The Politicization of 9/11

I finally understand what it really means when people say "no good deed goes unpunished."

About seven years ago, the 9/11 community came together to support the wonderful idea that the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on America ought to become a federally-observed, national day of service and remembrance, rather than become just another day on the calendar. Most would say it was a no-brainer.

I guess not.

This past August, a few months after the 9/11 community finally secured passage of bipartisan legislation that established 9/11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance, a writer for the American Spectator published an article entitled "Obama's Plan to Desecrate 9/11."

The opening sentence read this way:

The Obama White House is behind a cynical, coldly calculated political effort to erase the meaning of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from the American psyche and convert Sept. 11 into a day of leftist celebration and statist idolatry.

An awful lot of people who read that article concluded that the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance was hatched by President Obama, not the 9/11 families at all, and furthermore, that our group, MyGoodDeed, was a front for "pinko commies." In an instant, what we had spent years building from scratch with the help of conservatives and liberals alike, not to mention very senior members of the Bush Administration, was transformed into a leftist political conspiracy to trick Americans into supporting President Obama's socialist agenda. Holy crap!

Not being one that reads the political media all that much -- I prefer the sports pages -- I had no idea what was about to happen next. First, a bunch of other blogs picked it up. And then Fox News got ahold of it. I'm sitting at home with a pizza watching TV one night, and all of a sudden there's Laura Ingraham blasting us for cavorting with guys like Van Jones and some other "commie" guy I never met or talked to in my life. What the heck?

Then our website, meant to be a peaceful place for well-meaning people to post their good deeds for the day and other service projects in tribute to the 9/11 victims, starts getting hammered with pretty scary comments from more than a few angry conservatives... things like:

"You BASTARDS. How Dare You!"

"This is so disrespectful to the thousands of people who died on September 11th. How dare you try to co-op 9/11 from a National Day of Mourning to some cheesy Obamabot service day."

Up until that point, most of the posts were things like, "The Boys & Girls Clubs of Augusta will make cards of appreciation for the local veterans and distribute them on September 11th," and "I will be displaying two flags containing the names of the civilians that died on 911 along with the names of the firefighters and rescue workers..." Wow!

Now everyone is entitled to their opinion -- this is a free country. And we don't mind it if some people think that establishing 9/11 as a day of service and remembrance is the worst idea in the world. Although our view is that the 9/11 families themselves ought to be able to decide what the observance should be, people certainly can disagree. That's what makes America great.

But more was going on here than that. The real problem was that 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance had become somebody's political ammo, in this case aimed at the Obama Administration. I felt a little like I'd walked into convenience store in the middle of a freakin' hold-up.

Apparently, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I talked to the writer later and he explained what he was trying to do -- bring to light information that he said indicated that the president was orchestrating a plan to manipulate 9/11 for political gain. (We've been there before, BTW.) Later, in a subsequent post, he clarified his position and provided excellent and accurate information on our group and the 9/11 family origins of the observance, which thankfully stopped some of the more vociferous attacks.

But I sure learned that it's not a good thing to get into anyone's political cross-hairs these days.

Which is exactly why this observance is so important and right.

The whole idea is to encourage all of America to remember the way we were immediately after the attacks -- we weren't red states or blue states. We were Americans, and we were powerful. Because we were unified. Today, we are anything but. Ordinary citizens who might find themselves sharing coleslaw at a weekend BBQ are throwing punches at one another in the middle of town hall meetings on health care reform. Geez!

I'm not saying there aren't serious issues at hand. And people are going to disagree. But if 9/11 taught us anything, it was that we need to remember that we have so much more in common as human beings than we have differences. We have to find ways to debate our views, and solve our problems with the 9/11 spirit of unity in mind.

For the record, the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance is widely backed by the Left, Middle and Right and is not, in any way, a government led or funded initiative created by President Obama or any government agency. It was started by the 9/11 community eager to leave a lasting and positive legacy honoring their lost loved ones, and is supported by respected nonprofits such as the Points of Light Institute, founded with the help of former President George Bush Sr., AARP, America's Promise Alliance, City Year, ServiceNation, and many other wonderful and nonpartisan groups listed on our Web site at 911dayofservice.org.

Lest we all forget, almost eight years ago, 2,974 people were murdered. Forty percent of the families of these victims never recovered any remains. Nothing. They buried empty caskets. Since then, nearly 800 first responders who raced to the scene have died -- 27 percent from cancer. Thirty-one of the 800 committed suicide.

