Illinois Dems Want a State Holiday for Obama

The Federalist Papers – by C.E. Dyer

Illinois state Rep. Andrew Thapedi just put forward legislation in the blue state to create a state holiday honoring former President Barack Obama and was swiftly met with some intense backlash, as well as strong positive reaction from supporters.

“We’re digging a grave especially for you,” Chicago Democrat Thapedi claimed he received in an email after Breitbart published a story about his bill.  

“It has been a hodge-podge of responses, from one end of the spectrum to the other: joy, jubilation on one side; absolute, unadulterated venom on the other side,” he said.

Politico reported:

Even if a full-fledged state holiday doesn’t happen anytime soon in Illinois, lawmakers have alternatives in the pipeline: bills to name two different highways after the president and a proposal to have an “Obama Day” without the day off from work. And, most prominently, the Obama presidential library and museum is slotted for a South Side locale, amid criticism that the cost could climb to an eye-popping $1.5 billion for building and endowment. That’s not all: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed naming a new elite Chicago high school after Obama in 2014, but the idea was torpedoed amid anger that the school was to be located on the city’s mostly white North Side.

Opposition to the accolades, of course, isn’t specific to Obama. Attempts to honor the legacies of past presidents have also faced stumbling blocks. When congressional Republicans renamed Washington National Airport as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in 1998, D.C.-area local leaders and congressional Democrats decried the effort. Nearly two decades later, the controversy continues to smolder — a liberal political group initiated a petition campaign in 2015 to remove Reagan’s name.

Former President Ronald Reagan served for two terms as governor of the state of California, yet here we are, around 50 years on, and the state is still trying to get a holiday in place there to honor his legacy.

Regardless of who the president in question is, it seems a bit much to implement a state holiday for each and every one.

It is a convenient way to get a day off of work, though, and in that regard, I can’t fault people for trying…

The Federalist Papers

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