Lawmakers Want a National 'Elvis Presley Day'

Mark your calendars for January 8th, if certain politicos have their druthers

There's an effort underway to make Elvis Presley an officially celebrated national figure, and with his very own holiday to boot, reports Richard Simon of The LA Times.

Rep. Larry Kissell, (D-N.C.), backed by nine other members of the House, has introduced a resolution making January 8th "Elvis Presley Day" across the nation. Calling the recognition of the King of Rock n' Roll's contribution to society "long overdue," Kissell said Presley's story is the story of the American Dream.

"Presley remains one of the most famous American entertainers of all time," stated Kissell, "whose influence on music and whose cultural impact continues today."

But while Kissell and supporters in Congress are singing the praises of a national icon, House Republicans are keen to squash such talk, writes Simon, and focus their efforts on issues they deem more important than Graceland, jailhouse rock, and blue suede shoes.

"House Republican leaders have scaled back votes on commemorative resolutions," says Simon, "contending such things waste floor time needed for more pressing matters."

Via the LA Times.

Do you support an 'Elvis Presley Day'?

[jessejaymes]

Absolute nonsense. Another smokescreen to obscure that our elected officials do NOTHING of substance for the average working class American.

[talkenhed]

Have these nitwits in Congress have no shame?
Line this clown up with the idiot who announced the new Tea Party dumb constancy plot. Obama wanted Kadaffi out of Libya so that he could install al Qaeda in power. I

[jessejaymes]

@talkenhed LOL and the dumbing down of America marches on.

[Rocker]

@jessejaymes - Whoa now, let's think about this. Throw in Curt Kobain, James Brown, John Wayne, and another one and let's see if we can take off a whole week. No... Wait... No, that won't work. There won't be many off days at the start of the year. That's theoretically when we work to pay off the rest of the year. All the off holidays are in the last half.

[PoliticalSpice]

@Rocker
Sexual discrim. What about the chicks? Janis joplin, holly near (she'd love bein called a chick), joan beaz, joni mitchell, patsy cline)...

[Rocker]

@PoliticalSpice - We'll have none of that now. We settle on 5 and get another week off. Ms Billie Holliday has to be in there somewhere though. And so the regular person isn't left out, we need a You Day that's all about You. LOL

[twinertia]

Marked by what? Deep-fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches, amphetamines, and blowing away TV sets? The man was a warbler of tunes, nothing more. Never let it be said that Congress can't sink any lower.

[Thunderchicken]

Actually you're doing a good job of promoting it. I've often wanted to shoot a TV too. ;-)

[Denizen_Kate]

@Thunderchicken - No guns allowed in the living room!:)

[Thunderchicken]

@Denizen_Kate

But it's deer season.:-)

[dances-weebles]

@Thunderchicken i stuck my foot through the tv when my oldest son was around 10... it was more than 5 years before my wife could talk me into letting her get another one.

[dances-weebles]

@Thunderchicken so, set it in the garden and tell them that you thought that the rabbit ears made it look like a buck.

[Dan_Tien]

Word is that Elvis was stoned to the bone when that picture with Nixon was taken. I think that his life ended up to be more like an American Nightmare.

[Big-R]

I am so glad congress is focusing on the most important issues this country has faced in decades. How could we ever survive another year without an additional holiday. Thank you congress for working so diligently to make this country great. You all should be rewarded with a permanent vacation!

[woodtick57]

Whhy waste a day on some loser who had great talent and wasted it on cheap movies and crappy music, and then , literally, sh*tted it away...

i would go for an Elvis Costello day, the REAL king...ten times more respected thhan the loser Presley...

[woodtick57]

Not that i have strong feelings about this or anything...

[dances-weebles]

elvis costello was a dweeb... and practically an unknown. if it's not going to be buddy holly, then it should be either john lennon or james taylor. oh, oh, oh... i know... how about b.b. king?

you know, i was listening to an interview with one of the members of the jordanaires and he said that even elvis know that he couldn't sing or play guitar and couldn't figure out why people liked the shit that he stole and recorded.

the movies were sort of cute, in a pablum sort of way... right up on the list with all those beach blanket movies starring annette and the rest of mickey mouse club stars.

*and he walks off into the sunset humming 'sunshine, lollypops and rainbows' and then breaks into a rousing chorus of 'jingle bell rock'*

[mtkopf]

I really hate to agree with anything a Congressional Republican says but really? You think having a day commemorating a known drug user is a good idea?
If these nine people think that Congress should really spend time on this right nowthen maybe they should report to get drug tested immediately.

[Thunderchicken]

I'll support a national disc golf day more. (Oh wait, we have one and the government isn't even involved.)

[Penn1699]

Dumb.

[NO-BAMA]

Looks like the democrats are trying to get another day off from their supposed "hard" work schedule of destroying the country and attaining their goal of complete dependency upon the socialistic government that they have wet dreams about.
Its good to know that they are going after the issues that are most important to the country though.
Then they sit in amazement and wonder why the rest of the world is laughing at us. Greece is even laughing, that's sad.

[Fishbone345]

How about a day commemorating all those that he stole music from? The man was one of the biggest thieves in music, lest people forget.

[DARSB]

That a common criticism of Elvis, but it's not quite that clear cut. Sam Phillips at Sun Studios in Memphis was above-average honest when it came to royalties and credit but much of the paper trail that would have identified the black musicians who wrote so many of those tunes just didn't exist in the 1950s. Even at that, lots of people were ripped off.

In my view, the most despicable music thieves were Led Zeppelin. Most of their first three albums were direct theft from blues artists like Willie Dixon, who did sue them successfully for royalties and damages.

[Fishbone345]

@DARSB Apparently you aren't alone in being a fan of the king. I'll try to avoid further insults of him as someone seems to be a bit of a "Thin Skin"

[DARSB]

@Fishbone345 I'm not exactly a fan, but I did live in Memphis in the 70s - in fact I vividly recall the day of his death - and you just absorbed a lot of Elvisian information from the atmosphere back in those days.

[DARSB]

" Elvis Presley Day?" Sure, why not, but could Congress save the country first?

[marine1]

AND we wonder why nothing productive ever comes out of D C?

[katniss641]

For Heavens sake. I am a devout Elvis fan but this is the most stupid thing I have heard. Don't these guys have anything better to do in Washington. Like maybe get the "fiscal cliff" mess straigtened out. We are being ruled by a bunch of morons.

[Zazziness]

A bolated, drug-addicted entertainer who had a predilection for fourteen-year-old girls. Seriously? I think his musical abilities were awesome but I don't think he ranks a national holiday.

[susiehustles]

I think they are trying to get our minds off more important things. But Elvis served his country and well as entertained us. Which is more then i can say for alot of polititions.

[Jim49418]

"House Republican leaders have scaled back votes on commemorative resolutions," says Simon, "contending such things waste floor time needed for more pressing matters."

At least the Republican's get it!
Congress has far better things they could be doing right now, rather tha waste time on "Elvis Presley Day".
What are these liberals thinking anyway?
They want a national holiday for someone who died of a drug overdose?
It's no wonder they havent come up with a budget plan in four years!

[Denizen_Kate]

Oddly, I find myself in agreement with House Republicans. They have much more important issues. Elvis gets enough commemoration already, and I don't think we should set a precedent of national holidays in honor of celebrities.

[classychazy]

I'm with you Kate!

[SavageMazx]

That's a great use of my tax money

[FFX_VA]

We're paying congressman $175K a year to serve us like this? Sure Elvis is the King, but don't we have a cliff to worry about first?

[lawnmowrman]

no but how bout a Stevie Nix Day