Hmmm…help found the first genuine republic on earth, lead its ragtag troops in desperate battle after desperate battle, refuse to be made king when the early republic is falling apart, be hunted and pursued by the most powerful nation on earth which would love to assassinate you…
…and not a parade, not a holiday, little mention in the press to commemorate your birthday.
But happily, we’ve got MLK Day!!
Washington was a republican titan - and he was actually physically a titan as well:
From the time he was a young man, George Washington was renowned for his towering stature ? he was well over six feet tall ? and his remarkable strength. He was able to hunt on horseback for as many as seven hours straight, and on one occasion, threw a rock to the top of a famous Virginia landmark, a 215-foot-high rock formation known as the Natural Bridge. The shot was roughly the equivalent of a quarterback tossing a touchdown pass from his own 30 yard-line into his opponent’s end zone … a 70-yard throw.
http://www.history.com/exhibits/washington/didyouknow.html
An autodidact and a natural man of action, and a firm believer in American exceptionalism, he was the perfect man for the job in his time.
Happy Birthday, General Washington.
Sorry, I’m not allowed to agree with either of you, since George Washington owned slaves and did not single handedly end that onerous institution.
But as for the battles and government stuff - good job, George.
Did any of you Good Guys see the recent History Channel special where they researched and constructed three full sized replicas of Washington?
I belive it’s under Modern Marvels. They have made life sized busts of him at 57, 45, and age 19.
That was a great man. Our Cinncinatus.
JeffR
He was truly a great man.
[quote]JeffR wrote:
Did any of you Good Guys see the recent History Channel special where they researched and constructed three full sized replicas of Washington?
I belive it’s under Modern Marvels. They have made life sized busts of him at 57, 45, and age 19.
That was a great man. Our Cinncinatus.
JeffR[/quote]
I saw it. He looked pretty hardcore without hair, more intimidating than with.
I think pissing him off would NOT have been a good idea.
Thunder,
Great link!
My favorite Part:
"Washington’s victory at Yorktown in October of 1781 marked the end of Britain’s attempt to subdue its rebellious colonies. All that remained was to hammer out a peace treaty which would formalize what had been accomplished on the battlefield. With their political future suddenly upon them, many Americans, including members of congress and officers in the Continental Army, wanted George Washington to become King of America. To one such suggestion, Washington responded in no uncertain terms. “Be assured Sir, no occurrence in the course of the War has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the Army?If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable?if you have any regard for your Country?or respect for me?banish these thoughts from your Mind?”
Wow!!
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Hmmm…help found the first genuine republic on earth, lead its ragtag troops in desperate battle after desperate battle, refuse to be made king when the early republic is falling apart, be hunted and pursued by the most powerful nation on earth which would love to assassinate you…
…and not a parade, not a holiday, little mention in the press to commemorate your birthday.
But happily, we’ve got MLK Day!![/quote]
Its called Presidents Day. A double celebration.
It’s so we all don’t get to many days off in an already very short month.
Happy Birthday Washington! Way to Go H.H, What’d you do in Celebration?
He was a great president and a great man.
Where have all the George Washingtons, the Thomas Jeffersons and the Teddy Roosevelts gone? Why don’t they get into politics anymore?
Oh…and I celebrate Washington’s birthday every year. I blow out candles, eat a bit of cake, and even sometimes receive presents on old George’s behalf. 
Yeah my evening went well, I started off with a bong and the kids, went on a bike ride alone and laughed at my own jokes.
[quote]Cunnivore wrote:
Sorry, I’m not allowed to agree with either of you, since George Washington owned slaves and did not single handedly end that onerous institution.[/quote]
Ownership of slaves should not be the litmus test of greatness. Thousands of great men throughout history owned slaves or defended the institution of slavery, including Alexander and Leonidas, Aristotle, Socrates and Cicero, the Prophet Muhammad, Jesus of Nazareth, the Apostle Paul, and practically all of the patriarchs of the Old Testament.
Ulysses S. Grant, the general who brought down the Confederacy and, for all practical purposes, did as much to “end slavery” as Lincoln did, also owned slaves, and didn’t free them until required to do so by law, three years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and nine months after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox (Grant’s rationale as to why he personally perpetuated an institution he was supposedly fighting to end? “Good help is so hard to come by these days”).
Washington was a Southern planter at a time when employing slaves was commonplace and legal. Most of them he did not buy them himself, but inherited them from his father and other family members. And he freed them all when he died. He was the only Founding Father to do so.
[quote]ssn0 wrote:
Happy Birthday Washington! Way to Go H.H, What’d you do in Celebration?[/quote]
H.H. did the same thing I did: He walked down the street, stomped on a few of you liberal sissies, waved an American flag, and took everything you and your pals own.
We met no resistance.
It was glorious!!!
JeffR
EeewwwwWW!
[quote]JeffR wrote:
H.H. did the same thing I did: He walked down the street, stomped on a few of you liberal sissies, waved an American flag, and took everything you and your pals own.
We met no resistance.
It was glorious!!!
[/quote]
You realize, Jeff, that with maybe four or five more guys doing the same thing, you could probably conquer France. It’s worth a try, anyway.
Happy Birthday to the Greatest American.
Washington doesn’t get enough credit for his growth in regards to slavery. While the contemptible hypocrite Jefferson shifted from active concern for emancipation (at least in when he wasn’t having sex with his slaves and breeding blacks to sell for profit) to one of the most ardent advocates of its expansion into the western territories, Washington took the opposite path. Washington’s growing repugnance towards slavery was one of the main reasons for his backing Hamilton’s financial system against Jefferson’s attacks. He was the only Virginia founding father to free his slaves.
As far as Grant the slaveholder, in 1858, while attempting to make a go in civilian life as a farmer near St. Louis, Mo., U.S. Grant bought a slave named William Jones from his brother-in-law. Grant gave Jones his freedom within a year of the purchase, despite the fact the Grant desperately needed the money he might have recovered by selling him. Grant’s wife owned about four slaves in her own name, and there is no record of these slaves having been freed prior to emancipation in Missouri in 1865.
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
JeffR wrote:
H.H. did the same thing I did: He walked down the street, stomped on a few of you liberal sissies, waved an American flag, and took everything you and your pals own.
We met no resistance.
It was glorious!!!
You realize, Jeff, that with maybe four or five more guys doing the same thing, you could probably conquer France. It’s worth a try, anyway.[/quote]
Any of you guy celebrate Charles Martel’s birthday sometimes?
Interesting article about Washington’s beliefs:
[quote]pookie wrote:
Any of you guy celebrate Charles Martel’s birthday sometimes?
[/quote]
This is me on August 23rd, celebrating Charles’ birthday. Shortly afterward, I went drinking with my pal Frank and we got totally hammered.
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
JeffR wrote:
H.H. did the same thing I did: He walked down the street, stomped on a few of you liberal sissies, waved an American flag, and took everything you and your pals own.
We met no resistance.
It was glorious!!!
You realize, Jeff, that with maybe four or five more guys doing the same thing, you could probably conquer France. It’s worth a try, anyway.[/quote]
Do not start in the banlieus though.
You would not make it past the first block.
