Lest we forget? Some of us have already forgotten the importance of setting aside Sept. 11 each year for solemn reflection — and that includes the wife of the president. The Weekly Standard notes that Michelle Obama’s office sent out a press release announcing a conference call to promote her new effort to encourage everyone to drink more water. There’s nothing wrong with the plan … save for its original date.
The event was initially scheduled to take place on the morning of Sept. 11, 2013. Apparently, the first lady had forgotten she had a previous engagement at the Pentagon, where her husband would be making s statement recalling the deadly attacks on this date 12 years ago. The release, dated 09/11/13, read:
Today at 11:00AM ET, Executive Director of Let’s Move! Sam Kass, Partnership for a Healthier America President and CEO Lawrence A. Soler and industry representatives will join a conference call to preview First Lady Michelle Obama’s trip to Watertown, WI to announce a new nationwide effort to encourage everyone to drink more water. The call will also preview an around the clock, cross-network, bi-lingual day of water messages on a dozen TV shows.
The missive has been re-released, with the following addition:
This call will be embargoed until 6:00AM ET on Thursday, September 12.
Mrs. Obama will kick off the new initiative with a speech in Watertown, Wisc. (get it?). The push to drink water is underwritten by the CDC, which notes that more than 40% of Americans drink less half of the recommend amount of water required daily and that approximately one fourth of children do not drink any water on a given day. “This new effort,” the first lady’s office notes, “will remind people that more water helps you [sic] have more energy and stamina so you can do more, longer and with better focus.”