Should 9-11 be made a National Holiday?

[ecofem]

Co-workers are discussing the possibility of 9/11 being made a national holiday?

Any thoughts? On one hand, I think it might be a good thing... but we didn't make December 7th a national holiday... so? I have mixed feelings.

 

[Seabishop]

I have mixed feelings too because how many people actually tone it down for holidays like Memorial Day. Most people have cookouts, go on trips, etc. Especially once our generation is gone most people will just look at it as a day off.

 

[PlannerGirl]

NO, we should keep on keeping on. Why make it another "SALE" day?

 

[Miles Ignatius]

Certainlly Some Acknowledgment.....

Call me cynical, but I'm not so sure a "National Holiday" would be appropriate as it presents another opportunity for the marketers to undermine the intent. (Buy your 9/11 supplies now!) Or another opportunity for a National Holiday whose origins are largely ignored.

I think a "National Moments of Silence" observation covering the time between the first WTC Tower was hit and when the last plane crashed in Pennsylvania would work.

 

[biscuit]

Bad idea...At least for now.
I am not a fan of creating holidays and/or memorializing events without the context of history. It seems that Americans are rushing to put up a monument for every tragedy as soon as possible. For example: There is already a fund to build a big monument to the rescued Quecreek miners here in Pennsylvania and that only happened last year.

Plus, I can't help but fear that a 9/11 holiday will end up as striped of meaning and commercialized as all our other national holidays.

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

...how many people actually tone it down for holidays like Memorial Day. Most people have cookouts, go on trips, etc. Especially once our generation is gone most people will just look at it as a day off.

No, we don't need another dreary national holiday. As far a memorial day, those that believe it should be somber and dreary have it backward. Memorial day is not just for remembering the fallen, but a celebration of life for those who are still alive. The somberness is some spill over effect of a judeo-christian ethic of needing guilt and unhapiness.

Whoop it up and have fun, thats what the fallen were fighting for, so you could live your lives like normal. Give them the respect they deserve, LIVE!

Its not how long you live but how well!

 

[Jeff]

I'm all in favor of showing those videos of the WTC over and over again all day long every 9-11, hell every day for that matter.

Its amazing how quickly most Americans have forgotten.

They'd rather take the run and hide approach or the ostrich approach and hope all our problems just go away.

 

[PlannerGirl]

I dont think its a "forgotten" or "hide" feeling here-there is no hideing from how our way of life has changed. I think its a quite resolve to continue life and to carry on. Seeing those videos retraumatizes (sp?) some (many) people over and over and over.

I get dizy and want to throw up every damn time i see some pics from 9/11 The fear for my loved ones and the shock/realization of what was happening comes flooding back as if it were unfolding now.

Needless to say I wont be turning on a TV this week, I just cant deal with it. And I did not even live here that day. I will never understand the guts and strength of my friends who were THERE that day: Scott sitting in his car on 110 with the plane going right over him, hearing that horrible noise as the plane slamed into the Pentagon. My friends in NYC that were THERE in that part of the City that day-seeing those towers fall live and in person.

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

I will never understand the guts and strength of my friends who were THERE that day:

Human beings are TOUGH! We deal with things as they hit us. If we crumpled into blubering balls of gelliten every time something happened we would never have gotten any where. Always veer to the side of more credit for handling bad events than the belief we are passive victims.

 

[Repo Man]

I also voted no. I think that it would turn the event into a day we all eagerly anticipate so we can have a day off. People would plan picnics get togethers, and vacations around Sept. 11. Sept 10th would turn into a party night for college kids because they have the next day off. The significance would be lost on a lot of people. I don't want to sound like a jerk either, but if I had Sept 11 off, I would probabaly go on a short trip, go biking, or plan on doing something fun too.

 

[Cardinal]

No. We simply do not have holidays to commemorate attacks on our country.

 

[Cityscape Dreamer]

Sept 10th would turn into a party night for college kids because they have the next day off.

And maybe a night of a little vigilante justice too? I can just imagine setting aside a day for emotions to get all stirred up again, and gangs of kids off school/work with nothing to do all day attacking or vandalizing property of Arab/Muslim/Sikh/Indian/anybrown foreign-looking-soundingpersonofnon-Christian origin on that special day.

 

[Chet]

No. We simply do not have holidays to commemorate attacks on our country.

I agree. Keep in on the rememberance level of Pearl Harbor Day and we'll be good.

Its hard to beleive that children born 6 years ago are now being educated of 9-11 as an historic event

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

..... and gangs of kids off school/work with nothing to do all day attacking or vandalizing property of Arab/Muslim/Sikh/Indian/anybrown foreign-looking-soundingpersonofnon-Christian origin on that special day.

