The purpose of the leap day rotation, as the fundamental unit of timekeeping, is to bridge the orbital distance left behind in the system of four 365 rotations where the additional rotation represents 6 hours of orbital motion omitted each orbital cycle. The observer who has the 1461 day/4 year or the 1461 rotations/ 4 orbital cycles perspective can then rework this observation in two separate ways.

The fundamental unit of timekeeping was and is not the rotation of the Earth in isolation, it is this one drawn from the orbital motion of the Earth, the central Sun and a distinct astronomical event where a star emerges from behind the glare of the Sun and appears one morning . Observers are supposed to be accustomed to this type of event via the transition of Venus from an evening planet to a morning planet as it moves out of the Sun's glare. Sirius will,at one time, appear close the Sun as the Earth's orbital motion moves along its orbital circumference hence the central Sun's glare intervenes for a period before the star is seen once more.

http://www.gautschy.ch/~rita/archast...liacsirius.JPG


The 'leap second' guys can have their adjustment just as long as they come to appreciate that the adjustment is made from the point of view of the 365/366 rotation format within the parent 1461 rotation/ 4 annual cycle observation. To isolate rotation as an independent motion requires the 365 1/4 rotations per orbital circuit perspective as this observation represents the true relationship between daily rotation and orbital motion.

That men could understand the parent observation well over 2000 years ago and understand that an additional day (what became a leap day rotation) is necessary yet today there is a truly dire situation where men can't even manage to link the 24 hour day with one rotation as Monday turns into Tuesday,Tuesday into Wednesday and so on. How sophisticated are any of you when you imagine 366 1/4 rotations in an orbital circuit ? - this is a pure and utter mockery of everything and that is what the handwringing about the leap second is all about. It costs nothing to split the parent observation into separate perspectives instead of announcing that this represents the Earth's rotation in isolation.

Triumph or nadir ? - the choice is up to responsible people who are not afraid of sophisticated reasoning.