It's a freaking mountain named for a President that no US citizen has any personal recollection of.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

It's been around for millions of years before the US existed and will continue to be around for millions of years after the US ceases to exist.

Are people actually getting that bent out of shape about changing the name of it? Some of our "controversies" are so dumb.

[louis-t]

1. Even Palin calls it 'Denali' but

I bet that will change.

[unblock]

3. "freedom mountain!"

[Takket]

2. its because Obama did it

if any other president had changed the name, it wouldn't even have garnered any media attention outside of maybe the local newspaper in alaska

[Oneironaut]

4. Doesn't matter. They were told to be outraged.

[Snobblevitch]

5. The fact that nobody alive today

was alive when McKinley was president is a ridiculous argument.

[TwilightGardener]

6. Because it's arbitrary. I don't like this name, I think it should be named something else,

so I'm changing it. That is a little disturbing of an attitude for a President to have, frankly.

[Nye Bevan]

9. I would see your point, but I've visited there and absolutely everybody says Denali.

Natives, transplants, tour guides, everyone. All this is doing is formalizing something that is already observed in practice.

[TwilightGardener]

10. I think it's dumb to take away an honor from an historical figure, even if no one is alive to

remember him or he's of a different political stripe. I expect Repubs will start renaming all sorts of shit that was named for JFK and FDR. I mean, because who cares, they're dead and nobody likes them anymore and we're all calling it something else anyway, right? It's not an outrage, but to me it's pointless and silly.

[LanternWaste]

13. No doubt many were also frustrated by the Tsaritsyn to Stalingrad

No doubt many were also frustrated by the Tsaritsyn to Stalingrad to Volgograd name change, and thought it pointless and silly.

[TwilightGardener]

14. ?--not sure what your point is.

[Art_from_Ark]

29. Well, there was this cape in Florida that was renamed for JFK

who promised to get us to the moon "before this decade is out". But once that was accomplished, and subsequent moon missions ended, then it was renamed "Cape Canaveral" in 1973, when JFK's 1960 Republican opponent was in the White House.

[CreekDog]

37. Denali wasn't a historical figure?

not white enough?

you're on the losing end of this and your arguments don't seem deep enough to change that.

[tavalon]

25. Alaskans have called it Denali since, well, forever.

It's not arbitrary, it's officializing that which already was.

[TwilightGardener]

26. Then what was the problem?

I dislike attempts to change or "correct" history like this. Mt. McKinley's name didn't hurt anybody, a long-dead President had a peak named after him which is probably the most anyone knows about him, leave it alone. Sometimes Obama just does stupid petty stuff which is clearly intended to be a little bit of political symbolism or a thumb in the eye, and this is one of those.

[eridani]

33. Bullshit. Denali is always what it has been to Alaskans. Even Sarah Palin. n/t

[CreekDog]

36. Actually, you're describing how it got named McKinley

It had been named Denali all along.

[Nye Bevan]

7. Other than Ohioans getting into a huff and (of course) Trump weighing in,

are opponents of the change really making a big deal out of this?

[roguevalley]

24. yeah. since we live here and are present what we feel should be weighted.

no one and I mean no one calls it mckinley. No one.

[Blue_In_AK]

28. I think President Obama won some hearts here with this change.

It seems like an insignificant or silly thing to some people Outside, but they just don't understand what a thorn in the side that "McKinley" name has been, especially since the name of the park was already changed to Denali in 1980.

[roguevalley]

35. I agree. :D:D:D

[mainer]

8. McKinley never even set foot in Alaska.

That's what makes it even more absurd.

[Cali_Democrat]

23. Exactly. nt

[pinboy3niner]

11. No "personal recollection" is a poor standard and a poor argument

Washington Monument


Jefferson Memorial


Lincoln Memorial
?ve=1&tl=1

[Tommy_Carcetti]

12. With all due respect to the late President McKinley and the late President McKinley's constituents:

He doesn't exactly have the legacy that Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln had in the history books.

