An Open Letter to President Obama on the Occasion of 9/11

September 11, 2009
By Faye Parrish

Dear President Obama,
I read of your administrations plan to re-define September 11th as a National Service Day. Sir, it's time we had a talk.

During your campaign, Americans watched as you made mockery of our tradition of standing and crossing your heart when the Pledge of Allegiance was spoken. You, out of four people on the stage, were the only one not honoring our tradition. We noticed.

During one of your many speeches, Americans heard you say that you intended to visit all 57 states. We noticed.

When Senator McCain leaned over at Ground Zero and gently placed a flower on the memorial, you tossed your flower onto the pile without leaning over. We noticed.

Every time you apologized to other countries for America's position on an issue, we have wondered why you don't share our pride in this great country. When you have heard foreign leaders berate our country and our beliefs, you have not defended us. We noticed.

When your pastor of 20 years damned America and said that 9/11 was "America's chickens coming home to roost" and you denied having heard recriminations of that nature, we wondered how that could be. When you later disassociated yourself from that church and pastor because it was politically expedient to do so, we noticed.

When you announced that you would transform America, we wondered why. With all her faults, America is the greatest country on earth. Sir, if not for America and the people who built her, you wouldn't be sitting in the White House now. Prior to your election to the highest office in this country, you were a senator from Illinois and from what we can glean from the records available, not a remarkable one. We noticed.

All through your campaign and even now, you have surrounded yourself with individuals who are basically unqualified for the positions to which you appointed them. Worse than that, the majority of them are people who, like you, bear no special affection or respect for this country and her traditions. We noticed.

You are seven months into your term and every morning millions of Americans wake up to a new horror heaped on us by you. You seek to saddle working Americans with a health care/insurance reform package that, along with cap and trade, will bankrupt this nation. We noticed.

We seek, by protesting, to let our representatives know that we are not in favor of these crippling expenditures and we are labeled "un-American," and "racist." We wonder how we are supposed to let you know how frustrated we are. You have attempted to make our protests seem isolated. We noticed.

On September 11, 2001 there were no Republicans or Democrats, only Americans. And we all grieved together and helped each other in whatever way we could. The attack on 9/11 was carried out because we are Americans. And we noticed.

There were many of us who prayed that as a black president you could help unite this nation even more. In seven months you have done more to destroy this nation than anyone since 9/11. You have failed us. We noticed.

September 11th is a day of remembrance for all Americans. You propose to make 9/11 a "National Service Day." While we know that you may not share our reverence for 9/11, we pray that history will report your proposal as what it is...a disgrace.

When Americans come together again, it will be to remove you from office. You have made a mockery of our Constitution and the office that you hold. You have embarrassed and slighted us in foreign visits and policy.

We have noticed all these things. We will deal with you.

Faye Parrish is a concerned American citizen. This piece has been erroneously attributed to Sherry Hackett, wife of the late Buddy Hackett, via email. However, the open letter by Faye Parrish was posted on familysecurityatters.org before the misattributed email started circulating according to Snopes.com.