End President's Day, Long Live Washington!

We recently went through the buffoonery of celebrating Presidents’ Day through grand sales at retail outlets and a delay in the post.  Why exactly the culture has decided that we should celebrate every single President - including the luminaries of Chester Arthur and Franklin Pierce - with deep discounts on appliances is beyond me.

Like so many of our other civic holidays, Presidents’ Day is mostly a sham.  It should be rooted out and our nation should again proudly celebrate Washington - alone.  He is truly the indispensable man in American history.  

The holiday was intended to commemorate the singular, historic accomplishments of George Washington.  February 22 (not the third Monday of February) is Washington’s true birthday.  After he was given to the ages, Americans began to celebrate his birthday without any government prodding.  In 1879, February 22 became an official federal holiday.  

That Washington deserved adulation was once a self-evident truth.  He played a key role in the skirmish that set off the French and Indian War.  That war led to enormous debt for the British Empire, which led the British imposing taxation without representation.  The British policy was a leading spark to the American Revolution.  Washington then commanded the Continental Army against the British.  Through a series of brilliant logistical and strategic actions, he wore down the finest military on the globe and won American independence.  In a masterstroke, he retired from public service.  Returning home to Mt. Vernon, he allowed the seed of freedom to sprout.  

Several years later, he was reluctantly cajoled to preside over the Constitutional Convention.  His support was crucial to ratification of the Constitution.  Not content to let Washington leave the field again, he was the only person unanimously elected (twice) as President.  As the first President, he created many of the traditions, and initiated many polices, that dominate even today.  He refused the major trappings of royalty, and understood his role as a president of a republic.  After his second term, he again voluntarily retired.  This act of relinquishing power was unparalleled since the ancients.   Awestruck, his nemesis - King George III - declared him the “greatest character of the age.”  For once, the King was right.

There was a time when Washington was recognized each year.  Today he is all but a caricature hawking carpets.  Although there are many reasons for this denigration, it was all but assured by the ruining of his holiday.  Beset by commercial and labor interests, President Richard Nixon issued an executive order fixing Washington’s Birthday on the third Monday on February.  Soon businesses and the popular culture transformed the day to “Presidents’ Day.”  Technically the federal holiday remains Washington’s - but practically it celebrates nothing.

The gutting of the holiday has consequences.  Like a religious liturgical calendar - which renews the faith of followers - America needs a civic calendar.  This calendar should make us pause to give thanks for our blessings and renew our faith in the country.  We still have the calendar (Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Veterans’ Day), but it has become so cheapened by money and three day weekends that it is worse than worthless. End the charade.

In his General Orders on July 2, 1776 to the newly formed Continental Army, Washington explained that “The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves . . . .The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army . . . . if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world.”  As a republic, his call harkens to us today.  The time is now in which the fates of millions rest.  Let us triumph.

Washington’s importance is why he holds a prominent position in the new civic celebration of Patriot Week, co-founded by me and my then 10 year old daughter Leah.  Patriot Week is renewing our civic calendar by celebrating the First Principles, Founding Fathers and other Patriots, vital documents and speeches, and flags that make America the greatest nation in world history. Anchored by the key dates of September 11 and September 17 (Constitution Day), Patriot Week renews America’s spirit and has captures the imagination and support of citizens across the nation.

Let us answer the challenge of freedom standing up for freedom and by vigorously celebrating Washington’s Birthday and Patriot Week.  

For more, visit www.PatriotWeek.org and www.AmericasSurvivalGuide.com.

The True Meaning of Patriotism

Oakland County, MI (January 23, 2014) –   “In America, patriotism is not simply the act of loving one’s country.  In America, patriotism is the love of our founding First Principles as articulated in the Declaration of Independence and embedded in our Constitution.”   Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren declared recently to enthralled audiences.  “American Patriotism is keeping the flame of liberty alive.  American Patriotism is ensuring that our People and public officials stay true to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and promoting America’s exceptionalism at home and defending it overseas.”

