It’s Valentine’s Day

February 14th, 2013 by Scott Lemieux

And, look, if you’re secular it’s no more commercialized or less arbitrary than any other holiday.   So have fun with the love letters of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson:

See also.

[HT: reader MKL]

Posted in General | 14 comments

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14 comments on this post.

  1. The Dark Avenger:

    February 14th, 2013 at 11:28 am

    If you listen to recording of the actual Lady Bird, her accent is just a tad genteel compared to my Texas-born grandmother, and in looks could be a sister to her.

    Also, proposals on the first date seem to be a Texas thing(as in the case of the LBJs, my father got married 6 weeks after his first date with mom which was a morning on a beach here in CA.( I think it was in Santa Cruz, as they both lived in San Jose at the time.)

  2. LeeEsq:

    February 14th, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    A couple of weeks ago, Frank Bruni had a column on modern courtship in the New York Times. One of the more interesting tidbits of information was that during 19th Century America, couples would see each about ten times before getting engaged. This doesn’t seem like such a good idea in most cases.

  3. Joe:

    February 14th, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    Rachel Maddow had good audio of LBJ ordering some pants when covering this story last night.

  4. Joe:

    February 14th, 2013 at 1:00 pm

    http://www.gulawweekly.org/humor/2013/2/12/gu-law-weekly-presents-supreme-court-valentines.html

  5. stjust:

    February 14th, 2013 at 1:00 pm

    Music for the occasion:

    http://www.wfmu.org/Playlists/HN/000214.html

  6. Incontinentia Buttocks:

    February 14th, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    I didn’t see Rachel Maddow last night, but that recording was honestly the first thing I thought of when I read the OP.

  7. The Dark Avenger:

    February 14th, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    They usually were from the same class and if they didn’t know each other before that they probably had friends in common and they were both from the same geographic area.

  8. Dave:

    February 14th, 2013 at 3:39 pm

    You’re probably right that it’s no more commercialized or less arbitrary than any other holiday. But it advances dumb gender norms more so than most other holidays. So that’s a pretty strong reason to hate it. Though on the plus side, I enjoy the influx of chocolate.

  9. Manju:

    February 14th, 2013 at 5:22 pm

    William Shatner. Cello. Poetry Recital: “LBJ’s Bunghole Needs Room”.

  10. Moxiequz:

    February 14th, 2013 at 7:49 pm

    Nothing at all the matter with chocolate influx. It’s a scientifically proven fact – by real scienticians – that chocolate consumed on Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas, and Halloween has ZERO calories. Yes, I’m quite happy in my little reality bubble here.

  11. Dagchester:

    February 14th, 2013 at 8:23 pm

    In the mean time, Saudi Arabia bans ALL things red for Valentine’s Day.

    And a Muslim Brother in Egypt warns that Valentine’s Day is MORE dangerous than AIDS, Ebola, and Cholera combined.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WImkANYMglM

    lolololol

  12. Dave:

    February 14th, 2013 at 11:23 pm

    I’m in that bubble most of the time.

  13. Tucker (the other one):

    February 15th, 2013 at 11:50 am

    My lefty feminist self is good with celebrating International Half Price Chocolate Day on February 15.

  14. redwoods:

    February 15th, 2013 at 2:41 pm

    That may be the loveliest holiday of all!

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