Yeah, bad enough we would have to worry about Arab Terrorists turning it into that very special day to target us again, and again, and again, and again, ad nauseum year after year. After all, every time there is a bombing by an Arab group with an alphabet behind its name, you find an aniversery date they use to commemerate the occasion.

 

[moose]

Actually, technically, September 11th has already been deemed "Patriot Day".

 

[kms]

I agree with Chet. 9/11 is something we might not forget, but we certainly don't want to celebrate it.

 

[SkeLeton]

We have 2 9-11's trademarked here in Chile, both in the 20th Century.

The mostly unknown 9-11-1924 Coup (Arturo Alessandri was thrown out)
And the worldly known 9-11-1973 Coup (Salvador Allende* commits suicide and his government is thrown out)
So who do we sue for trademark infringement for your 9-11?

* A little history remark:
In 1970 Salvador Allende was elected president with the 36,2%, followed by right wing Jorge Alessandri with 34,9% and center party candidate Radomiro Tomic with 27,8%. The Congess ratified Allende as a winner after signing a pact to ensure the civil liberties (like private property, and others). And the 23rd of August of 1973, congressmen claimed Allende's government as illegal, after numerous violations of such pact.
With the new constitution of 1980, such election couldn't be possible, there would be a second round election.

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

We have 2 9-11's trademarked here in Chile, both in the 20th Century.

You WIN! We never really wanted the one we got any way!

 

[el Guapo]

Naw

I'm all for another day off until we reach parity with the French. But, I'm thinking we don't take December 7th off. We don't take November 22 off. We don't take a day off for every tradgedy to come down the road. So I voted no.

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

I'm all in favor of showing those videos of the WTC over and over again all day long every 9-11, hell every day for that matter.

Its amazing how quickly most Americans have forgotten.

They'd rather take the run and hide approach or the ostrich approach and hope all our problems just go away.

Can't agree more with Mike D. In our society today, things like this will become forgotten as time goes on. Look at the Murrah(sp?) Building tragedy in Oklahoma. Sure we know it happened but not many people can remember how and why. True, the towers are on a much larger scale. It was horrible tragedy and should always be remembered, but not in the context of a "holiday". I also have a problem with paying the families of the victims extraordinary amounts of money. There is no connection between the two. Should we pay the families of all innocent murder victims thousands upon thousands of dollars? Why not pay the families of the military caualties. Makes a hell of a lot more sense.

 

[tsc]

I could see the smoke from where I live....luckily everyone I knew that worked there had the day off... wasn't their shift... was late for work dropping kids off at daycare... was out smoking a cigarette.....but I vote no.

I think it has become a spectacle already. We have memorial day... and that is appropriate. A holiday is not necessary, but memorial services on the day each year are appropriate.

I am amazed by the amount of flag-flying(cars, houses, offices, stores, etc.. etc) that occurs around here still to this day. I begin to think it is the norm until I head out of this area. Before 9-11,,,, all the flags you really saw were for other countries/ regions... Puerto Rico, Italy, Ireland, etc.. etc...

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Can't agree more with Mike D. In our society today, things like this will become forgotten as time goes on. Look at the Murrah(sp?) Building tragedy in Oklahoma......

I humbly disagree. Moving on with life and letting the sharp memories heal is what allows us to leave the bitterness behind. Its also the natural process. It allows us to make new decisions in our daily lives that have merit in how we deal with others in the world with a level head.

It is what separates us from the BASTARDS that took down the towers. Its what separates us from the ASSHOLES that supported them then and NOW! You can be with them and hold the hate since the crusades, or we can all piece our lives back together and work to be happy. It will PISS THEM OFF knowing they failed to bring us to our knees. Even my bitterness will pass, maybe, in time....

 

[steveanne]

Patriot Day

Moose is right. My calendar has the pre-printed "Patriot Day" in the 9/11 box.

 

[jordanb]

It is what separates us from the BASTARDS that took down the towers. Its what separates us from the ASSHOLES that supported them then and NOW! You can be with them and hold the hate since the crusades, or we can all piece our lives back together and work to be happy. It will PISS THEM OFF knowing they failed to bring us to our knees. Even my bitterness will pass, maybe, in time....

Now that's what I call moving on and being happy!

OT: By the way, your location suggests that you're in Chicago. Aren't you in a suburb?

OT2: How do you do one of those "offtopic" quote things?

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Now that's what I call moving on and being happy!

