Parents Day July 22
I noticed on my wall calendar that July 22 is marked as "Parents Day." I had never heard of this holiday before, but after a little googling I found it's a national holiday signed into law by President Clinton in 1994. I found information about it at www.parentsday.com.
I suspected this new holiday was intended to broaden the defintion of "parent" and "family," but it is apparently the opposite, as this site explains (emphasis mine):
So this holiday seems not about celebrating the individual roles of mother and father, but the importance of the traditional nuclear family, something worth celebrating and desperately in need of promoting.
I can't help noticing the irony that this came from the president whose wife claimed "it takes a village to raise a child," and whose said wife's book got a lot more publicity than this new holiday.
Not to complain, but can anyone tell me why Bill Clinton can institute a holiday like this and sign the Defense of Marriage Act without any significant controversy, but when George Bush calls marriage a union of a man and woman, he is called a theocratic, homophobic bigot?
Anyone?
In any case, a belated thanks to President Clinton for this holiday promoting traditional marriage and family, even though he received almost no credit or flak for it.
I suspected this new holiday was intended to broaden the defintion of "parent" and "family," but it is apparently the opposite, as this site explains (emphasis mine):
In every culture and time period, the family has stood as the most fundamental human institution. Family is the starting point of life, the sustainer of well-being, and the school of love. A family begins with the joining together of man and woman, husband and wife, becoming father and mother – and parents. The most powerful of human bonds is the parent-child relationship.
Commitment to family has always been a core value. Tragically, however, what was often held as a common value, recognized as common sense, even understood as self-evident in the past, is sometimes not so today. ...
... our popular culture over the past several decades has emphasized self-fulfillment and self-gratification. Such focus on the self runs counter to the essence of parenthood, which fundamentally involves unconditional true love.
... [more]
So this holiday seems not about celebrating the individual roles of mother and father, but the importance of the traditional nuclear family, something worth celebrating and desperately in need of promoting.
I can't help noticing the irony that this came from the president whose wife claimed "it takes a village to raise a child," and whose said wife's book got a lot more publicity than this new holiday.
Not to complain, but can anyone tell me why Bill Clinton can institute a holiday like this and sign the Defense of Marriage Act without any significant controversy, but when George Bush calls marriage a union of a man and woman, he is called a theocratic, homophobic bigot?
Anyone?
In any case, a belated thanks to President Clinton for this holiday promoting traditional marriage and family, even though he received almost no credit or flak for it.
posted by StarBittrune | 9:27 AM
2 Comments:
Not to complain, but can anyone tell me why Bill Clinton can institute a holiday like this and sign the Defense of Marriage Act without any significant controversy, but when George Bush calls marriage a union of a man and woman, he is called a theocratic, homophobic bigot?
It must have been a compromise. Clinton was allowed to sign the DOMA without any backlash as long as he vetoed the partial-birth abortion ban.
Basically, I think the difference between Bill Clinton's and George Bush's methods of operation are what allowed Bill Clinton to get minimal flak - at least in the straight press - when signing DOMA.
The Clinton administration seemed open and reasonable compared with the secretive, heavy-handed methods of this administration. Bush's administration has waged a political war on the American people - witness the number of problem with truth this administration has had; Twisting science to fit the administration priorities; The headlong rush to war on fabricated pretenses; Political appointees which were not qualified for the job; The list goes on and on!
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