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.
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
Next, we'll be treated to Fox's brand of political screed from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
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.
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.
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.
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!
http://richmonk31.blogspot.com
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
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/
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.
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.
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.
Your good deeds will be greatly rewarded. Thank you for your courage.
Peace,
Lastamendment
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.