Never said I was happy or that the rage had even subsided (I continue to note that nobody has invented an EVIL smiley yet that captures the real feeling yet)

I Just realize that at SOME point you have to let it go, so why enshrine an evil event forever?

 

[Cardinal]

OT2: How do you do one of those "offtopic" quote things?

[OT] To create an OT box, just put an OT inside square brackets [ ] at the start, and a /OT in brackets at the end of you comment. [/OT]

 

[dms]

9/11 Day ???

No. I think it should be a day of rememberance, but as others have pointed out, there is no national Pearl Harbor Day, or Alamo Day... even Patriot's Day is local (Maine and MA).

 

[Big Easy King]

I think that a national holiday is a suitable manner in which to offer and show unified respect and honor for those who perished on that very unfortunate day. However, I feel more strongly about needing to prove to those DEMONS, who carried out the horrible tragedy, that we can overcome anything and press on.

Thus, press on my fellow colleagues.

 

[JNA]

Bad idea
specially in Utah same date as the Mountain Meadow Massacre
recent book releases/reviews put it in the spotlight again
http://www.historychannel.com/cgi-bin/today_relocate.cgi?month=09&day=11&section=oldwest

 

[El Feo]

I voted no, for all the reasons articulated prior.

But I think we should work our asses off to make it a day of mourning in every Wahhabi hidey hole in the world.

 

[BKM]

But I think we should work our asses off to make it a day of mourning in every Wahhabi hidey hole in the world.

Does that mean our next war should be Saudi Arabia? Makes more sense to me.

 

[El Feo]

Does that mean our next war should be Saudi Arabia? Makes more sense to me.

Absolutely. Saudi Arabia, or Iran. But we couldn't possibly have hoped for either if we hadn't gone into Iraq first. I'm pretty sure there are other, far more important people that thought of that long, long ago.

 

[SkeLeton]

Here it was a holiday until a few years ago...

But I hope it doesn't become a holiday in the US, I'm not saying it shouldn't be remembered and conmemorated, but already with the "9-11 Remember and never forget ™" cups and whatnot, it's enough bastardization of the date.

 

[The Irish One]

no it shouln't. It should be terrorist education day.

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Does that mean our next war should be Saudi Arabia? Makes more sense to me.

The Iranians should be the next target. They will have nukes shortly and the price to take them out goes way up. The Saudis are pushovers. Couldn't fight thier way out of a wet paper bag in an organized stand up fight.

The Iranians have nuclear capable submarines, anti-ship missles, a viable conventional military, and a viable air force. When fighting on a nuclear battlefield, targets must be hit before they disperse from thier staging areas. If you use a nuke you need to hit your targets while they are still packed together. Therefore, in any future conflict with the Iranians, look for them to strike first during the US build up as that will be thier only chance to succed. 2 days after the start of armed hostilities they will have no subs and no air force, use them or loose them.

 

[The Irish One]

I would be shocked if the US went to war with Iran. For the simple reason that they are not defenseless.

 

[nerudite]

Here it was a holiday until a few years ago...

How are things in Chile today? I know today is a tough day for a lot of people there. No violence today I hope...

 

[gkmo62u]

I had a night meeting so I hung around this morning and walked my daughter to the bus.

I turned on the TV and watched the kids read the names...


...We should do that every year.

We should remember, commemorate and grieve. But we should also be angry. I think on this day, we should always remember to be a little bit angry.

For the folks not living on the east coast, the weather today is identical to September 11, 2001, clear, a little crisp on wake, especially in the DC area.

 

[giff57]

Ok, I really don't understand the 9/11 thing. I ranted before about the huge cash payments to victims families, so I won't go there again. What do the attacks have to do with freedom, or patriots for that matter. Yes, it was a huge tragedy, and many people died. Yes, rescue workers gave there lives to save others and should be held as heros. The after effects of the attacks did more to limit our freedom than to ensure it. A patriot is "one who loves his country and zealosly defends it" . Our country was not in danger and didn't need defending any more that day than on any other. Our military can kick ass on anyone in the world and the world knows it. Many compare 9/11 to Pearl Harbor. It was very different. Japan really would have liked to invade, at least Hawaii and maybe more.

We don't need a Patriot Day, nor is our freedom in danger from anyone but Ashcroft.

 

[Wulf9]

History will probably define 9/11 in light of the follow-on events, not the event itself. It will be seen as the trigger -- when America siezed its destiny to become a unilateralist imperial nation or when America forsook its tradition as a benign economic and democratic model to become unilateralist imperial nation.

I suspect it will be the latter.