And those three pictures you posted were man made monuments specifically erected in those respective individuals' honor.

Mount McKinley/Denali/Pile of Alaskan Rocks is a geographic formation that predated humans by millions of years. It got the McKinley moniker as part of a 1890s McKinley campaign stunt because McKinley supported the gold standard and Alaska was supposedly gold territory.

In terms of stuff being named after people, the Mount McKinley name is one of the more comical stories out there. Along the lines of renaming Washington National Airport after Ronald Reagan, knowing how much Reagan loved the FAA and all.

[pinboy3niner]

15. The point is that whether the living have personal recollection or not is immaterial

There is good reason and justification for President Obama's action.

But if memorials depended on "personal recollection" we'd have to scrap the old ones with almost every generation.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

16. Like I said, manmade memorials and monuments erected specifically for someone are one thing

Geographic formations are an entirely different matter.

If someone wanted to rename the Jefferson Memorial in honor of Frederick Douglas because Jefferson was a slaveholder, then I'd think that would be silly. Either close the monument because you believe that to be a fatal flaw of Jefferson's, or alternately keep the monument realizing that Jefferson was a highly flawed individual but still had some undeniable contributions towards the nation's history. Slapping another person's name on it, however, just comes off nonsensical.

But naming and renaming natural things that have existed for millions of years is not a huge deal to me.

[pinboy3niner]

19. You're splitting hairs here

You should delete the "personal recollection" statement, as it applies to neither natural nor man-made monuments.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

21. Still think you are missing the point.

Mountains are, for all intents and purposes, forever.

A presidency is a limited term. (And the name didn't even originate when or after McKinley was president. It was actually just a campaign stunt from before he was elected)

In the grand universal scheme of things, having a mountain named after him wasn't a big deal, nor is reverting to the prior name.

[B Calm]

17. Obama should rename Hoover Dam too!

[One_Life_To_Give]

18. Remembered because his assination brought us

Republican Party bosses plotted to quiet him by naming him on the McKinley ticket in the thankless post of vice president.
http://www.biography.com/people/theodore-roosevelt-9463424#early-life

[PufPuf23]

20. I know people where it would be kicks to tell them that "Denali means Black Power in Kenyan".

Let them believe what they want.

Their children and most neighbors will perceive them as stupid racists.

I would never actually do this except giggle at the thought.

[Zorra]

22. The Athabascan word, "Denali" means something like "the great one" in English.

McKinley is a name that is a modern aberration of the old Gaelic name MacFionnlagh.

MacFionnlagh, translated from old Gaelic to modern English, means "son of white warrior".

Personally, I like Denali way better.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

27. Well McKinley is important in our household.

He signed my husband's grandfather's homestead certificate in the late 1800's. We are rather proud of that and the fact we are still here farming it and more.

The mountain was around before there was an Alaska, United States or even humans btw.

How do you feel about 'Boulder Dam'? We refuse to call it 'Hoover' in our house.

[Marr]

30. I don't care, and I don't understand the people saying I should-- on either side.

Some people are clapping like it's some sort of blow for liberalism, and others are freaking out and absurdly acting like this far flung pile of dirt has always been one of their top priorities.

People are fucking stupid sometimes.

[JI7]

31. wasn't it named mckinley before he actually became president also

[former9thward]

32. What US citizen has any personal recollection of Lincoln?

Or of Washington? Or of Jefferson? Should we eliminate their names also?

[YabaDabaNoDinoNo]

34. Funny how the pubs started renaming every thing they could after Reagan

Even if the local communities did not support it or could not afford to update all the public signs, subway maps, etc
They did not give a damn and even threatened to withhold funding in other areas to basically blackmail the local communities to implement the changes no one but the GOP wanted

Case in Point the renaming of DCA (National Airport) It cost METRO(DC subway) alone millions to implement but they could not afford, the GOP said F you do it. So what if your public transport system that receives public funding is going bankrupt do it cuz that is what we want.