Rebranding May Day

May Day has traditionally been associated with grand celebrations by communist regimes. As the number of those regimes has dwindled, the day has been adopted by any number of far-left organizations for their own purposes. Notwithstanding, the diminished importance of May Day is undeniable; even Fidel didn't bother to show up this year. All in all, the time seems ripe to, in essence, rebrand May Day. For his part, the president has proclaimed today to be "Loyalty Day":

On Loyalty Day, we celebrate the blessings of freedom and remember our responsibility to continue our legacy of liberty.

Our Nation has never been united simply by blood, birth, or soil, but instead has always been united by the ideals that move us beyond our background and teach us what it means to be Americans. We believe deeply in freedom and self-government, values embodied in our cherished documents and defended by our troops over the course of generations.

No, thanks; I love the Fourth of July as much as the next fellow, but I don't need two of them per year. Moreover, what's with that name? Is it the administration's intention to remind us of the loyalty oaths required of so many during the heyday of the Red Scare? I much prefer Ilya Somin's suggestion:

I suggest that we instead use it as a day to commemorate those regimes' millions of victims. The authoritative Black Book of Communism estimates the total at 80 to 100 million dead, greater than that caused by all other twentieth century tyrannies combined. We appropriately have a Holocaust Memorial Day. It is equally appropriate to commemorate the victims of the twentieth century's other great totalitarian tyranny. And May Day is the most fitting day to do so. I suggest that May Day be turned into Victims of Communism Day.

Now there's a Hallmark holiday if ever there was one!