Recent Comments

1. about 12 hours ago on Wizard of Id

   Looks like they’re chasing Rodney.

2. 2 days ago on Red and Rover

   I just saw a Peanuts comic where Charlie Brown’s kite froze when he tried flying it in Winter like Red.

3. 4 days ago on Red and Rover

   Loved those hairdos! They were fun to hold on to when you were kissing a girl. (When you weren’t holding on to something else.)

4. 5 days ago on Peanuts

   I understand, but Congress moved the observance of it to the third Monday in February. Schools have since abandoned both Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays largely because of that. I don’t remember if we got those days off when I was growing up, but I do remember we did projects and artwork about both of them.

5. 6 days ago on That is Priceless

   “Oughter be ashamed of ‘erself! How d’ I get the other picture?”

6. 6 days ago on Peanuts

   It’s not officially “Presidents Day” anyway. It is offically “George Washington’s Birthday (Observed),” meant to honor our first President and Commander-in-Chief. But “Presidents Day” is good for marketing. There are a few Presidents I wouldn’t include in a Presidents Day.

7. 6 days ago on Peanuts

   Agreed! All of us are flawed and often we don’t see our own major faults within our lifetime. Washington was flawed as were many of his generation. I don’t know of a place or a time where people would perfectly fit into our modern ideals. It was during that generation that the tide began to turn against slavery. Washington was born into that (British) world that largely believed that slavery was okay. As he matured, and especially in light of the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, he grew to be uncomfortable with slavery. His will included instructions for the freeing and care of the slaves he owned upon his death. (He had no power to free Martha’s slaves, as they were dower slaves and they could not be freed by Virginia law at that time.) Progress often happens in slow steps (by law, state-by-state, as it began to happen during his life) or rapid violent turn of events (the Civil War). In a sense, they were victims of their time, yet without excuse. In other words, they were human.

8. 6 days ago on Peanuts

   Many still do, although it is now officially celebrated on the third Monday in February. It has become colloquially known as “Presidents Day” but the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 designated it officially as “George Washington’s Birthday (Observed).” This, along with the other Monday-designated holidays in the act, was meant to move federal holidays during the week to Monday, always giving federal employees a three-day weekend. It was never intended to celebrate any other president than George Washington, our first President and Commander-in-Chief. By setting it on this date (the third Monday of February), it is assured that it will never fall on his real birthday (February 22 by the Gregorian calendar; February 11 by the Julian calendar, which was the actual date he was born. The British Empire switched to the Gregorian calendar in September 1752.) Unfortunately, this set of unintended consequences has led to most people not thinking about Washington or his birthday.

9. 7 days ago on Frazz

   Same here!

10. 8 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

    I agree with much of what you said. I never stated, or meant to imply, that his ideas were original. But he did write the Declaration of Independence and put his signature to it which made him a traitor in the eyes of the British government. He also would have preferred to keep the 28th grievance in the Declaration as he wrote it, blaming King George for the slave trade. Instead, northern and southern slaveowners in the Congress objected to it and had the passage removed from the final document. He didn’t always choose to do the right thing, but his participation in the Second Continental Congress (and the resulting Declaration of Independence) was certainly not cowardice. All men of that time were flawed, a mixture of good and bad, including the philosophers that Jefferson based his writings on. Human beings may improve situations over time, but we will never be perfect.