Needless to say, 9/11 is not a day that should ever be politicized or used to flame the fires of partisanship. Not by The American Spectator or Fox News. Or by supporters of the Obama Administration or MSNBC. It must always be a day of unity, patriotism, and reflection, along with remembrance. And yes, if a person chooses to do so, voluntary service as well. Let's honor the 9/11 heroes by putting the boxing gloves away, at least for one day.

Comments

[SheldonHall]

As the author states, 9/11 should be a "Day of Unity, Patriotism, Reflection, and Remembrance", so why was 9/11 chosen as a 'National Day of Service and Remembrance', rather than simply a Day of Remembrance ?

Shouldn't we, as a country, be remembering, and memorializing the Americans who suffered, and died in on 9/11, and dedicate ourselves to maintaining the constant vigilance that is the price of liberty ? Shouldn't we be honoring those brave fire fighters, and police officers, and rescue workers who risked their lives, and who also gave their lives for their fellow Americans ?

And shouldn't we be honoring our soldiers who are still fighting and dying to protect us ?

Calling it a 'Day of National Service' dilutes the true meaning of the day, and it dishonors those who should be honored.

There are 364 other days that could have been a National Day of Service, there is only one day for a true remembrance of 9/11. If you didn't want it to be politicized, then you should have chosen a different day.

[Sanity 2008]

Sorry - like it or not, 9/11 will continue to be politicized by the far right. Get used to it - they have figured out that the politics of Fear works - I've started referring to "the United States of Hysteria" - and 9/11 represents the opportunity to rev up fear on ultra-steroids.
- Sanity

[Moncar]

Speaking of the politicization of 9/11, I was appalled by Fox's Neil Cavuto's interviews from Ground Zero, marking that national tragedy, with two "tea baggers" promoting Glenn Beck's 912 March on Washington complete with all the anti-Obama propaganda that always comes with it.
Next, we'll be treated to Fox's brand of political screed from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

[snallygaster]

David,

My wife and I were honored to attend the 9/11 Day of Service at the Beacon Theater last night. Given the insanity that unfolded around My Good Deed and this entire effort during the last few weeks, I think you did a terrific job of staying above the nonsense.

Sitting in the audience, listening to the stories of first responders and family members, it really struck me how far our society is from today from that 9/12 mindset. Maybe in was inevitable that the unity created by our common trauma would wear off. But the depths to which the discourse has sunk in the last few months is astounding.

So what will it take to get that back? Another tragedy? Or are we ready to confront the chasm that has been so obviously manufactured and manipulated between us?

Us. it's funny and sad how long it is since I've thought of America that way.

[WTSharpe]

Considering how quick the usual gang of suspects was to seize the opportunity to capitalize on 9-11 in 2001, this article isn't surprising. During those first days; this nation came together as I've never seen before. Flags were flying everywhere, and it seemed as if everyone in the U.S. was on the same team.

Well, ALMOST everyone. The first partisan bickering I heard was from -- who else? -- Rush Limbaugh. Someone at work was listening to his propaganda broadcast, and I overheard him raging about how that while so many people had expressed their unity and patriotism, the NAACP remarkably was completely silent on the issue. It was another Limbaugh lie, of course. I went to the NAACP website, and they had a whole page dedicated expressing their sympathy with all their fellow citizens concerning the tragedy. And Bush? Literally before the dust settled; George W. began to use the attack to grab power and push his domestic agenda. I have to admit I was shocked to see how quick Bush and his cohorts were to take advantage of the situation to play partisan politics.

For a brief time, we were all Americans. And we had the sympathy of nearly the entire world. Cowboy diplomacy quickly wiped out that unity, both here and abroad.

[den1953]

It is truly sad to read how Bush has protected our country he was a deer in the headlights he murdered innocent people that had no beef with this country and it continues to this day Iraq is not a video game people are dieing there every day. Where was Bush during the memo's that were passed down to him about the possibility of airplanes flying into the twin towers he was on vacation and his state department staff ignored the warning. Bush has embolden the extremist's and it will spill over in Iraq when there civil war erupts and believe me it's coming and when all the dust settles Iran will be there to pick up the pieces this will in turn put Jewish State in a bad situation and be prepared for World War Three all because of revenge for one mans father.

