Patriot day? Never fucking heard of it. The word 'patriot' has been ruined for me by the Patriot Act.

Bush co-opted MA's Patriot's day.

I thought of Pearl Harbor. The implications were huge, but December 7th isn't a national holiday

*cough*

Technically, these are not holidays, but observances. Personally, as cheesy as making this "Patriot Day" is (on the order of calling everyone who died "Heroes", sheesh), it's really something that you can treat as background noise if you like, and clearly Obama has made less of it (even as Bush made less and less of it himself).

I maintain my patriotism despite the utterly un-American and in my view unconstitutional Patriot Act. And since there was a great upwelling of patriotism in the US and friendship for us outside in the wake of 9/11, before Bush poisoned the well, I don't have a problem with the name of the day or the effort to honor the people who died then.

Also, though I lived in Mass a long time and honor the memory of Lexington and Concord, I'm not sure Massachusetts needs to have exclusive use of the title, Patriot Day.

To use a Massachusetts analogy, I also think it is still fine to refer to the Minutemen who turned out in April of 1775 by that name, despite the use of the name later for a missile and a bunch of obnoxious border vigilantes.

It annoys me a little less than the fact that labor day is being turned into a "the military is awesome day."

It's also annoying that in the US — to forestall its observance by Communists or socialists as a workers' holiday — May 1 is Law Day. And that Armistice Day got changed to Veterans Day.

If it were a holiday, there'd be ads for the Macy's Patriot Day Sale.

There have been ads for "Patriot Day" sales here. Makes me sick.

I'm ambivalent about the whole "Patriot Day" concept; we have plenty of days to celebrate the country, and yet people do need to call it something besides nine eleven or nine one one.

"PATRIOT DAY111" seems more like "oh yeah? That totally didn't hurt!" kind of taunt. If it were an observance in twenty years, I could take it, but the whole rah rah thing seems to be born more of insecurity than confidence.

I don't think there's any way it could be made a federal holiday. The states would have to approve. The fight over that would be worse than the one over MLK day. I know I'd fight like hell against it.

The last refuge of scoundrels.

the whole rah rah thing seems to be born more of insecurity than confidence.

This, this, this. I could go on a rant about certain bumper stickers, political movements, and poor choices in t-shirt apparel that all center around THIS idea, about feelings of impotence being the driving force behind a lot of this shit, but I can't because it's my bedtime. Just had to say, yes, you are exactly right.

We're Patriots Day here in Mass. (and Maine too, since it used to be part of Mass. until the blessed year 1820 ;-) ), and I have never heard of Patriot Day.

Who's the patriot?

On this day, the President directs that the American flag be flown at half-staff at individual American homes,...
Funny, I thought the US was a free country?

It's also annoying that in the US — to forestall its observance by Communists or socialists as a workers' holiday — May 1 is Law Day.
Way back when Joh Bjelke Petersen was premier of Queensland, he decreed that Labour Day not be celebrated in Queensland. Not because he was anti-communist (although he was), but because he hated the 40-hour work week. Instead, we celebrated May Day on the same day as the rest of the nation celebrated Labour Day.

I guess I have no right to chime in on this debate (not that this will stop me), but to assume that all those killed in the attack on the WTC were patriots seems farcical, particularly given the nature of a significant number of companies that operated there. It seems obvious that there were at least as many money-grubbing arseholes as patriots killed (not to mention, no doubt many people who would object strongly to being consider a patriot in a US context). That doesn't mean they don't have as much right to be mourned, but to lump them all in as patriots is a bit insulting and demeans the true sense of what people see as a patriot.

dhartung - thanks for the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day link. I like the name of it because the name says it all (or enough for folks who know US history). And there is no moment of silence at the moment of initial impact. Any way, this year 9/11 is a Saturday, so I will most likely be asleep at that moment.

a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 A.M.

Well, I may be snoring, but otherwise, whatever.

I think it is being called Patriot Day because people in the US responded to the 9/11 attacks with a lot of spontaneous displays of pride in being US citizens -- flags, bunting, red white and blue ribbons on car antennas, etc. IMHO, that was actually a good thing, particularly since it was accompanied by a lot of spontaneous overseas displays of affection and support for the US. It is not about labeling everyone who died in the attacks as patriots.

It is easy to forget this in the wake of the really dreadful things that followed, including the claim that invading Iraq was warranted because Saddam had something to do with the attacks.