Presidents Day should be on Super Bowl Monday

Happy Presidents Day! OK, maybe I’m two weeks early with that, but if I have my way — and I plan on annoying every single member of the New Jersey state legislature until I do — starting next year, the state holiday of “Presidents Day” will no longer fall on the third Monday of February; it will fall on the first Monday. Otherwise known as “The Day After the Super Bowl.”

This idea came to me innocently enough: I tweeted at the president. “Um, @realDonaldTrump: Listen, I don’t agree with a lot of what has been going on lately, but...how about some kind of executive order making the Monday morning after the Super Bowl a national holiday? Just the morning. Resume normal activities by noon. I await your reply.”

Surprisingly, our Commander-in-Chief failed to reply.

I decided to try a different tact: I went to our esteemed governor. Same statement, with the “I don’t agree with a lot” etc. spiel, and … no response.

I then went local. I went to tweet my mayor, but his tweets are “protected.” (Someone needs a lesson in social media.) Anyway, decided to hit up Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert. I have no issue with her policies, so I just went for the holiday angle. She replied, but I was disappointed. “haha — sorry, don’t think i have the power to help you out on this one. take it easy on sunday night!”

Sound advice, though I wish Liz had a little more dictator in her.

Finally, I smartened up. Forget executive orders; I needed some good oldfashioned legislative action. Who else to turn to than state Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, the only legislator in New Jersey history that has more common sense than delusions of grandeur? (Remember, he’s the one who got rid of the red light cameras. All hail O’Scanlon.)

His response set off the chain of events that begins today.

“I could be persuaded,” he said. “But since we’re impacting taxpayerfunded jobs I can’t justify adding a day. How about we trade an existing one for SB+1 Day?”

My response was immediate: “Kill Presidents Day. Done.”

Now to be clear: I have no problem killing Presidents Day. In New Jersey, the holiday celebrates all presidents. And I’m 99.9 percent certain 99.9 percent of New Jerseyans never want to celebrate Obama or Trump, so we could probably end it right there.

Please note I only referenced New Jersey in the above paragraph concerning “Presidents Day.” Because federally, the holiday is known as “Washington’s Birthday.” New Jersey calls in Presidents Day, along with Nevada and Oregon. Nine states call it Presidents’ Day (note the apostrophe.) Nine other states make it a possessive for some reason, calling it “President’s Day.” And 17 other states call it something else, usually referencing Washington or LIncoln. Twelve states don’t have anything on the third Monday in February. Just a regular workday.

But get this: In New Mexico, Presidents Day — as a state holiday — is celebrated the day after Thanksgiving. In Georgia and Indiana, it’s on Christmas Eve.

How smart are these legislatures? Taking a nonsense, non-celebratory holiday like Presidents Day and moving it to a time when people can actually use it.

In short: There is precedent in other states.

This is a no-brainer. Super Bowl Sunday is the American high holy day, and like the Jewish high holy days, it doesn’t begin until sundown. It’s time we made the day after a state holiday. Move Presidents’ Day up two weeks, and everyone is happy.