President Obama is pushing to make our 9/11 remembrances part of a national "Day of Service" -- and Laura Ingraham, filling in on The O'Reilly Factor on Thursday, says this is causing a controversy:
Ingraham: A controversy is brewing over President Obama's decision to remember 9/11 as a "National Day of Service." Some critics believe that marking 9/11 as a day for volunteerism demeans the memory of the thousands who were killed by Muslim extremists on that fateful September morning.
Ingraham then tells Alan Colmes that the idea sounded all warm and fuzzy until she looked at the organizations helping to make it happen: ACORN, the AFL-CIO, Color of Change, etc. etc. -- what she calls "a bunch of left-wing crazy groups".
Colmes then proceeds to pin Ingraham's ears to the wall over this nonsense: The "Day of Service" is being promoted by a broad range of organizations, including the families of the victims, all of them perfectly mainstream. And he adds:
Colmes: But the fact of the matter is, that to remember 9/11, and to make it a national day of service to your country -- I can't think of a better way to honor 9/11. What is your problem, Laura, with making it a day of service and remembrance? What is your problem with that?
Ingraham makes it clear she thinks 9/11 should be a right-wing holiday. Fortunately, the rest of us think it's a day that belongs to all of us.
And here's the funny part: The majority of Republicans disagree with her. As Media Matters points out:
The Senate passed the Serve America Act on March 26, 2009, by a 79-19 vote. Twenty-one Republican senators, including then-Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, voted in favor of the legislation. Nineteen Republican senators voted against the bill. The House voted to agree to the Senate amendments on March 31, by a 275-149 vote. Twenty-six Republican House members voted in favor of the bill.
Among those who promoted the idea of dedicating 9/11 remembrances to the cause of volunteerism: George W. Bush.
"Volunteerism is strong in the country. But the truth of the matter is, the farther we've gotten away from 9-11, that memory has begun to fade," the President said. "And my call to people is, there's always a need. You should be volunteering not because of 9-11, but you should be volunteering because our country needs you on a regular basis. And so today I call upon our fellow citizens to devote 4,000 hours over your lifetime in service to your country. You'll become a better person for it, and our society will be more healthy as a result of it."
Visit the 9/11 Day of Service website to see how you can pitch in. If for no other reason than that it will annoy Laura Ingraham.
