Talk:Patriot Day

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"jingoism?" I had not heard the term Patriot Day used to refer to the events of 11 September, and I have, in fact, always bristled at the use of the term 9/11, for two reasons: IF those events were based on the US telephone emergency code 911, wouldn't 9-1-1 be more to the point, since this is how the number is phrased for dialing? Secondly, most (if not all) of the rest of the world puts the date before the month in written form, so the day would be called 11 (or 11th [of]) September, or 11/9. A minor point, to be sure, but those who comment here might appreciate it, if only to be accurate.

I HAD heard of Patriots' Day, which I believed was/is celebrated in Massachusetts, and don't find "Patriot Day" to my liking, in part, because it sows this confusion. Somewhat related to this is the awful term "June-teenth," which I can't even utter because of how grammatically incorrect it is to my ears. Why THAT term has been promoted by educated public figures is beyond me... but that is a separate discussion. "Remembrance Day" DOES seem more fitting to the occasion, I would say. As someone here has mentioned, there is nothing patriotic in being a victim. Conversely, attackers are not correctly deemed "cowards," because their very nature has them ACTING, however perversely, rather than retreating. A coward hides in fear; he has no courage to act, whereas the attacker acts - albeit out of anger and with depraved indifference. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 47.17.84.217 (talk) 01:51, 6 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"Jingoism"??? Who In the world thinks of it as jingoism?[edit]

"In numerous cities of the Islamic world, in 2002, 2003 and again in 2004, September 11 has been celebrated with crowded streets filled with dancing chanting men and celebratory gunfire, documented at al-Jazeera and very briefly in the Western media."

The English al-Jazeera site doesn't seem to mention it. Did this really happen? And wether it did happen or not - perhaps there is a more neutral way to describe it. 'Numerous' suggests this is significant for the attitude of the entire Islamic world - which I find hard to believe. Djadek 23:42, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)

No-one reacted, so I removed the remark. Djadek 20:10, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Patriot Day is in fact April 14th, the day when militia forces fired on British troops in Massachusets and started the American Revolution. The only persons claiming that Sept 11th has become patriot day are those unaware that there already was a day designated under that name. To die as victim of a terrorist attack is not necessarily a patriotic act, albeit a great tragedy. To willfully stand in the face of the foremost military power on the planet with a rifle in your hands because you believe in the american cause is a more conscious and entirely different distinction. We should honor both groups, but not by stealing away the day representing the sacrifice by some in order to award it to others.

I agree with the above comment, even if they got some facts wrong: It is in fact called Patriot's Day, and it is celebrated on April 19. Furthermore, it is only celebrated in Maine, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. However, I have always felt that it should be a national holiday.
It is worth nothing, however, that the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 did heroically fight the terrorists, leading to the plane crashing in Shanksville, Pennsylvania rather than hitting a target in Washington, D.C.. Perhaps a more appropriate name would be Remembrance Day - this is a name used by several nations (notably Canada) as the name for their equivalent Memorial Day holiday, but as yet is unused in the United States.--Xinoph 15:43, Nov 19, 2004 (UTC)

Either way, it's still basically jingoism designed to manipulate the public into patriotic fervor. --130.64.153.83 18:56, 20 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Isn't that a bit ridiculous? I have no idea who put that in, but if American citizens think observing the day is jingoistic, shouldn't there be some sort of evidence? There ought to be some citation.--WinOne4TheGipper 18:25, 1 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm an American citizen, 'bred and buttered' as they say, and I think the term "Patriot Day" is sickeningly jingoistic. So thats one vote. Brian Schlosser42 12:17, 10 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not patriotic, but I find the name patriot day meaningless and offensive. Count me in too.
That's funny, I am patriotic and find the name 'Patriot Day' meaningless and offensive. ButteredToast 21:23, 16 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I never even HEARD of that word until today. XD --Dr. Pizza 19:44, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm an American citizen, and I too dislike the name "Patriot Day"; it almost seems political, especially with all the campaigning Bush is doing for the election regarding terrorism. I think the common "9/11" is better.

"almost"? Anyway, our opinions don't matter re: the usage on Wikipedia, but the term doesn't seem to be in wide use. --Kizor 11:13, 11 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I had to look this up on the wikipedia when I got an offical email this morning about our Governor proclaiming the states flags will be flown at half staff on Patriot Day just to find out which day that was myself. After finding it's 9/11 this proclimation made a lot more sense. Jon 13:59, 7 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hey when you let the government coopt something you'll end up with something stupid and jingoistic and ready made to be exploited to send people off to die in an unnecessary war.64.122.198.162 (talk) 19:29, 11 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think we're all over thinking this a bit. It the immediate weeks after 9/11 some congressmen decided to make 9/11 a holiday and "Patriot day" wasn't already taken. I don't think there was any ulterior motive.--Dudeman5685 23:41, 8 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Read earlier comments. There already is a Patriot Day.nut-meg 23:15, 10 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • Lurk moar. Alsol read other earlier comments. There is no prior Patriot Day. There is a Patriots Day. Note the additional 's'. Firestorm 17:22, 3 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I meant there was no FEDERAL patriot/s day. But thats beside the point. I don't think there was an agenda behind the naming; the congressmen just grabbed for the closest appropriate name--Dudeman5685 19:34, 16 October 2007 (UTC) This is the best thing to help study for any kind of history Project —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.6.26.90 (talk) 23:04, 23 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"closest appropriate name"? That "appropriate" part seems to be in question here. People definitely showed a lot of patriotic fervor following the attacks. Whether there was already a Patriot Day or a Patriots' Day is beside the point. We already have a patriotic day, of sorts. It's called Independence Day. That's the day about patriotism. "Patriot Day", as I understand it, is to remember those lost in the attacks. Not to celebrate our (speaking as a US citizen) country or be patriotic. As said, we have a day for that. Patriotism is (I think appropriately) incidental to 9/11 commemorations. But it's not central. I don't know about the naming being fully 'jinoistic', but it does seem a bit off the mark, and therefore not as useful as a title for the day. That seems to me to be a bigger (and perhaps gateway) problem than the political one. It's like C.S. Lewis notes on the changing common usage of words like 'gentleman' or 'Christian'. Same issue. Language loses its ability to act as an effective medium of communication. And Dudeman, as for you thinking that politicians had no ulterior motive... to me that seems like a non sequitor. -- jinglesthula

