Whats the difference between a republic and an empire? A good question to ponder, especially as we here in America celebrate the holiday once known as Washingtons Birthday, now called Presidents Day. A revealing change, that. Once an occasion to honor a leader whose moral strength and integrity so rarely matched in history, a beacon of hope for all of mankind — now changed as if by magic into a hucksters holiday for peddling cars and coats. How did it all come about?

The progenitor surely must have been Parson Weems, Washingtons first and very unofficial biographer who made up stories of the cherry tree and of the dollar thrown over the Potomac to better sell his book. Dollars were solid and silver back then real, one might say. Anyone attempting such a feat with todays dollars would see them flutter into the river and very quickly float away. Such sweet illusions made Weems, then, a precursor to the Hollywood myth weavers of today. Mission accomplished!

But when exactly did the U.S change from a republic to an empire? America emerged early as a nation generally living in peace with its earthly neighbors while grasping at the national resources of others elsewhere they sought land originally, but of course today its oil, no? Sad to say, the temptations came early, probably when President Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the continent in 1803. So much of the earths bounty great lay there, and all such easy pickings! Kill a few (hundreds of thousands of) Indians and gold will soon cascade down mountain streams.

Even as a young man, Lincoln the second of Americas champions of humanity — opposed this pernicious trend when he dissented over the war with Mexico in 1848, a blatant land grab if ever there was. This conflict brought us Texas and eventually (sigh!) even Dubya. But the urge to empire really kicked into high gear with the Spanish-American War (1898) that brought us the Philippines and, soon enough, all those military bases and economic control posts in Asia. Lying close by, Japan and China from whom we were destined to hear later. The Philippines were also the scene of our militarys greatest massacre ever at Balangiga (1901) where U.S Marines mowed down over 700 women, children and old men in their huts. It dwarfed Vietnams My Lai, where 350 women and children were slaughtered according to official army statistics. Weapons of Mass Destruction indeed! The whole kit and caboodle of imperial sleight of hand!

Oh yes — almost forgot — that Spanish-American War also bestowed Cuba and Guantanamo on us, the new symbol of America that edged out Washington and Lincoln in Bush/Cheney times. And yet the question remains: republic or empire? Is America a nation trading peacefully with its worldwide neighbors, cooperating with them to solve common problems like climate change and terrorism (perhaps even meteorite-diversion in future years), or one emphasizing the bully in President Theodore Roosevelts bully pulpit and imperialist agenda? Today are we in fact an empire that has turned its back on the worlds 1.3 billion Moslems to arm and support an at times brutal ally that is openly contemptuous of the same government that gives it nuclear weapons? Olmerts directions given to former Secretary Rice in late 2008 certainly might support this.

Like the fella' said, Love it or leave it! It would be wonderful to leave the empire and return to our long-lost republic. Were a nation of optimists, and perhaps it can even be done. It would, of course, be the first time in history that it happened, but, then again, we were the first true democracy in history, so who knows what may come!

And so, with that, I say Happy Presidents Day, Parson Weens! — Though with one notable exception, of course — beware Dubyas America, and may it never, ever be brought back upon us …