Whoopi Goldberg Shreds 300+ House Members for Blowing Off 9/11 Moment of Silence

[left-of-center2012]

Wednesday morning on the steps of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) led a brief ceremony to commemorate the 18th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. More than 100 members of Congress stood with the two-party leaders and observed a moment of silence.

More than 300, however, did not take part in the ceremony. And the no-shows drew the ire of Whoopi Goldberg. Wednesday on The View, Goldberg slammed the House members who skipped out on the commemoration. “Apparently only 26 percent of House members showed up to the moment of silence on the steps of the Capitol this morning,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg went on to take the Members of Congress to task over their absence.

“We don’t know why they weren’t there, but this might not have been the right day to screw around with the optics,” Goldberg said. “I’m just saying, you know, this is a moment that affected everyone in this country. Not just New Yorkers. They came for America. They hit us here first and then went other places to take us, try to take us down. That affected many more people than just us here, and this is an American issue. And every one of you people — every one of you — should be out there, honoring what you didn’t have to do, that they did.”

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/whoopi-goldberg-shreds-300-house-members-for-blowing-off-9-11-moment-of-silence-every-one-of-you-should-be-there/

[spanone]

1. Thank you Whoopi Goldberg, I've seen NO mention of this in the media.

[a kennedy]

2. and what the hell do they get 6 weeks off for???? DAMN

[Rebl2]

8. Got that right

but that’s the way it’s been for years. Doesn’t make it right though

[redstatebluegirl]

3. There were a bunch of Democrats who weren't there.

I love to see a list of who attended. There is no excuse for them not being there, it took 15 minutes of their day. Trust me it will be used against those who were not there in ads or something at some point. It is just not right that they were not there!

[emmaverybo]

7. They were wrong not to show. No matter party, wrong.

[OnDoutside]

19. Haven't they stopped the big ceremonies at Ground Zero ? It's 18 years later.

[maxsolomon]

4. No one will vote against them in 14 months for missing the 18-year anniversary moment of silence

They'll all show up next year for the 19th anniversary, 2 months from the election. The piety will be impressive.

And still, no one will change their vote because of it.

[redstatebluegirl]

16. I will write an ad for it and I an bet you it will sway some people.

[maxsolomon]

17. are you a political ad consultant?

I didn't know.

[redstatebluegirl]

20. In my long ago past life I was in advertising.

Political ads got to be a lousy way to make a living a long time ago. After that I went to work at a university and loved it, stayed there till now. Ready to retire.

I know how to push people's buttons in ads, these PAC advertisers are really good at taking something this small and make it into an "anti America" 30 second ad that will make people so angry they will flip out. I don't see those people as pros but I guess they are, they make a ton of money.

[maxsolomon]

22. i'd run those ads a year from now.

this year? not so much.

[CaptYossarian]

5. Comic Relief alone proves she's a much better American than these circus clowns.

[Midnight Writer]

6. Look what happened in NC. Statehouse Democrats went to memorial, while Republicans passed legislatio

Republicans took advantage of Democrat's absence by holding votes in a chamber filled with Republicans.

[sharedvalues]

9. Guns kill more people each year than 9/11 did

Congress isn’t doing anything about guns either.

[orleans]

11. and by "congress" i assume you mean mcconnell?

pelosi was asked about this the other day:

reporter asks pelosi: "do you have any regrets about not bringing the house back in august to keep the flame lit on gun violence?"
PELOSI: no, absolutely not. we did our job. the senate was supposed to come back. why don't you all get that straight? the senate did not come back to pass the bill. i'm getting very angry about the silliness of these questions. lives are at stake. senator mcconnell is standing in the way. we passed our bill in february. members had events all over the country to ask him to bring up the bill. don't ask me what we haven't done. we have done it. and if you are annoyed with my impatience it's because people are dying because senator mcconnell hasn't acted. why don't you go ask him if he has any regrets for all the people who have died because he hasn't acted.

[Pacifist Patriot]

14. This

[dflprincess]

10. And I will bet that most, maybe all, of the no shows

had "Never forget" posted on their social media today.

[Blue_true]

13. Or maybe the democrats that did not show were out doing Day of Service events

that originated to honor the spirit of those that died that day and died in subsequent years because of being at Ground Zero digging the last survivors out and taking care of the remains of the dead.

[orleans]

12. cspan video link

https://www.c-span.org/video/?464198-1/lawmakers-hold-moment-silence-mark-18th-anniversary-september-11-attacks

[StarfishSaver]

15. I'd like to know why they didn't attend before criticizing them

There are good reasons not to be there, especially since a moment of silence on the House steps is a lovely gesture, it is just a gesture, a public show, that isn't the only way to appropriately commemorate 9-11.

I'll wait to hear what the absent Members were doing during that time before having a kneejerk reaction to them not being in one particular spot at that moment.

[bondwooley]

18. Thumbs up.

Yet here's a strange thing. WNYC, the local public radio channel, stopped regular programming for that moment of silence -- to bring us live to the moment of silence at the trade center. Somehow, that just seemed weird.

[gratuitous]

21. I will quibble with one thing Goldberg said

"They" did not necessarily come for America. I think the attacks were deliberately targeted at the seat of American capitalism (the twin towers of the World Trade Center) and the seat of American militarism (the Pentagon). I know it's not a convenient thought, and it's detrimental to a kum ba yah kind of "We're all Americans, in this together" feeling that folks like to have. But there are a lot of citizens in the United States who aren't too enamored of our country's economic and military policies.

Blurring the lines in this instance pits Americans against each other. If a citizen doesn't choose to commemorate the 9/11 attacks in the approved method, they place themselves on the other side of an invisible line. A citizen who opines that the policies of our capitalist overlords and military commanders might invite an attack on those institutions will almost certainly be accused of being disloyal to the United States. In an interesting flip, citizens who stand with the victims of our economic and military policies don't routinely expect "every one of you people" to be out there with them.