 

[gkmo62u]

Giff and Wulf, let me guess, you are voting for Dean?

What specific freedom have we lost. Really. What exact freedom has been taken away from you Giff?

The great thing is that is ok for you both to not get it, because there are enough of us who do.

 

[giff57]

What specific freedom have we lost. Really. What exact freedom has been taken away from you Giff?

That wasn't really my point. What freedoms are in danger from some terrorist wackos? My point is why 9/11...why not the first time the WTC was bombed, what about Oklahoma City. The US is not in danger of collapse or invasion. Why "Patriot Day" who are the patriots? What’s with the "thank God we have our freedom" attitude. I'm all for Patriotism and appreciating our freedoms secured by the blood of our servicemen, but where is the connection with 9/11

 

[giff57]

Ok, so I lied, here is the victim's fund thread

http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=631&highlight=9%2F11

 

[gkmo62u]

Let's not get immediately revisionist here.

You clearly stated that "nor is our freedom immediately in danger from anyone but John Ashcroft."

I ask what freedom has John Ashcroft taken?


Let me take a step back and answer without hostility.

I think that those 2800 people though they had freedom to go to work that day without dying.

The threat is that there is a group, disassociated from any one nation, that wants to kill Americans any place and any time they have the opportunity. I sugegst that they are not some fringe faction but millions of middle eastern fundamentalists who share like minds.

That meets the definition of a threat to our freedom, our way of life, which sorry to break it to those apologists out there, is the best way of life in mankind's history.

I don't know why the rallying cry didn't echo in 1992 or in 1995. Scale maybe? Place? Sheer surprise of it all?

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

What specific freedom have we lost. Really. What exact freedom has been taken away from you Giff?

The right to read anything in the library in private. Read the PATRIOT ACT I, then if thats not enough, realize our attorney general says its not near far enough. Then go find the text of PATRIOT ACT II and realize, because you don't agree, you can be made to "DISAPPEAR with NO rights, cause you are no longer a US CITIZEN, even if born on the soil of the USA.

PATRIOT II = Hitlers WISH LIST

 

[gkmo62u]

As soon as you take a book out of the library, a public institution, there is a record of it. There is no expectation of privacy.

 

[otterpop]

It should not be a National Holiday. A National Holiday should be reserved for positive affirmations - Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July, or to remember important people - like Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King, etc.

We do not observe Pearl Harbor Day, the Boston Massacre, Wounded Knee, the Sand Creek Massacre, the San Francisco Earthquake, or any other such tragic day.

It happened. It was horrible. We should not forget it (and despite what those who say we have, we have not). We should continue on and maintain our ideal and value. The victims have been mourned by their families and by the nation for two years. A wound is not forgotten, but it will never heal if we constantly pick at it.

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

As soon as you take a book out of the library, a public institution, there is a record of it. There is no expectation of privacy.

Incorect.

The record is kept in order for the "public institution" to necessitate the tracking and circulation of the "reading material" itself, NOT who reads it.

That is the assumption made by the current administration to acquire the power to "fish" for information on library patrons. Unfortunatly, the same applies to "retail" outlets. What you buy at a retail outlet you buy with the understanding it is private. There is no distiction though in the eyes of the administration.

Are you going to tell me now that I have no right to privacy in what products I buy? What other sections of the constitution do you want to jettison? Or maybe, Comrad gkmo62u, you are going to tell me I am not a good citezen because "I don't get it"? Its a pretty cowardly way to live.

I want to carry the fight to terrorist BASTARDS, but if that means I loose the culture and society for which I stand I have lost before I started. That is not acceptable to me and it should not be acceptable to anyone.

 

[Greenescapist]

When I saw the poll, for some reason, I expected to see a majority say "yes" to this question. I'm so glad that most people are against this holiday idea. 9-11 was a horrific day, but I don't think it should be commemorated with a holiday. Isn't that what Memorial Day is for.

 

[giff57]

Let's not get immediately revisionist here.

You clearly stated that "nor is our freedom immediately in danger from anyone but John Ashcroft."

I ask what freedom has John Ashcroft taken?

So you focus on one sentence of my long post, even after I told you the point I was trying to make. Don't tell me what I was trying to say.

That meets the definition of a threat to our freedom, our way of life, which sorry to break it to those apologists out there, is the best way of life in mankind's history.

I don't know why the rallying cry didn't echo in 1992 or in 1995. Scale maybe? Place? Sheer surprise of it all? [/B]

Do we have any more freedom not to be killed at work now than we did two years ago? Hows does creating a "patriot" day change that.