Republican congressman Mike Turner of Ohio is so mad about Obama and Alaska changing the name of Mt. McKinley back to Denali, he is now threatening to change the name back by attaching a rider to must-pass legislation. You know, like they did when they tried to repeal Obamacare by shutting down the government.
You have got to be kidding me. Is Congress really this dysfunctional that they would shut down the government over the name of some mountain? (Don’t answer that!)
The Party of NO is hardly news. But what makes this worth posting is what Turner said next: “President Obama’s actions toss aside the sacrifice of President McKinley. Imagine the outrage if in 100 years, a Republican would undo John F. Kennedy’s name from landmarks?”
Did he really say that? Because that is exactly what happened back in 1973 when Richard Nixon was president. The government changed the name of Cape Kennedy back to Cape Canaveral. Except they didn’t wait over 100 years, they only waited 10.
I suppose Turner makes the comparison because Presidents McKinley and Kennedy were both assassinated. But other than that, the two situations have nothing in common. While President Kennedy set in motion the first and so far only human trips to the moon, which were launched from the former Cape Canaveral, President McKinley had absolutely nothing to do with the mountain named Denali in Alaska. In fact, an article in the Washington Post says that the name Mount McKinley “was little more than a joke.”
Oh, and after the name of Cape Kennedy was changed back, Ted Kennedy wrote a brief letter saying his family “understand[s] the decision” and that was that.
I’ll let an episode of The Daily Show from back in July have the last word: “Don’t be a dick, change the name.”
3 Comments
Of one thing we can be sure. In the general presidential campaign for Ohio, especially being a swing state, Republicans will throw this up as an example of the petty arrogance of the Obama Administration, and by inference his “Democrat” successor (love their hackneyed grammar!), to score a few cheap points with the base and undecided voters, as transparent as it may be. I’d be surprised if they weren’t building it into their talking points already.
McKinley is also remembered by use of his image on the U.S. $500 bill… out of print since 1945. President McKinley, rest in peace.
John, I’m glad you mentioned it was out of print. I keep seeing people mention that McKinley is on the $500 bill, but never mentioning that we don’t have $500 bills any more. The largest we now print are $100 bills, apparently because electronic money makes larger bills obsolete, unless you are a drug dealer or need to keep some other large transaction secret.