George Washington Deserves His Own Holiday, Says Rep. Abell

The state legislature is intensely divided on many issues - not least of which is George Washington's legacy.

As KPQ previously reported, certain Democrats in Olympia are zealously pushing a bill to remove Washington's likeness from the state flag. Meanwhile GOP Rep. Hunter Abell has sponsored a bill that would fundamentally alter the essence of President's Day.

If approved, House Bill 1446 would change President's Day to "George Washington's Birthday Observed." Abell argues that with America's semiquincentennial looming, more focus should be given to Washington, our first president and one of six key framers of the U.S. Constitution.

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As Abell tells Republican operative John Sattgast,

I think this is interesting - there's this effort to really remove George Washington from the history books. I think we need to be going in the other direction! As we approach America's 250th anniversary, we need more attention on George Washington, and not less.

 

I've said, 'Let's take the current day celebrated as President's Day and call it George Washington's Birthday Observed.' That way there's a day set aside to recognize the life and legacy of George Washington.

Washington's actual birthday, as Sattgast points out, is Feb. 22.

The left is famously fragmented, but for what it's worth, not every leftist holds Washington in contempt. Several years ago, as monuments throughout the country were being haphazardly toppled, the World Socialist Website issued a heartfelt appeal to reason:

George Washington was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolution (1775-1783), in which the 13 colonies asserted their independence from their British colonial masters. Washington, in a decision that electrified the world, left behind his military post and returned to private life, helping to institute in practice the separation of the civilian from military power in the republic.

Abell's bill has undergone a public hearing and awaits further action in the House State Government and Tribal Relations Committee.