The last Presidents Day

I wasn’t around to see the end of the Passenger Pigeon. One day there were 3 billion.

Over one third of the bird population of the planet. And within a lifespan, they were no more. The last Passenger Pigeon, Martha, died on September 14, 1914, in the Cincinnati Zoo.

Obscure conservationists and birders were sounding some sort of alarm but then who listens to them.

We knew there were less of them—sort of. A few states enacted a few laws to stop the mass killing of the birds, but no one really enforced them. No one could ever imagine that you could wipe out 3 billion birds in the blink of a geological eye. But we did. Without even realizing we had done it until it actually happened.

The buffalo story was the same. From 1874 to 1884 was the great buffalo slaughter. They went from 30 million to 325 in less than 10 years. They covered the plains in herds so large they could only be counted in days—a literal sea of buffalo floating across the grasslands. Then one day we woke up and realized that they were almost gone. Only then did we realize we were at the precipice of losing something forever. A powerful representative of our history, integral to our story of becoming a nation. And only 325 left. Suddenly, we realized we had to do something.

Now we are on the precipice of our last President’s Day… Oh, how dramatic, you say. How could you even say this? How completely over the top.

It’s as if you’re talking about some alien inva-

See PAPRITZ, page A9

Carew Papritz Political Commentary PAPRITZ

From page A4

sion and the end of the world.

We’ve always elected a president every for years. Since the beginning of our country.

Even during the Civil War, we elected a president. We may have destroyed 3 billion Carrier Pigeons to extinction and brought 30 million buffalo to nearly the same fate, but we will always elect a president.

Until we don’t.

Because, for the first time in the history of our country, we may elect a president who does not want to be president.

He wants to be a king, a dictator (for only a day), an authoritarian, or whatever else, but not a president.

Because of all the prerequisites to be president in our country, of which there are only a couple, the most important one of all is believing in and affecting the peaceful transfer of power. It is what makes us unique in the history of the world. It is why people and other countries want to be like us—and to adopt our constitution. It is the heart and soul of what makes us free.

Because we choose one person who, above all else, will give back the power given to him after he is done being president. The very moment that this this vow of peaceful transition to becoming a president— and the ending of that presidency—is broken, the last president will have been elected.

How could you say this? That after January 19, 2024, we will not have a President’s Day?

Because not to say it—not to write it—not to speak of it— gives power to silence. If no one sounds the alarm, then there is no emergency. We are such funny creatures.

Only if our demise is immediately upon us, then we suddenly understand there is a problem. And it needs to be solved—immediately.

The “speed bump” phenomenon is where people say there needs to be a speed bump to slow down the cars. And only when someone gets hurt or dies, do we then put in the speed bump. We are in a constant state of trying not to prove a negative because what’s the point? How do you prove a thing that hasn’t happened?

We do it all the time as parents to our kids Don’t touch the stove—you’ll get burned.

Don’t eat your food too fast— you’ll get sick. Don’t ride your bike too fast—you might crash. We do this as parents because we understand the consequences of a thing yet to happen because it’s actually happened to us.

Try the speed bump phenomenon with love. Don’t get involved with that guy. He’s no good for you. He’ll break your heart. Yep, try telling that to someone in love. Trying proving that he won’t be good for you. When you’re in love, no one and nobody can tell you nothing. Because you know it can’t happen to you.

Just like our kids. Just like all of us. You can’t prove it until it happens.

But what about proving something that has never happened to any of us. We have never not had a president. Since the birth of our country that is all we have known. How can we even conceive of not having a thing that’s never not been.

It’s like saying there’s no more water for us to drink or air for us to breathe. It’s just not possible. Until you’re in the desert dying of thirst. Or gasping for air while you’re drowning.

People did not think WWII could happen. Or the Holocaust. Or the Great Depression. Or the extinction of the Carrier Pigeon or the buffalo.

They can’t happen until the do. And then the negative has been proved. But only too late. And that’s how we truly learn our lesson by being too late.

It is the curse of our humanness that we believe a thing can’t happen, until it does.

And then we can’t believe it’s actually happening to us.

That we did it to ourselves.

That we didn’t pay attention to the warning signs or the possibilities that something could go wrong. That we could get sick or get burned or get injured from a crash.

We are witnessing the possible extinction of our presidency, and with it our Constitution. And just because the Constitution is just mere words doesn’t mean it can’t die. Just because we think it will always be there, doesn’t mean it will.

Again . . . Oh, how dramatic.

How completely over the top.

Nothing like that could ever happen to us. How could you even say this?

We do not need to prove that not having a president is a good thing. Because it means we will have proven a thing that could never happen. It is our choice to heed our own warnings. To understand the consequences of thing that has not yet happened. But we know from the totality of our lives, and our hard-earned wisdom, that we do not want to learn what it means to celebrate our last President’s Day.

Because if it is our last, then we have learned our lesson way too late.

Carew Papritz is an educational thought- leader, literacy advocate, and award- winning author of the inspirational book, The Legacy Letters.

Through his innovative efforts such as the I Love to Read YouTube series and National Thank You Letter Day, Papritz has made a universal impact by being an advocate for liter-acy and teaching people of all ages about personal and global legacy issues. Papritz's writing has been published in a number of media outlets including The Kelly Clarkson Show, Huffpost, Inc., Reader's Digest, Fox News, Woman's World Magazine, Yahoo!

News, and First Time Parent Magazine. For more information, visit Thelegacyletters. com or fol-low Carew on social media.

He’s @ CarewPapritzOfficial-Page ( on Facebook); @ CarewPapritz ( on Insta-gram, Twitter, and Pinterest); and @ Thelegacyletters ( on YouTube) The Legacy Letters is available everywhere books are sold.