http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_holiday
Controversy (quoted from the wiki url above)
Some people have objected to honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. and/or
Christopher Columbus with holidays. As a result, Martin Luther King Day took
several years to gain national acceptance and is called "Civil Rights Day"
in some locations. Some local jurisdictions observe "Indigenous Peoples of
the Americas Day" instead of "Columbus Day". Similarly, some public schools
in the US re-name the vacation taken near and after Christmas "Winter
Holiday" or "Winter Break", to avoid the implication that all students are
obligated to observe Christian or nominally Christian holidays. State and
local legal names for any particular holiday do not have any bearing upon
the names of federal holidays.
Here is a thought that just came to me. You think Native Americans
celebrate Columbus Day?
Too much grey for MS to code up. Do you really want a SP or patch released
all the time for holidays?
Then MS would be blamed for that.
The alteration to daylights saving time was enough.