It’s Presidents Day

Dating myself again, I remember back in the good old days when equal weight was given to the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln on February 12th, and of George Washington on February 22nd. I recall that school children were given a day off on both days.

Banks were closed, too.

But that was a little too much to take for some people, what with February being the shortest month of the year, even on leap year.

But it’s Presidents Day again and a very aptly timed one this year at that.

Aptly timed because tomorrow is the first day of Early Voting in the Texas Primaries.

Yes, it is a non-presidential year, but that isn’t enough of a reason to stay home from the polls. No we don’t get to choose between the first woman or the first African-American to be the Democratic nominee, but there is enough out there to go and have some fun with.

For instance, there is a County Chair race that could just mean the difference between winning and losing in 2010 and 2012 in Fort Bend County. Everybody I know is voting for Steve Brown to unseat our do-nothing, secretive, and obstructionist Chair, Elaine Bishop.

For instance, there is a race in HD 27 that pits a young energetic progressive attorney against an anti-choice, anti-stem cell research Democrat. A Democrat who votes to let the government intrude into the lives (and bodies) of women because there are a lot of “church people” in her district. A vote for Ron Reynolds in HD 27 will fix that problem.

For instance, there is a statewide race for the Democratic nomination for governor. It’s a deep field running, but only two serious candidates exist: businessman Farouk Shami and businessman and former Houston mayor Bill White. Of the two Bill White will present the only credible opposition to the inevitable choice of the Dark Side, Rick Perry.

So there are lots of reasons to go out and vote.

And lastly, because it is Presidents Day, I wanted to post my latest favorite photograph of the current president, President Barack Hussein Obama.

Yes, that is the Resolute Desk that Obama has his feet hiked up on. And yes, the Resolute Desk was given by Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880. And yes the Resolute Desk is so-named because it was built from timbers scavenged from the HMS Resolute when it was broken up in 1879.

And yes the Teabaggers are utterly and completely up in arms over this photograph of our president with his feet up on this desk.

But you know, sometimes a man’s feet do hurt. What better place to prop them up but on a 130 year old desk?