Addressing approximately 150 guests at the Romeo Area Tea Party in Shelby Township and 50 guests at the Southeast Michigan 912 Group in Utica at a second event, Judge Warren provided an overview of many definitions and historically rooted perspectives on the meaning of patriotism.  “Most definitions of patriotism simply refer to love of country.  Others contend that patriotism is a negative force.” Judge Warren remarked.  “But in America, true patriotism is a much deeper, positive force.  And it is the love of the deeper meaning of America that is so essential to preserving our freedoms and liberties.”  After reviewing the American Revolution and the evolution of patriotism in America - he issued a challenge to the audience to renew the spirit of America by re-embracing our founding First Principles.

Alarmed that large portions of our students and the general public are ill-informed, Judge Warren and his then 10-year-old daughter Leah created Patriot Week in 2009.  The week is anchored by the key dates of September 11 (the anniversary of the terrorist’s attacks) and September 17 (Constitution Day, the anniversary of when the United States Constitution was signed). Patriot Week is a grassroots effort to celebrate and honor America by commemorating its First Principles (the rule of law, equality, unalienable rights, the Social Compact, limited government and the right to alter or abolish an oppressive government), key historical figures, founding documents and symbols.  It is intended to fill the void left by the commercialization or disregard of our existing holidays. Detailed information about Patriot Week is available at www.patriotweek.org.  He is also the author of America’s Survival Guide, How to Stop America’s Impending Suicide by Reclaiming Our First Principles and History.

We Hold These Truths....

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

This Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most important document in modern history.  Its principles are we define this nation, and what we should celebrate this holiday.

As you enjoy the holiday (extending over the weekend for many), remember the sacrifices of our Founding Fathers and other great patriots over the generations.  Remember that it is up to us to preserve the sacred fire of liberty.  

Take same time and read the entire Declaration:  http://patriotweek.org/the-declaration-of-independence

For more, visit www.PatriotWeek.org and www.AmericasSurvivalGuide.com.

What Price Freedom? Responsibility

"Responsibility is the price of freedom." Elbert Hubbard.

So true.  Yet so hard.  Perhaps this is why so many in human history are willing to forgo freedom - yes, they don't have liberty, but they don't have to responsible for their own lives.  Complacency and laziness are truly the enemies of our unalienable rights.

For more, visit America's Survival Guide and Patriot Week.

Freedom Includes Rubbish...

"The price of freedom of religion or of speech, or of the press is that we must put up with . . . a good deal of rubbish."  Justice Robert H. Jackson.

Justice Jackson had it exactly right.  Freedom means the freedom to make mistakes, to talk outside of the political norm, and to be downright silly.  The ability to be free means we have to put up with the same thing from others.  The unalienable rights of the free exercise of religion, petition, speech, press and association means we have to suffer with the fools as well as with the brilliant.   It is for the marketplace of ideas to decide what will prevail in the end, not government censors.  Lets keep it that way.

For more, visit Patriot Week and America's Survival Guide

Freedom of Thought - Battleground of Liberty

"America is best described by one word, FREEDOM." 
Dwight Eisenhower.

Stand Tall, Do Not Bow to the Government

"Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us?" William O. Douglass, US Supreme Court Justice

Justice Douglass' words remind us that we are Americans.  Being an American means quite a bit, the most important of which is that we are free men and women - there is no nobility or King here.  Too often our political class acts like its entitled to lord over us.  It is just the opposite - the government is intended to serve the people - the government is the servant of the people, not the other way around.  Be vigilant, stand tall, stand for freedom.

To learn more about freedom, check out Patriot Week and Americas Survival Guide.

History, the Key to Freedom

"A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind." John Maynard Keynes.

Although Keynes was an economist, his observation that the study of history - of opinion and otherwise - is  the key to freedom was dead-on.  When people blithely accept what is, and do not understand the past, they are likely to be trapped in a mentality of complacency.  Understanding the past - as well as current events - is indispensable to ensuring liberty today and in the future.

That is why Patriot Week is so important - it enables us to understand the foundation of our liberty, and how to preserve today and the in future.  See also America's Survival Guide for more insights.

In the end, liberty or tyranny.

“I have sworn upon the alter of God, eternal hostility to against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Thomas Jefferson.

In the end, America stands for freedom, and we need to commit to it.  In the end, what makes America unique is our dedication to liberty.  In the end, we either follow Jefferson, or go down the path of tyranny.  Choose.

For more, visit America's Survival Guide and Patriot Week.