Goodbye Columbus

I have some questions, in no particular order:

1. Can anyone tell me why we still celebrate Columbus Day?
2. Is it just an excuse for government employees to have a three-day weekend?
3. If so, why don't we all get a three-day weekend?
4. How can a country be "discovered" if it already has human inhabitants?
5. How can the alleged discoverer be hailed as a hero, when the men under his command have raped, pillaged and enslaved the native peoples of this "New World"?
6. Why does the USA celebrate this alleged discovery, when the dude came nowhere close to our soil?

I think it's way past time to abolish this ridiculous "holiday." The only thing it's good for is identifying a specific windstorm that hit the northwest back in 1962.