[JEP57]

The pre 9/11 intellegence was vague and not specific: Bin Laden wanted to use aircraft for an attack on American soil, no specific date, cities, or methods. At a time when we all felt relatively safe, think how the left in this country would have reacted if the Bush Administration did what needed to be done to head off the attacks. In a country of 300 million people, every middle eastern man taking flight lessons anywhere, in every state would've had to be watched or spied on (racial profiling). Middle eastern men going through every airport line would've been watched or pulled out of line and questioned (more profiling). Just think of the lawsuits from Muslim groups. American cities would've had surveillance cameras set up all over (civil liberties violations). And military fighter jets would have made routine fly overs causing people to say: " Bush is being paranoid and making us nervous". I can't imagine him getting away with all those proceedures and not getting howled at by the Democrats.

[terramartom]

Both of you make good, valid points, but put all this aside, on 9/11 it took 80 minutes to scramble fighter Jets to intercept the 4 high jacked planes, and thy never accomplished this easy task . Why? What went wrong? There are reasons. This is the biggest problem of 9/11, and not that it happened.
If the Air Force had to shot these 4 high jacked planes out of the sky for Security reasons, why did it not happen? This is complete failure. This is routine and practiced all the time? When you hear why then you know something is very wrong with this picture of non-responsibility.

[silverball]

...middle eastern men that only wanted to learn how to fly a state of the art airliner capable of carrying hundreds of people once in the air...nothing about landing or taking off...???....sorry, but that's a big fat DUH....the real problem was that the bush administration had NO interest in anything related to terrorism.....they were trying to figure out how to get into iraq...and this presented the answer....think how different things would be if we had gotten bin laden in afganistan­...unfortu­nately, they tried to outsource or privatize a job that we should have taken on...they were more concerned about high casualties...NOT the mission, but the possible bad political fall out....it was ALL POLITICS, ALL THE TIME with them....in­competents­....and chickhawks EVERYONE...!!!

[billw8017]

Using 9-11 to attack "leftists" is truly disgusting.

When the CIA reported that Alqaida was planning to use commercial aircraft to attack American cities, the Philippines had already broken up a similar plot directed at Baugio City. From Minnesota, New Mexico and Florida, the FBI reported Saudi nationals were taking flying lessons with disregard for landing the planes. Ashcroft, to whom the FBI reports, stopped flying commercial but he ordered his briefer to stop telling him of Alqaida threats. As the reports went up the line and to Washington, the orders came down the line, "Lay off the Saudis." The Clinton administration had increased funding for the pursuit of Alqaida and put out a kill order on Osama bin Laden. The Bush administration defunded the pursuit and broke up the team.

None of this was about administration collusion. Rather, it was about the special relationship between the Bushs and Arab oil potentates. The bin Ladens had supported GW Bush from his first oil company and donated to his run for Congress. The worst thing one can say about GW is that he is loyal to his friends; a virtue surely, but he over does it. Though his administration greeted the attack as an opportunity for unrelated policy decisions (the PATRIOT USAct, invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, domestic spying, unlawful prisons, and torture), I'm sure he was surprised by the attack.

[billw8017]

Al Qaida's success in 9-11 was mostly a typical American ineptitude. The Japanese successes at the outbreak of WWII were unlikely had we taken any precautions, and British intelligence had sent highly specific warnings before Pearl Harbor. We just suppose nothing bad will ever happen except we can handle it when it happens.

Our friend who posts about Democratic opposition preventing a realistic defense against terrorists makes an assumption that what the Bush administration did worked. This is at best, controversial. Furthermore, tremendous assets are assumed to be available for police work. Even in a small area like Northern Ireland, police and the British army could not enforce order without broad cooperation. Racial profiling and mass arrests are signs of failure, a mere flailing out typical of a dying organism. The FBI reports concerned a couple dozen men who should have been interviewed.

This is hindsight, of course, but it worked for the Philippians.

[terramartom]

Put it this way.
If the republicans had the same majority in the House, the Senate and the White House they would have invaded or nuked Iran, Venuzuela, N. Korea, S. China, and possibly the Moon by now!

