happy birthday, sir

i'll post this now to get it out of the way and so i don't have to do it tomorrow.

sunday, february 22, will be the 276th anniversary of the birthday of george washington,

he's one of the most honored, if not most honored, presidents of the united states -- and rightly so.

not only did he lead the continental military to victory over the british in the war of independence, he served by acclimation as the first president of a newlyborn nation in a political office that was, at that time, truly unique. nations had kings and tyrants as their chief executives, but never one who was elected by the citizenry.

and to his credit, washington never acted like a king or a tyrant. he set the tone for the presidents who followed him. most of them, however bad, followed it.

so to honor washington, i just might go out and buy something -- and use onedollar bills to pay for it, because his picture is on it.

and his picture is on the unit of currency that gets tucked most of the time into the g-strings and thongs of strippers. i bet he'd be proud of that.

i don't know if he had a sense of humor, or if he showed it. but i'd like to think he'd laugh -- if only to himself or with only his wife, martha, present -- at this catmacro based on a painting of him by gilbert stuart:


the portrait is also known as the athenaeum. it was left unfinished at stuart's death in 1828.

again, sir -- i wish you a happy birthday, wherever you are. and i also wish you many, many thanks