With everyone coming down off a Valentine’s Day high, why don’t we stop talking about sappy love songs and romantic dinners and start talking about a holiday that actually matters: President’s Day. Some of you are probably thinking, “Who cares? Our president is a moron.” Others might be thinking, “Good idea, we need to recognize our wonderful president.”I will not side with either of these opinions, because I’m not here to back or bash Bush. I have my own opinion about the man, but we’re talking about President’s Day, not W Day. This is a day that was started in honor of George Washington’s birthday and now honors all presidents, past and present.

We, as Americans, tend to bash our elected officials much too often, especially our presidents. Monday, and every President’s Day, should be a day to honor men who have done more for our country than any of us will probably ever do. These men have one of the hardest jobs on the planet, and they go to work every day under a microscope with hundreds of millions of eyes watching their every move.

A perfect example of this is the recent “Cheney shooting,” as the media has started calling it. Vice President Cheney accidentally shot a man on a hunting trip, and the man’s condition is stable, but as I write this, the story appears on the front page of the Web sites of CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, and MSN. If I shot a buddy in a hunting accident, it probably wouldn’t even make it to the Web.

This is the type of publicity and attention the vice president gets. We all know that the president gets all this, and much more. Being Superman would be a walk in the park compared to the type of pressure presidents have.

Not every American president has done as many great things as Washington, that’s obvious. But, every American president does deserve the respect of the American people, if for nothing else than putting up with the pressures and demands placed upon them daily. I bet if any of us found ourselves face to face with Abraham Lincoln, we’d give him the esteem he deserves, so why not give our current presidents that same respect?

I do not agree with everything Bush has done since he’s been in office, but I most certainly respect the man. President’s Day should be not about how much you like the current president should be about how much respect is owed to him, as well as to past presidents.

If you disagree with me, let me ask you this: If you had to get up every day and make decisions that affected hundreds of millions of people, wouldn’t you expect some respect from those people? After all, they are the very same people who elected you.

I would venture to guess that it is impossible to agree with every single decision a president makes. But at the same time, it should be impossible to not respect him, because frankly, his job demands it. It’s not only one of the hardest jobs in the world, but also one of the most important.

President’s Day comes once a year, but Americans’ respect for past and current presidents should be present each and every day. I could care less if you like Bush, or liked Clinton, or what your feelings are about any other president, but it is simply unfeasible to not respect the presidency in general.

Dan Plate is a freshman business major from Ogallala, Neb.