or Benjamin Franklin or anyone else back in the day.

For his senior thesis at a small community college back then known as Harvard, Sam Adams wrote on this question: “Whether it be lawful to resist the supreme magistrate, if the commonwealth cannot be otherwise preserved?” Continue reading →

President’s Day Books

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

When I was a kid, we got both Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday off of school. That made February a fun month for kids. Not so much for parents.

These days, we celebrate their birthday on the same day. It’s kind of like when my wife decided to combine our son’s birthday party with the birthday party of one of his classmates. Saved time and money, and hey, it was fun for the whole family.

So, now we have President’s Day, which give us a good excuse to read books on all of the Presidents. I am currently reading a biography of George Washington Continue reading →

President’s Day

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

My brother was born on February 22.  That’s why I know that February 22nd is actually George Washington’s birthday.

When I was growing up, we used to get both Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (February 12th) and President’s Day off.  I seem to remember that for a while we kept the President’s holiday on my brother’s birthday, but my memory might be a little hazy.

In typical Congressional fashion, we now celebrate Presidents Day on no one’s birthday in particular. Sometimes, it falls on Washington’s Birthday, but usually not. It is always the third Monday in February. There is some disagreement, actually, if the third Monday in February is done in honor of George Washington or in honor of all of the Presidents.

If we were to have a month to celebrate the most Presidents, it would be October. There were six Presidents born in October, and only four in February. The six born in October include some pretty good ones, like Dwight Eisenhower, John Adams and Teddy Roosevelt. But February had better trump cards, including Reagan with Lincoln and Washington (and don’t forget William Henry Harrison). Continue reading →

American Republicans, Democrats

BY MICKEY EDWARDS

Reprinted from Atlantic Monthly and Iconoclast

Angry and frustrated, American voters went to the polls in November 2010 to “take back” their country. Just as they had done in 2008. And 2006. And repeatedly for decades, whether it was Republicans or Democrats from whom they were taking the country back. No matter who was put in charge, things didn’t get better. They won’t this time, either; spending levels may go down, taxes may go up, budgets will change, but American government will go on the way it has, not as a collective enterprise but as a battle between warring tribes.

If we are truly a democracy—if voters get to size up candidates for a public office and choose the one they want—why don’t the elections seem to change anything? Because we elect our leaders, and they then govern, in a system that makes cooperation almost impossible and incivility nearly inevitable, a system in which the campaign season never ends and the struggle for party advantage trumps all other considerations.

Continue reading →