Free Republic

Celebrate Presidents Serving With Pure Motives We’re kind of consumed with rugged race competition today in our house, but the important thing to remember this morning is the significance of February 18. It should be considered an honor to celebrate Presidents’ Day, particularly with the understanding that President George Washington is at the heart of this patriotic observance. With every passing day, as we recognize the true state of our union, we can appreciate even more those, like President Washington, who have served with pure motives and a true sense of purpose, who loved this nation more than self and...

As President Obama prepares his State of the Union Address and the nation looks forward to a Presidents Day holiday, Americans should consider the warning examples of our worst chief executives. While few of Washington and Lincoln's successors could hope to replicate their epic achievements, every president can — and must — focus on avoiding the appalling ineptitude of John Tyler, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and their feckless fellow travelers on the road to presidential perdition. The common elements that link our least successful leaders teach historical lessons at least as important as the shared traits of the Rushmore Four:...

Presidents DayClaim:   The federal holiday observed in the United States on the third Monday of February is officially designated as "Presidents' Day." FALSE Origins:   Back in my school days, February was an important month — not just because it included the eagerly-anticipated Valentine's Day, but because even though it was the shortest month of the year, it contained two (count 'em: two) holidays for which schools were closed: Lincoln's Birthday (February 12) and Washington's Birthday (February 22). Two school-free days for the kids, two days off for working parents, and terrific bargains on bedding, linen, and towels at...

WASHINGTON, February 15, 2012 – Each February, Americans enjoy a holiday to reflect upon the accomplishments of their Presidents. In this election year, the place to start is with the tenure of President Barack Hussein Obama. Back on Election Day 2008, some giddy enthusiasts were already considering where to place a likeness of Obama on the face of Mt. Rushmore along side the craggy visages of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Teddy Roosevelt.

George Washington's name is inseparable from America, and not only from the nation's history. It identifies countless streets, buildings, mountains, bridges, monuments, cities — and people. In a puzzling twist, most of these people are black. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 163,036 people with the surname Washington. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. The story of how Washington became the "blackest name" begins with slavery and takes a sharp turn after the Civil War, when all blacks were allowed the dignity of a surname. Even before Emancipation, many enslaved...

On Presidents’ Day, Americans take a day to recognize the office of the presidency – and to reflect upon the country’s best. FrumForum asked freshman Republican members which president they admired the most, but excluded President Reagan from contention to give the other presidents a fair chance. The fourteen Republican members who responded gave a range of answers, but President Abraham Lincoln came out on top. Interestingly, these freshman congressmen have something in common with President Obama, who has identified Lincoln as his favorite president. Independent voters also agreed – a new Gallup poll shows that Lincoln was their favorite...

Situation: Today is President's Day. Obama is AWOL and YOU are President for one (1) day until he comes off of his cocaine high. Question: What would you do if you were President for one (1) day? Conditions: You cannot use nuclear weapons.You cannot invade Canada.You cannot violate the Constitution.You MUST be a Christian.You cannot assault, murder, imprison any American.You can only concentrate on FIVE (5) items.On your mark, get set, go!

February is one short month long on holidays from the sublime (President's Day, St. Valentine's Day) to the ridiculous (Groundhog Day). And since 1926, February has been designated Black History Month. Three outstanding American Presidents have birthdays this month - one from each century during a defining war in American history: 18th century - the American Revolution: George Washington was our first president under the Constitution, chief among our founders as well as a great general leading the Continental Army in the American Revolution. He was born in colonial Virginia on February 22, 1732. .... 19th century - the Civil...

NEW YORK — Question: Who is honored on Presidents Day? Answer: Not Ronald Reagan. Or Franklin D. Roosevelt. Or Grover Cleveland or Martin Van Buren. FoxNews.com conducted an informal and very unscientific poll in midtown Manhattan on Monday and found there are a lot of people who think Presidents Day honors a lot of presidents — with responses ranging from George Washington (No. 1) to Barack Obama (No. 44), with many others in between. "I just assumed it was all of them," said Erika Derocher, 23, of Milwaukee, Wis. "Is it a combination of their birthdays so there's less holidays?...

