A little bit of pre-emptive grar: Patriot Day (USA) →[More:]
On this day, the President directs that the American flag be flown at half-staff at individual American homes, at the White House, and on all U.S. government buildings and establishments, home and abroad. The President also asks Americans to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 A.M. (Eastern Daylight Time), the time the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001
I realize this was set up and named mere months after 9/11/2010, but it still irks me. Trying to think of any vague parallels in modern history, I thought of Pearl Harbor. The implications were huge, but December 7th isn't a national holiday, and according my research (looking on Wikipedia), it took
Congress until 1985 to recognize the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. How does anything around 9/11 have to do with patriotism? I support remembering those who died and who were impacted by the events of the day, but the name seems like such a trigger with no real significance for the events of that day. But I'm sure the name and the practices won't be touched for another few decades, or until the focus on "patriotism" fades somewhat.
Sorry for the (early) rant.