Happy Presidents Day.

Well, it's Presidents day, The day that we honor two of the great and terrible men who have served as our nation's highest elected official. I use the word "terrible" with no disrespect to the men for whom this holiday was created. It's simply the nature of the job that brought out the best, as well as the worst in these great men. They were great in their accomplishments, and their devotion to this country and the ideals upon which it was founded. They were terrible for the momentous decisions they were forced to make, and the ultimate results of those decisions. What better a day than today, Presidents day, to discuss the great and terrible failures of the current administration.

At last count, over 2200 American armed forces have died in the war in Iraq. Yet to this day, there has been no consistent explanation from this administration as to the reasons for starting this war, or the objectives that are to be attained in the prosecution of this war.

The only thing more disastrous to the Gulf Coast in recent years than Hurricane Katrina is this administration's response to it. How many are still missing? How many are still homeless? How many have yet to receive the assistance that they were promised? This is a national scandal and an outrage, and does not befit the wealthiest nation in the world.

The patriot act, the domestic spying program, the gulag at Guantanimo all represent this administration's blatant disregard for the freedoms and liberties that our nation was founded upon. Where is the justice for the prisoners being held at Guantanimo? Where is the oversight and accountability for the potential abuses of the patriot act and the domestic spying program?

George Bush walks in the footsteps of some truly great Americans. He owes it to his country to "faithfully execute the office of President of the United States" in a manner befitting the remarkable men who came before him. And yet through his abdication of the very responsibilities for which he vowed to fulfill, he is nothing more than a President in title only. As such, he has yet to truly wear the mantle of the Chief Executive and Commander in Chief of our great country.

Here are some quotes from Washington and Lincoln that shed some light on their greatness, and put the failures of the current administration in perspective:

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. - Abraham Lincoln

As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality. - George Washington

Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. - Abraham Lincoln

How soon we forget history... Government is not reason. Government is not eloquence. It is force. And, like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts. - Abraham Lincoln

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. - George Washington

Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure. - Abraham Lincoln

It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it. - George Washington

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. - Abraham Lincoln

My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth. - George Washington

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. - Abraham Lincoln

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder. - George Washington

Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln

Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. - George Washington

The assertion that "all men are created equal" was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain and it was placed in the Declaration not for that, but for future use. - Abraham Lincoln

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments. - George Washington

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it. - Abraham Lincoln

Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. - George Washington

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. - Abraham Lincoln


And finally, one for which President Lincoln probably had in mind someone like President Bush...

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. - Abraham Lincoln

He really had some great material. ;-)