pudge's Journal: Martin Luther King Day

I am still against this holiday. I see no point in it. It's very un-American to me to honor a single man with an official holiday. I would strongly favor a day devoted to celebrating civil liberties, in which Dr. King would probably form a central place of honor along with other champions of civil liberties (Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Eric S. Raymond ... ;-), but a day devoted to the man is nonsensical to me, and much moreso a whole monument devoted to him in the Mall at Washington D.C.

Last time I posted about this, I went into some detail about why holidays devoted to men are bad ideas. Nothing has changed, except that I am reminded of my dissastisfaction since the Day is tomorrow.

Arizona and New Hampshire -- two of our most liberty-loving states -- in fact call it Civil Rights Day. I prefer "civil liberties" because the term is generally broader, but "civil rights" works too. In Utah they call it Human Rights Day, which I dislike because of the political implications: "human rights" generally refers to leftwing international political ideology, despite the fact that all of us want to protect human rights.

Did you know MLK Day was originally promoted as a holiday promoting King's work with trade unions? Rep. Conyers even first introduced the idea in Congress for such a purpose. When that strategy failed miserably, they dropped it.

MLK Day was a stupid idea, and remains so. I know it's not popular to say such a thing, for fear of being branded a racist, so it's a good thing I don't care what anyone thinks about me, else this might not get said! Repeatedly!

Just to clarify...

[FortKnox]

You are against George Washington and Lincoln's birthday's as holidays, also? Just toss those two in favor of presidents day?

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[pudge]

You are against George Washington and Lincoln's birthday's as holidays, also? Just toss those two in favor of presidents day?

Just to clarify ... we do not have an official federal holiday for Lincoln, only for Washington, and we use that as "Presidents' Day" already, even though it is officially Washington's Birthday. No one seems to complain about it.

And, yes. Also Columbus Day should probably be "Explorers' Day," and we could recognize all the other explorers who discovered America, including latecomers like Lewis and Clark, and Armstrong and Aldrin. Let's face it, Columbus didn't even really contribute all that much in the

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[GMontag]

Actually, the first Columbus expedition was the "historically significant" one, per many history folk, because many other events were directly related to it. Vikings and such came and went without fanfare.

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[pudge]

Actually, the first Columbus expedition was the "historically significant" one, per many history folk, because many other events were directly related to it. Vikings and such came and went without fanfare.

But more would soon follow with or without him, is my point. And many other explorations of the U.S. and beyond have had more significance.

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[GMontag]

Well, no the Vikings poked around and left and nobody followed them nor did other explorers even hear about them.

Columbus' explorations became widely known quite quickly and others followed because of his findings.

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[pudge]

Columbus' explorations became widely known quite quickly and others followed because of his findings.

And I am saying, more would have come soon enough regardless.

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[GMontag]

Perhaps. Now prove that vs. proving that people heard of the Columbus activity and followed. The latter is real and your idea is theory or conjecture..

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[pudge]

Perhaps. Now prove that vs. proving that people heard of the Columbus activity and followed. The latter is real and your idea is theory or conjecture..

Of course it's conjecture. And it is impossible to prove. Since Columbus did come, nothing about him not coming could possibly be proved.

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[StalinsNotDead]

How about Saint Patrick's Day?

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[RevMike]

How about Saint Patrick's Day?

St. Patrick's day really doesn't have much in the way of official recognition. Even in NYC, where over a million people gather for the parade, most businesses operate normally.

But to tie everything back together, March 17th should be "Civil Rights Day". Being the patron Saint of Ireland should be a notable achievement for anyone, but St. Patrick was also the first to preach that slavery was immoral. The modern abhorrence of slavery in Western culture starts with St. Patr

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[TechnoLust]

I vote we call it Let's Get Drunk and Fight Day instead. ;-)

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[StalinsNotDead]

Isn't that profiling? Or am I profiling for making the inference?

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[TechnoLust]

I'd say it's more stereotyping, but what the hell do I care? I just want to drink my green beer! (Except you can't really make Guinness green.) :-)

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[alangmead]

In Boston, March 17th is called Evacuation Day. Its amazing how strongly the people of Boston feel about their holiday celebrating the evacuation of the British from the city. The bars a full of people celebrating Evacuation Day.

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[pudge]

That has to be my favorite holiday. :-)

civil right's day is a better idea

[capoccia]

civil right's day is a better idea because there were a lot more people involved than king, but it won't ever change. anyone who tries to implement such a change will be branded a racist.

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[pudge]

civil right's day is a better idea because there were a lot more people involved than king, but it won't ever change. anyone who tries to implement such a change will be branded a racist.

Right, so we need more people who care less about what people think. :-)

R is the problem

[ellem]

Appellations that begin with the letter R have more sticking power:

Racist
Rapist
Republican

all of these can ruin lives and careers whether or not they're correctly applied. Ask the Duke boys.