Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Reframing of 9/11

Update: WELCOME Instapundit readers! Professor Glenn Reynolds just ROCKS!

Via The Foundry, I first read today about this apparent effort to reframe 9/11 by liberal Democrats and by the perpetual Obama Campaign Machine, Organizing For America. This is not the first report I've seen about the effort to rewrite the story of 9/11. The effort last year to make 9/11 "A Day of Service" was the first time it actually struck me as truly likely that the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil was soon to be whitewashed.

The "Day of Service" is not offensive in and of itself. This was not actually conceived by Obama. A non-profit organization called My Good Deed began organizing 9/11 as a day of national service and remembrance back in 2001. In April of this year, Obama signed legislation to formally recognize it at such.

Where this all gets dicey is detailed in this report by The Foundry. The Organizing for America site has now scrubbed the post which outlined the actions suggested for 9/11. In short, they are hijacking the day as one to lobby for Obamacare. They "sent out a notice to its 'grassroots' supporters. It asked them to wage a coordinated phone campaign for health care by calling their U.S. Senators on September 11 – also known as Patriot Day in honor of the thousands of Americans killed by Al Qaeda terrorists eight years ago...". The Foundry has the screenshot of the post in question which has now been taken down.

As if turning 9/11 into a Day to Lobby for Health Care isn't enough, there's more. As The Foundry points out, their rhetoric is simply incredible. The Organizing for America post says, “All 50 States are coordinating in this – as we fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists who are subverting the American Democratic Process, whipped to a frenzy by their Fox Propaganda Network ceaselessly re-seizing power for their treacherous leaders.

Are you kidding me?

As Obama is so fond of saying, "let me be clear." This rhetoric is on Barack Obama's Organizing for America website. Do I think he actually wrote the post? No. Of course not. But isn't, at some point, he accountable for what's on it? It's barackobama.com, for crying out loud. It's his perpetual campaign website: you can text "Hope" to get his updates; he's on Twitter and Facebook and MySpace and YouTube, and...well, under the "Obama Everywhere" tab, you can link up ... everywhere, according to this site.

At some point don't you think he ought to quit campaigning and actually lead? Is he running for re-election already? Why does this website still exist?

It exists so his propagandists can post highly charged rhetoric as they did today and he can basically not be held accountable; it wasn't really on WhiteHouse.gov. Can we report Organizing for America to flag@whitehouse.gov? Fishy?

The bigger point, to me, is that the memory of 9/11 is being hijacked. That's an incredibly poor verb to use for this story, but it's the most accurate.

Call your congress-critters and lobby for Obamacare! And if you have a moment, remember the 9/11 victims...

Matthew Vadum at The American Spectator was on to something earlier this week when he posted the story about the August tele-con sponsored by the White House, which included Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus among others, in which they call for 9/11 to now be for something "positive" and "forward-leaning." Vadum's take was that 9/11 as a day of remembrance rekindles the fear, works against the liberals, and that's why they're trying to reframe the day. He could be right.

The bottom line is that it's just wrong to politicize the day EITHER WAY. I don't think Republicans have done that; I could be wrong, but I don't recall the Republicans marshalling supporters to capitalize on the day to accomplish a political objective.

Vadum says "With the help of the Obama administration, the coalition is launching a public relations campaign under the radar of the mainstream media -- which remains almost uniformly terrified of criticizing the nation's first black president -- to try to change 9/11 from a day of reflection and remembrance to a day of activism, food banks, and community gardens."

Okay, so maybe those things - food banks, community gardens, activism, even political lobbying for your own personal cause - maybe those are all laudable. But why 9/11? As Vadum asks, there are 364 other days in the year to designate for that.

The bottom line is that it's difficult to ignore the move by the left, and by Obama, to rebrand the day. It does seem as if they are trying to whitewash the terror and fear that the nation felt and even the patriotism we felt immediately afterward; the America First coming-together attitude we all felt. Then, we WERE one. Then, we bonded together.

Now, we are ripped apart. And the Organizing for America post today further divides us.


Update 2: Now a thread at Memeorandum. Thanks Memeo!
And linked by The Other McCain, Stop the ACLU, American Power, Villainous Company .

22 comments:

AmPowerBlog said...

American Power tracked-back with, "World Wildlife Fund 'Condemns' Award-Winning Ad Desecrating 9/11 Memory".

smitty1e said...

Linked you here with an amplification on Project 2,966.

Anonymous said...

What is truly laughable is that the statement about "Right Wing Terrorists" who have the temerity to oppose Obamacare is underneath the banner in which Obama asks his sycophants to "believe" in his "ability to bring about real change in Washington". Obama is easily the most divisive preseident we have had in my lifetime. He makes Bill Clinton and his "permanent campaign" look conciliatory.

msspurlock said...

They know no shame and they have no decency.

Why do we allow them to live among us?

They hide behind the Constitution's protections, even while they tear it down and spit on the country that made it possible.

Then they deny us those protections and steal our elections.

A better question might be why do we allow them to live at all?

Eventually someone's going to have to develop the belly to fight before America is gone forever.

the wolf said...

What's next? December 7th as "Illegal Immigrant Amnesty Day?"

Anonymous said...

"Then, we WERE one. Then, we bonded together.

It took those critters on the Left not long at all to wonder out loud what we did to deserve having American citizens, and the citizens of many other countries, die a horrible, burning death. Not long after American troops, and those of allied nations, went in harm's way, to start rooting for the other side to win, and for us to receive a comeuppance.

