President's Day

This weekend is a holiday weekend in the States, and if you ever thought you'd forget that fact, you're terribly mistaken. Even if you only watch a little TV, you won't escape the commercials, and you won't escape the sales going on for every consumer item, large or small, just to celebrate this day. After all, what could be more fitting than taking a holiday weekend, one of those long weekends American loves so well, to pay homage to ... presidents?

Yep, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were both Aquarians. In the search for a way of avoiding offering more vacation time, those two birthdays were put together to be celebrated on the third Monday in February, and to be henceforth known as President's Day.

Two of the greatest icons of American history: the Father of the Country (Washington, first president, perpetuated on the ubiquitous one-dollar bill) and the Signer of the Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln, 16th president, during the Civil War and perpetuated on the five-dollar bill) get to share a holiday all their own. Of course, the prominence in American society ... or should I say the American economy (I'm not sure there's much of the former anymore, but I'm convinced there's a lot of the latter) ... of these two gentlemen on the country's currency is really the tip-off to the holiday just ahead: buy, buy, buy, buy, buy.

I don't doubt for a minute that this is exactly what all good Americans will do this holiday weekend. We may like history, but we love today. And the more we spend today, the brighter the future ... or so the mantra goes. I still think, though, that a little more emphasis on history, particularly recent history, could also be in order. After all, most of the folks I've been talking to lately don't seem to be quite as optimistic as they used to be.