Lost in the shuffle of losing American troops at a record clip in Iraq and George W. Bush itching to veto the bill that would bring our military men and women home, was the fact that King George has formally declared today as "Loyalty Day" in America.
"America was founded by patriots who risked their lives to bring freedom to our Nation. Today, our citizens are grateful for our Founding Fathers and confident in the principles that lead us forward. On Loyalty Day, we celebrate the blessings of freedom and remember our responsibility to continue our legacy of liberty," reads the stirring proclamation from Bush.
"Our Nation has never been united simply by blood, birth, or soil, but instead has always been united by the ideals that move us beyond our background and teach us what it means to be Americans. We believe deeply in freedom and self-government, values embodied in our cherished documents and defended by our troops over the course of generations."
Bush then goes on to urge all of us to demonstrate our loyalty to the United States "...by flying the flag, participating in our democracy, and learning more about our country's grand story of courage and simple dream of dignity."
It's funny, but he doesn't mention anything about how it demonstrates loyalty to lie your country into a war and go against the wishes of the vast majority of Americans by pledging to stay in that war indefinitely. The proclamation also doesn't say anything about this White House's loyalty to the families of almost 3,400 troops who have been killed in that war.
Bush also stays away from the subject of how it shows loyalty to American principles to shred the Constitution, spy on our citizens without required warrants and make the entire world lose respect for our nation.
I guess that would be kind of awkward to mention those things when trying to get people to ignore what's going on and simply wave the flag a bit more.
Now, in fairness to Bush, he didn't just make this up to give us all a huge laugh -- or sicken us -- on the fourth anniversary of him declaring that the war in Iraq was over. Public Law 85-529 officially designates May 1 of each year as Loyalty Day and all presidents are required to make this grand pronouncement.
But just this one year, under these circumstances, couldn't we let someone else do it?
I mean, what's next, Rush Limbaugh declaring tomorrow as National Drug Awareness Day?
You can read more from Bob at BobGeiger.com.