Abraham Lincoln met crises on his knees! During the Civil War he once said, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day." WHAT DO YOU DO? Complain, clam up, or commence your OWN solution? God says, it is “NOT by works of righteousness which we have done” (Titus 3:5) and “there is NO king saved by the multitude of a host: a mighty man is NOT delivered by much strength” (Psalm 33:16). If we...

CIVILIAN control of the military is a cherished principle in American government. It was President Obama who decided to increase our involvement in Afghanistan, and it is Congress that will decide whether to appropriate the money to carry out his decision. It is the president and Congress, not the military, that will decide whether our laws should be changed to allow gays and lesbians to serve in our armed forces. The military advises, but the civilian leadership decides. Yet if not for the actions of George Washington, whose birthday we celebrate, sort of, this month, America might have moved in...

If you want to destroy a house, undermine the foundation. If you want to destroy a nation, do the same. If you want to destroy people who are defined by ideas, trash the ideas. If you want to bring down a society that is sustained by its history, perform a historectomy. You want a meaningless day off work, so you can check out the sales? Then Presidents Day is for you. But I prefer Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays. I’m old enough to remember when holidays had a deeper significance.

Despite the outward signs last Monday, there's actually no such holiday as President's Day to be found in the federal statutes. Or should that be Presidents' Day? Or just plain old, apostrophe-less Presidents Day? Like its legal standing, even the name of the holiday is uncertain Unmoored from the past, like a Presidents' Day connected to no particular president, holidays lose their meaning. Honor all presidents and you honor none; pretend all presidents are equal and they all fade into an equal obscurity. It would be a harmless practice, designating the third Monday in February as an all-purpose, all-presidents holiday,...

PETERSON AFB - What was only meant to announce store hours at the Peterson Air Force Base Commissary has turned into a racial issue. Last week, cashiers took down flyers with a picture of President Barack Obama after several customer complaints. According to employees Melissa and LoVonda, the director ordered the photo down when someone said, ‘this wasn't Obama's day, and his picture shouldn't be on a flyer so it should be taken down.' The two women tell NEWSCHANNEL 13 that when they went to speak with the store director, he wouldn't give them a reason why the flyers were...

In light of President's day I would like to entertain you with a slightly closer look at the comparisons being made between our current president and the much accomplished Abraham Lincoln. I found the comparison to be extremely off-putting as I failed to see any comparison other than state origin and perceived "inexperience" in Congress. For starters, Honest Abe got into politics at the tender age of 23. In the next 17 or so years Abe served in the state legislature, taught himself law, passed the bar and according to most sources became a reputable lawyer. Lincoln toured with Zachary...

In 1789, America got its first President, George Washington, and its first R.C, Bishop, John Carroll. At the time of the former’s death in 1799, Bishop Caroll gave the following eulogy on the Founding Father’s passing:

If, as British cleric and aphorist Charles Caleb Colton has it, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” then what might resemblance perceived in the eye of the beholder be? With rare exceptions, in politics, sycophancy. Barack Hussein Obama has been likened to all but seven of our past presidents – including John Adams, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson - and has at least one thing in common with 25 of them – including, Calvin Coolidge, Chester Arthur, Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon. Click here to find out more.

President Barack Obama's picture was removed this week from a Presidents Day sign at the Peterson Air Force Base commissary after customers complained that the image did not fit the holiday commemorating the birthdays of past presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The head of the local NAACP and a commissary employee say it was blatant racism.

The fuss over Abraham Lincoln's birthday next week is obscuring today's presidential birthday. Ronald Reagan, the only president native to Illinois, was born 98 years ago. Celebrations are planned today at his birthplace in Tampico and his boyhood home in Dixon , both of which are now museums. * The Ronald Reagan Birthplace, 111 S. Main St., Tampico, will have an open house with birthday cake from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. * The Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home, 816 S. Hennepin Ave. , Dixon , will have an open house from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. to celebrate the president's visit to the restored...

The Northeastern School Board's discussion Monday regarding the calendar for the 2008-09 school year prompted a debate over the role of two holidays. The district designated Jan. 19, 2009, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as a day off. It designated Feb. 16, 2009, Washington's Birthday, and Presidents Day, as a snow makeup day. A snow makeup day is considered a day off unless the district has been forced to cancel too many school days because of the weather. If a cancellation does occur, a snow makeup day is considered a normal day of school. This system helps districts ensure that...