[terramartom]

9/11 was enabled by President Bush and V.P. Cheney, Clinton, G. H.W. Bush to occur. It was on their watch. However the reasons for 9/11 is US foreign policy Worldwide. America props up Dictators and Kings who brutalize their own citizens. Do your homework, read existing History. The answers are already there. There are no accidents, only cause and effect.

http://richmonk31.blogspot.com

[terramartom]

You cannot expect anymore from the Party of self righteous greed and intolerance.
The one thing that republicans are quite good at is fighting.
They focus their minority into a frenzy while the Democrats with a majority fight amongst themselves, and whine.
This is a war folks.
You either want your side and it's causes to win or you don't.
I see that the republicans want to win at all costs, while the Democrats who hold enormous power and have a edge seem determined to want to call it a tie or a truce and be happy with this?
This is disgusting to see.
What a sham!
Why even vote, if you end up doing nothing!
Democratic politicians, we want Health care with some guts, we want out of Iraq and Afghanistan now, not is 5 years.
Get your act together, you look, and are weak, soft, and spineless.
Mr. President, you too are looking more book worm than warrior, perhaps you should rent the movie "300" to get motivated on what you people in Washington need to do for the people that you represent!

http://richmonk31.blogspot.com

[kbojar]

HuffPost's Pick

By a bizarre coincidence the night before Sept. 11 2001, my husband and I were talking about what safe, secure lives we led compared to our parents who experienced the depression, World War II and the horror of the holocaust.

The very next day that sense of security was shattered. As we drove home soon after the attack (the College where we both taught was immediately closed), my husband said, “The worst thing about this is what our government is going to do in response.” Minutes after the attack he was already focused on the erosion of civil liberties he saw coming in the aftermath.

I was focused on my fears of further attacks. It took me a while to get over that sense of foreboding that another attack was in the works.

But my husband was focused on the real problem. It turned out to be just as bad as he predicted—the war in Iraq, Guantanamo, torture etc. etc.

The tragic loss of life on 9/11 became justification for a far greater loss of life in Iraq.

With the Obama administration, we are slowly (much too slowly) beginning to undo the damage we inflicted on ourselves in response to September 11.
Karen
http://www.the-next-stage.com/

[jmgilmore]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-paine/the-politicization-of-911_b_282907.html

This type of hyperbole from deeply cynical and reactionary individuals and right-wing media outlets is the reason I find it hard to listen to anything coming out of those who identify themselves as republican these days.

These fear-mongering promoters of ill-will sound like parrots of the idiocy fringe to me. What's even scarier is how many otherwise decent and intelligent people I know sound just like them!

These vitriolic people proudly claim themselves to be "Christian" for heaven's sake. Christian! Do they know anything at all about Christ? By their own definition, Christ is a lefty communist deceiving manipulator himself. But then, they don't claim to follow Christ or his commandments. They just need him to be "saved".

In all seriousness, they need to adopt a new idol.

[annie g]

Interesting that the crazies on the Right are the only ones that are actually politicizing 9/11. As the writer pointed out we were all Americans that day, we all came together as one, and the American spirit came alive that day. And the Bush Administration took advantage of that by lying us into a war in Iraq. How American of him.
The only ones that are destroying anything that is remotely American are those that seem to believe "they", the Right, are the ones and only ones that belong in the White House. All I see in them are unpatriotic, greedy people who care more about demeaning, lying and using fear in order to keep this country divided.
In a magazine called American Spectator, no less, it put forth an article that decries everything that is American. Fox News and other outlets that use the media to promote this disrespectful attitude to the victims and victims families of 9/11 are offensive to say the least. People who embrace this type of verbiage and lies cannot possibly have a) a brain that is useful, b)a heart, and c) an ear for the truth.
I only hope that I am around to see the downfall of all of those that have contributed to the never ending lies, hate and fear that was used to destroy this country.

[marco01]

"he said indicated that the president was orchestrating a plan to manipulate 9/11 for political gain. "

JHC, these people are twisted. We had a president who actually did use 911 for political gain TO START AN ILLEGAL WAR and they are after Obama for some imaginary, and even if it weren't still very appropriate, attempt to make 911 a day of service and remembrance?

Since when did it become wrong in this country to do volunteer service for your country?

Just twisted. These crazies need slapped down hard. Thanks Rush, you traitor. Dividing Americans for almost 20 yrs now.

[Lastamendment]

Dear Mr. Paine,

Your good deeds will be greatly rewarded. Thank you for your courage.

Peace,
Lastamendment

[Cherie King]

that day was so horrible, for America. But other countries face this type violence every day, our attitude from that day on shows a certain insensitivity that is full of choice and an ego that left a sulfur trail. We had murders committed in the name of misplaced anger (http://pluralism.org/news/view/2851 http://www.azcentral.com/ent/tv/articles/2008/05/18/20080518dream0518.html) , people being harassed needing FBI protection.
Obama could sneeze and he would be attacked for his choice of tissue.

Instead of 1 day of service lets do something everyday to honor those who died on 9/11 and after.