The degradation of America’s values continues in seductive and incremental ways.
Take the online petition “Make Presidents’ Day Super,” described as…
“A plan to move Presidents’ Day to the Monday after the Super Bowl. For football. For hangovers. For America.”
The proposal is unethical in many ways, beginning with its dishonest presentation. “We the people, in order to form a more perfect holiday, seek to take what should be one of our most patriotic holidays and actually give it more meaning, make it more American,” the argument begins. Make it “more American”? How, exactly, does moving a holiday that already minimizes the national recognition of the birthday of George Washington by making it a floating annual date to manufacture a three-day weekend make that holiday “more American”?
“Because really,” it continues, “what’s more purely American than the Super Bowl?” Well, if your grand concept of the United States begins and ends with beer, $500 dollar tickets, an orgy of commercialism, a tidal wave of hype, and of course, violence, I suppose that’s true. Somehow, I thought there were some of us whose aspiration for America were rather more elevated than that. I know George Washington’s was.
“Last year’s game was the most watched American television program. Ever. Over 111 million Americans joined together to cheer the championship of our national pastime.” That’s right…let’s link America’s priorities to television ratings. At that rate, we’ll be soon able to junk Martin Luther King Day for Kardashian Day.
“So sign up now! Breathe new life in Presidents’ Day by linking it with another American institution, the Super Bowl. These two parts united will be stronger as a whole. The same way our country was founded in the first place.” Yes, breathe new life into Presidents’ Day by making it, in effect, National Hangover Day. This would be appropriate, I suppose, for a few Presidents who had real problems at various times in their lives controlling their alcohol intake—Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, George W. Bush—but elevating drunkenness over service to our nation in the most difficult job on the planet shows a callous disrespect for what Presidents’ Day is all about….recognition for the 43 men who have given their best efforts to guide this audacious experiment in human rights and democracy through its first 236 years.
The Super Bowl may represent what America is degenerating into—a loud, excessive, bombastic, usually disappointing exercise grotesquely dominated by the media, corporate cash, substance abuse and clods with the manners of coyotes—but that’s hardly something to celebrate. At least keeping Presidents’ Day, watered down as it is, close to George’s birthday by leaving it on the third Monday of February shows a shred of lingering respect for the man who deserves a holiday all to himself.
“Make Presidents’ Day Super” is an insult to George Washington, his February-born Mount Rushmore colleague Abe Lincoln, and the rest of the Presidents, including the current one. If you can’t control yourself on Super Sunday and have to get smashed, take a sick day on Monday.
Don’t ask George to cover for you.
Ethics Alarms 
Shoot me now……
I heard on the radio just an hour ago that the Monday after the Super Bowl is also one of the days of the year that sees the biggest surges in people becoming new customers of fitness centers and weight-loss programs. That is just to report – I have no idea about the veracity or significance.
Pondering that for a moment, it occurred to me that a U.S. presidential administration might very easily use the bully pulpit to take advantage of Super Bowl Monday After, to promote improved public health and fitness. An effective campaign might even influence people to “pay it early,” and instead of pigging-out before and during the big game, using the day to dry-out and straighten-up. I tend to agree that a 3-day weekend as proposed would be counterproductive – and would further promote ignorance.
Considering all of the constitutional challenges to ANY sort of religious influence on our government, I think the First Amendment can reasonably be interpreted to also prohibit the Establishment of a “National” Football League.
…or, for that matter, to prohibit the the free exercise thereof.
–Dwayne
43 men served as 44 Presidents.
We’ve long been losing sight of what a holiday actually means. Of course, the term originates from “Holy Day”- a religious observance. But even mainly secular observances should mean more than “Booze Day” or a three day weekend. They’ve supposed to mean something that encourages higher ideals through example and introspection. Today, however, “bread & circus” is the name of the game.
If it’s that popular of an idea, then the NFL should schedule the Super Bowl the Sunday before Presidents Day. I like that idea.
At least then, the Dog would be wagging the Tail.
$500 dollar tickets? I’m in.