I really had never heard about this until today. Apparently after Sept. 11th it was signed into law that the president should designate every September 11th "Patriot Day" from now until the end of time. This strikes me as rather...odd.

Remembering those who died in the attack on Sept. 11 is no doubt on everyone's mind tomorrow. But does that mean 9/11 should be designated with an official "holiday" term? Especially "Patriot Day" which conjures up "patriotic" images of American dominance and bravado, like the over-the-top example I've shown above, rather than focusing on the victims. It just seems weird because we don't mark other national tragedies like this. December 7th is not a "holiday" but we all remember what happened at Pearl Harbor. Neither do we "celebrate" days like JFK or MLK's assasinations, the Oklaholma City Bombing or Columbine or Virginia Tech. But we do remember them.

I'm not trying to suggest that Bush is purposely trying to do something bull-headed and insensitive here, the bill does state that the intent of the holiday is to remember the victims, but it does strike me as rather strange to have a holiday "declared" for tomorrow. We already have Memorial Day which serves to remind us of those who have fallen in battle (those who died on Sept. 11th should qualify as victims of the "War on Terror"). We all remember September 11th, there's no need to give it a goofy name. 

But if "Patriot Day" really has been around since 2001, and I haven't heard of it until Sept. 10th, 2008, it appears that the rest of America really hasn't wanted the term to catch on either. 9/11 will always be 9/11, and we'll honor the victims no matter what people try to call the day.