9/11

...seventeen years later.
Almost as many people died as a result of hurricane Maria last year as did on that fateful day in September. President Bush and the American people (as well as the world)  rose to the occasion during that earlier time of crisis.  But just today, our president failed to acknowledge his failure in Puerto Rico.

Green Valley is a bizarre town...and the 99.5% old white population isn't very tolerant.  The American Legion places flags along both sides of the main road for President's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day...all  lay national holidays...and apparently now on the anniversary of 9/11; however, there's a glaring omission:: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  To understand that is to understand the historic bigotry in Arizona.

The Arizona state legislature voted to not adhere to the 1986 federal law establishing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a national paid holiday Then Governor Bruce Babbitt (D) issued an executive order mandating it as a paid holiday. This caused controversy because it wasn't approved by the legislature. Somehow managing to get elected, Evan Mecham (R) fulfilled a campaign promise to cancel the holiday (he was eventually impeached on charges of misuse of government funds and obstruction of justice). In 1990, 76% of Arizona voters rejected the holiday, causing the NFL to move the Super Bowl in 1993 from Tempe, AZ to Pasadena, California. Finally, in 1993, MLK Day was officially observed as a paid holiday. So, it took 9 years, 500 million dollars in lost revenue, a corrupt governor, and a national controversy for a severely belated vote on the holiday to limp into the books.

So while I appreciate the efforts by the local American Legion to put up dozens of flags for white people's holidays, their blatant racism pisses ticks me off.