Everyone, it doesn't matter if some find this day of mourning jingoistic or if some believe Patriot Day isn't an appropriate name. Case in point, I know of only a handful of people who call it "Patriot Day." No mater what happens, this day will always be informally known as "9/11." Thank you, and have a nice day. -The Wing Dude, Musical Extraordinaire (talk) 22:33, 11 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Quality class[edit]

How about upgrading this article's class to something like B? OneWeirdDude (talk) 21:04, 17 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree an upgrade is probably in order but more along the lines of Start to C status. It could use a bit more revising/looking-over/reading/confirmation before it gets that. It currently shows up as the first hit through a Google search for "Patriot Day" Hedfones (talk) 16:04, 9 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Federal Holiday?[edit]

Well, I'm not sure if it is a federal "holiday" but it was written and passed by the Congress and signed by the President. (which there are links for) I guess my problem is that under "History" it is said to be a holiday but it's more of a remembrance/notable day as I see it. I added a link to US holidays into a See Also section simply because many people view it as one. Maybe I just don't share the same definition of a "holiday" as most other people do. Hedfones (talk) 16:04, 9 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There's a formal definition of federal holidays in the US, which Patriot Day does not meet; see Federal holidays in the United States. It can be classified as a one of the public holidays in the United States, however. --BDD (talk) 23:35, 14 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]


Who said that "most other people" think of the word "holiday" as you think we do? Patriot Day is about the same kind of "observe while you work" holiday as... oh, say... Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day are holidays, except that those are celebratory holidays and this one of course is not. Oh yeah, this one would be mostly like Pearly Harbor Day: I guess more of a "work while you mourn" type of holiday. 65.130.204.212 (talk)

Flag[edit]

”On this day, the President directs that the American flag be flown at half-staff at individual American homes”. Really? Can the US President issue such orders and, if disobeyed, what punishment is given and by whom? Markb (talk) 11:08, 11 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sure can. Though, I'm not sure about personal flags owned by private individuals. I think he can "suggest" that they be flown half staff. But then again, most people that own their own flags don't have them hoisted on traditional flag poles. My flag is actually hanging (with the jack in upper left corner and stripes pointed down) on my bedroom wall. No way to fly it half staff. So, for the most part it's a moot point. But yes, indeed on all Federal property around the world he can direct them to fly the flag specific ways with regards to to proper flag regulations. 68.157.21.233 (talk) 14:18, 11 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
my question was about private flags, I can understand the President's authority over federal property, but not private. Didn't you guys have a little punch up with the English over similiar matters? Markb (talk) 08:59, 12 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
There is a difference between directing someone to do something and commanding someone to do something. Also, the Revolution was over a whole hell of a lot more than how one should fly there flag.Julio144 (talk) 05:37, 12 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
he can tell us too, but you cant be forced to. considiring you can get in trouble for the flag napkins and all that are tecnically illegal i doubt anything will happen from this. oh, and the fight with britain was about Taxes, not flags. Joesolo13 (talk) 01:42, 13 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]


Nahh, the government can't really PUNISH people for how they do or don't post their flag (even those with the full-sized poles)!

But anyway, I have one of those flags that are mounted to PVC with a funny little gold glittery "squeezy-ball" of some kind stuck on the top as the flag pole ornament ball. Mine is full-staff with a second length of PVC (not the same length; it doesn't seem quite proportional) coupled to the bottom. When I half-staff the flag, I take off the glittery thing and add the coupler and extra pole length to the top and then pop the ornament onto the top of that. There ya go!

65.130.204.212

History: Ordering of Co-Sponsors List[edit]

What's up with the wacky ordering used for the list of the Patriot Day bill's co-sponsors? It's rather glaringly — and inexplicably — disjoint.

I looked into any possible basis for the ordering as shown by checking the THOMAS results for the bill. (Found on the page listed in External Links. Ref#1, the other THOMAS pointer, is actually a dead link. If you follow it THOMAS reports, "Search results in THOMAS are temporary and are deleted 30 minutes after creation. Please try your search again.") ...Anyway, regarding the ordering: I found no such basis.

THOMAS offers two user-selectable orderings for the list: Alphabetical and By Date. The curent list matches neither. And since all of the co-sponsors attached themselves to the bill on the same day (2011-10-25), that information seems unremarkable. So I'm going to sort the list alphabetically by last name. If anyone has a rationale for the previous ordering, revert away! (But if you'd be so kind, please show your work.) FeRD_NYC (talk) 10:58, 24 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I don't even see why this list deserves to take up such a large chunk of the article. Anyone opposed to removal? Brianga (talk) 19:12, 11 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2nd Paragraph[edit]

The arrangement and wording seems a little strange to me; wouldn't, "On Oct 25 2001, Joint Resolution 71, which requested that the President designate September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day", was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives" or something to that effect work better? It took me a few reads to understand what the Resolution was about, as the two sections have no immediately obvious link. Is it only me? LacsiraxAriscal (talk) 00:07, 11 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Be bold and rewrite it. If people don't like it, they'll make changes of their own. Tom Harrison Talk 00:56, 11 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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