Tara blogs about a national time-off holiday for 9/11 here
Since news coverage of the anniversary was almost inescapable, the same question occurred to me – should “Patriot Day” be an officially-observed holiday? Though I was there that day and almost lost my wife (then fiancée) and father in the attacks, I wonder if our standard day-off-from-work-for-a-bbq way of commemorating events is appropriate. After all, how many of us remember the solemn meaning behind Memorial Day: it’s not just about a department store sales event.
I believe that what is truly needed cannot be legislated on to the calendar: a national day of outrage.
In our overly-sensitive, politically-correct, “don’t want to offend” society we focus on mourning and remembrance; we forget that these attacks were committed by people who consider America a land of people that feel neither pride nor rage. Abandoning these fundamental emotions and the impassioned response they engender (or should) emboldens those who would attack us again. That was a painful lesson of Pearl Harbor; too bad we had to learn it again 5 years ago. Having a day off to “commemorate” probably won’t help us out – neither as individuals nor as society – in the long run.
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