Holiday, Celebration... Come Together in Every Nation

Except this nation.

We are called the United States of America, but we are about as united as Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. We can't even agree on the good stuff, like holidays.

For example, yesterday was Valentine's Day, and the nation was even divided about whether or not we should dedicate a day to love, chocolates, and flowers. I mean, does it get better than love, chocolate and flowers? (I know there are some people who claim they don't like chocolate, but I don't believe them. I think they are just secretly on a diet.)

On the one hand, Valentine's Day had one of its biggest endorsements ever. It was endorsed by Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Janie Foxx, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, and, yes, even this woman:

But, on the other hand, some people just gave it a big W:

And today we are celebrating another holiday: Happy Presidents' Day! And, although I am sure most of us agree that it's awesome to have the day off, clearly we do not agree about the president, as evidenced by these bumper stickers:

Now, this first bumper sticker is definitely pro-Obama. It's kind of a Valentine's Day meets Presidents' Day, in fact:

I'm not sure if this next one is pro or anti. Either it means lots of love or laugh out loud, right? I told you I was no good at these acronyms:

This one suggests our leaders should be illiterate. I am assuming it's anti-Obama and pro-Bush:

This one is definitely anti:

So, yes, the country is divided about Obama, they were divided about Bush, they were divided about Clinton, and before that I was too busy worrying about Brenda and Dylan to know what was going on outside of Beverly Hills High.

But, what I do know is that this ambivalence about the president is reflected in our writing. Some people capitalize the word President while some people don't capitalize the word president.
Actually, there are two things both sides agree on:

We all agree it should be capitalized when it's used as a title in front of a person's name:

Did you know President Obama can bench 200 lbs.?

We also all agree that it shouldn't be capitalized when it's referring to the idea of a president in general:

Jill wants to be the president of a company when she grows up.

What we can't seem to agree on is whether we capitalize it in when we refer to the president. For example, I've seen it endorsed both ways:

Our P/president of the United States has read every Harry Potter book.

The P/president allegedly makes a mean chili.

So, until I hear differently, I guess we get to choose. It is a democracy after all. Although, one day I do hope we find something or someone the nation unanimously supports.

But, until then, I have a question for you: are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?