With respect, they were never "one" with the rest of America.

Anonymous said...

"Then, we WERE one. Then, we bonded together.

It took those critters on the Left not long at all to wonder out loud what we did to deserve having American citizens, and the citizens of many other countries, die a horrible, burning death. Not long after American troops, and those of allied nations, went in harm's way, to start rooting for the other side to win, and for us to receive a comeuppance.

With respect, they were never "one" with the rest of America.

Mara said...

I don't get it.

"On September 8th, 2008, President Bush hosted a White House event highlighting the accomplishments of USA Freedom Corps, the volunteer initiative launched as part of a national Call to Service after the attacks of 9/11 to help more Americans connect with opportunities to serve their neighbors in need. The President honored the work of America's armies of compassion and reflected upon his first inaugural address, in which he “challenged all Americans to be citizens, not spectators…responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character.”

Last year it was OK to volunteer on September 11 as all the students in my daughter's New York City grade school class did but this year it's not? Why? Because we have a different President? How very sad.

jkmack said...

I do not think "hijack" is the word you are looking for. I think subverting or perverting are more appropriate words. Reframe is definitely not the right word, it is too neutral.

Young 4-Eyes said...

damn Pat.
All wee-wee'd out over....everything!
Listen, take a chill pill, go watch Beck or Hannity
or whever is scaring the pants off of you today,
have a drink and deal with it.
just deal with it.

egoist said...

"The "Day of Service" is not offensive in and of itself." - I beg to differ. What could be more collectivist / anti-individualist than such an event? This altruism [other-ism] is / has killed our country and been exported to the lands that brought us 9/11 - notice we bombed and dropped food, for example.

TrueBlue said...

Wow, a day of service is offensive. Leave it to the right-wing freaks to forget about the public servants who died trying to rescue people from those buildings.

jso said...

according to the left we should ignore the "fear mongering right wingers" and be totally afraid that the right wingers will take away our freedom to choose national health care

smitty1e said...

@Y4E,
The history of complacency is not a good one.

Anonymous said...

I don't recall being happy with Bush for spending government money on any of this...

Not to mention that I don't remember any policy directives to government schools to turn students into healthcare lobbyists, or Census enumerators, or...

Unknown said...

Mara, and TrueBlue,

I completely understand that you have no clue what has anyone upset by this, because you rapidly switched to the straw man argument about a day of service.

Let me be quite specific. No one objects to a day of service to this nation in memory of the terrible loss on 9/11/01. Are we clear on that? Because both of you seem to think what we're upset at is the idea of the day of service, and that's simply not true.

So, either you're being intentionally obtuse, or you just don't get it.

What we're angry about is being labeled as "Right Wing Terrorists" because we simply chose to see things differently than the exalted one does. I don't remember any proclamation by GWB regarding a day of service which referred to "Liberal Commies", or trashed the journalists [sic!] at CBS as "rumor mongering muck rakers".

When the mouthpiece of the president of the United States refers to more than 45% of the voters in this country as "right wing terrorists" I'm upset.

And you would be too, if you weren't so busy trying to cover up the tracks of propaganda spewing from the OFA website.

Have fun being one of the animals for a while, because eventually, the pigs take over and the rest of the animals aren't quite as equal any more.

Cheers,

Red said...

I did not leave my job to give blood that day for 'Obamacare'. I did not break down sobbing in my car the day it happened and the days following for " A Day of Service". This administration and the twisted liberals who serve it can all go straight to hell.

Red said...

What Ken said.

alanstorm said...

Mara and trueblue, read the article BEFORE commenting. It's right there, roughly in the center: "The "Day of Service" is not offensive in and of itself." She then goes on to explain what IS offensive. Ken says it again. If you're still confused, you will never understand.

TrueBlue said...

Let me be quite specific. No one objects to a day of service to this nation in memory of the terrible loss on 9/11/01.

That's exactly what byou freaks have done. And now you're lying about it. Kind of reminds of me when you go on your gay bashing crusades and then turn around and say you don't hate 'em.

What we're angry about is being labeled as "Right Wing Terrorists" because we simply chose to see things differently than the exalted one does.

Different issue, liar. In this case, you freaks are objecting to a call for a day of service on 9/11, in remembrance. What's the matter? Now the wingnuts hate the firefighters and police officers who lost their lives while engaging in public service? What kind of sick-o people are you?

When the mouthpiece of the president of the United States refers to more than 45% of the voters in this country as "right wing terrorists" I'm upset.

This never happened, wingnut freak. What DID happen is that a wingnut got up in a town hall meeting and described himself as a "proud right-wing terrorist," and was congratulated for it by his wingnut congressman.

When did you freaks begin to hate America and every single thing it has ever stood for?

yukio ngaby said...

@ Ken and alanstorm

There's little reason to attempt to reason with TrueBlue. It's basically like trying to logically reason with a 4-year-old in the middle of a fit.

Hmm. I wonder if TrueBlue was writing up webpages on the OFA website recently? Super-Hero-Karate-CHOPS!

Anonymous said...

Trueblue, When is your book on tactful political debate coming out?
"Wingnut Freaks", I like that.
"What kind of sick-o people are you?"
Will those be covered in the chapter on how to win an argument with logic?

Are you going to be in the featured chapter called, "Moonbats on Steroids"?