Cell phone company launches petition to remove Ronald Reagan's name from D.C. airport

Just days after Mount McKinley was renamed Mount Denali, restoring the landmark to its native Alaskan name, one progressive cellphone company is striking back, starting a campaign to strip Ronald Reagan National Airport of its own namesake Gipper.

San Francisco-based CREDO mobile launched a petition last week, one which calls out Republicans for their own hypocrisy. Although some Republicans vocally criticized President Obama's decision to remove William McKinley's name from that Alaskan mountain, CREDO wanted to point out that Republicans themselves were responsible for pulling George Washington's name off the Arlington, Virginia airport in 1998, when it was re-christened for Ronald Reagan.

In its petition, CREDO wrote:

"[House Speaker Rep. John] Boehner announced he is “deeply disappointed” in President Obama’s decision [to rename Mt. McKinley]. But in 1998, John Boehner and his fellow Republicans in Congress weren’t so hesitant to remove a president’s name from a public landmark when they decided to rename Washington National Airport after Ronald Reagan.

That’s why it’s time to see if Speaker Boehner is willing to stay consistent and rename Ronald Reagan airport back to its original name honoring America’s first president, George Washington."

CREDO launched the petition in the hopes that it would collect 75,000 signatures, which it's rapidly accumulating. As of today, it's 86% of the way there, with 65,243 signatures. Once the full number is received, CREDO says it will deliver the petition directly to Boehner.

The indignation may sound a tad righteous, but CREDO does make a good point about what’s actually in a name, writing:

“Unlike President Obama’s decision, which honors the local people and culture surrounding that landmark, the renaming of Washington National airport was met with resistance from local Virginia residents and leaders.”

The organization points out how Reagan actually was anything but the air industry workers’ friend, when he helped break the air traffic controllers' union in 1981, leading to the firing of 11,000 workers.

Whatever your position is on Reagan, Washington or their sort-of shared airport, my guess is that most passengers care far more about on-time departures and arrivals, competent service and clean toilets. Where's the petition ensuring that we can have all of those things instead?