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StumbleLETTER TO THE EDITOR:
Lack of ground zero memorial baffling
Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 | 2:04 a.m.
I realize what emotion and heartache that ground zero evokes. I’ve visited twice. In 2003 it was impossible not to cry when seeing the flowers, the words, the flag, the size of the emptiness. I went again in 2009. Except for a dedication sign saying what happened there and a small museum store, it looked as if a large construction site had stalled.
For years I wondered why the people of New York and the rest of the country were not outraged that in nine years nothing has been completed on this hallowed ground. I’ve read about different plans being approved, then scrapped.
It would have been so easy to just rebuild the Trade Center the way it was. They could have put a beautiful memorial between the buildings. We would have shown the world that we could survive this tragedy and not let it break us. Instead this rich, smart, creative country still has a big hole.
Just think if they completed the memorial (whatever plan) four years ago, would you have this hysteria about a cultural center/mosque being built blocks away? Maybe, but I think the emptiness feeds this anger.
I know some structures have begun and trees are being planted. There will be something completed by the 10th anniversary. They say after the ceremony they will have to close off the area because construction will continue.
So to everyone marching and shouting about the mosque being built near hallowed ground, where were you these past few years when the only people caring about that ground were the members of families that lost loved ones? The fact that this has become a political issue is as disappointing as the failure to complete the memorial.
Discussion: 5 comments so far…
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How sad! This letter made me cry.
"This rich, smart, creative country has a great big hole." So true!
That big hole is symbolic of what we've beome...we are a nation so fractured and divided by stupid, petty politics that we don't even know who we are anymore.
We are a people so hopelessly divided that we, as a nation, cannot even agree to protect and defend ourselves. The most basic of human instincts -- self preservation -- is gone.
We've become our own worst enemy, destroyed from within by political correctness that defies common sense, that manipulates basic values and tells us what's right is wrong and wrong is right, that tells us (in the name of freedom) the enemy is our friend.
America isn't American anymore -- at the present time we don't know what or who we are. I believe that has yet to be defined.
JanK...
Your comment made me laugh!
You ARE that BIG HOLE...
"That big hole is symbolic of what we've beome...we are a nation so fractured and divided by stupid, petty politics that we don't even know who we are anymore."
Jank...
GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR, dear.
Then go back and re-read your own posts here @theSun.
Funny, and so true, gmag.
And here I thought the whole "I don't know who I am... (sighs pensively)" conundrum belonged to the transcendental meditation, new age, self help movement of the soft-headed 60s generation. Who knew that such existential angst and drama resides in the teabaggers?
Oprah needs to do a show about this. It'll be a win, for sure.
Oh, and Republicans, it's not your fault I'm breaking up with you... I just don't know "who I am" anymore.
You would not want "Not York" to hurt the self-esteem of the terrorists supporters who still want to cause so much damage to our country.
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I feel the Trade Center should have been rebuilt, as Trump said, by not doing so they won.
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The emotional opposition has two standards, one for themselves and the other a constitutional one that does not apply to them but only to those whom they oppose
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These emotional non-thinkers are the bought and paid for robots, funded by the Koch brothers, billionaires now exposed by The New Yorker Magazine, Aug.30 issue. Now they are trying to hide. Add Rupert Murdoch and his propaganda Fox News and you may easily sit back and listen to the exact same words from each of the members of the Tolibone Party robots ..... kill Social Security, end Medicare, cut taxes, wage war, take back America and on and on ...... Obama is a socialist, he is not Christian .... now these billionaires have been exposed for what they are and they are quite nervous .... hear the words of LooneyAngle, WreckerEnsignee and FatDickArmey and BimboMicheleBachmann .... all identical ..... add BozoNewt to the list .... all prostituted and paid for .... think tanks and associations and institutes and all those lobbyists ...... yes, the Koch brothers and Murdoch .... setting it all up with their billions trying to keep back in the shadows so as not to be found out ..... haters!
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Its nicely reported in the Aug. 30 issue of the New Yorker magazine .... a piece well worth the time and price for those interested in truth and fact and less so in the false words of Oil Spill Sarah and her fellow robots who publicly vow they hope Obama fails.
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End the war, stop the killing and torture and the uncontitution Patriot Act
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Don't Cry For Me Arizona
As a New Yorker who watched the towers collapse:
To the imbecile posters who betray their their ignorance and shallowness by their above posts, Kiss My A$$!!
Ms. Newman, you have to realize that Ground Zero is also the home of Greed. Despite the tragedy, the "developers" never lost sight of the almighty dollar and the profits they live for. The only obstacle to rebuilding the World Trade Center or its replacement is their need to guarantee they line their pockets on the back of others' grief. That includes our current Mayor Crookberg and his behind the scenes machinations supporting his cronies.
Do not fool yourself, in NYC, Greed is God. Sad but true. We here know that the terrorists from foreign countries are not our only enemies. The ones in the fancy suits who speak our language and look like us are perhaps even more of a threat to honest, hard working Americans. Their weapons are more insidious and they do their dirty work with a smile and a handshake.
P.S.
fosimmons, thanks for your post. So true, so true!!!!
I don't get it -- our conservative friends are always going on about how the free market is the answer to everything, but they reject that idea when it comes to the Twin Towers site. Now they want some sort of memorial.
The Twin Towers site will be redeveloped at a time and in a manner that will allow the owners to make money. Isn't that the American way?
Why should no memorial or rebuilt towers be baffling? The whole operation is being run by political interests in the government...
Patrick says, "Why should no memorial or rebuilt towers be baffling? The whole operation is being run by political interests in the government..."
Shame, shame. Incorrect. Not political. FINANCIAL. The same goons trying to make a profit on education in NYC and everywhere else. You know, your buddies!!! The "privatizing education" crowd. Same greedy slimeballs. They're everywhere, like cockroaches, trying to fill their pockets at everyone else's expense.
Nice try though, playing the innocent. Hey, I bet you're on the Koch's, Silverberg's and Crookberg's speed dial!!
Then there should be no objection to there being a synagogue and a cathedral, one each in Mecca and Medina. Reciprocal buildings would only be "the Right thing to do" per Clinton. The Jews and Christians were there first.
The Muslims in america were cheering with the rest of Islam and OBL when the towers fell.
Not hate just fact.
Then there should be no objection to there being a synagogue and a cathedral, one each in Mecca and Medina. Reciprocal buildings would only be "the Right thing to do" per Clinton. The Jews and Christians were there first.
The Muslims in america were cheering with the rest of Islam and OBL when the towers fell.
Not hate just fact.
Quixi, Government incompetence by Republicans or Democrats doesn't matter, it is still government incompetence. Ground Zero is just more evidence of that.
PS, this has nothing to do with parental choice, the Kochs or even think tank funding left-wing billionaires like Soros. ;)
PS,
If the "greedy slimeball corporations" had increased the prices of, say an average automobile like a Honda Accord, as fast as public education has increased in cost over the last 60 years, it would cost more than a Chevy Corvette.
So if these private sector guys and gals are so evil and greedy, what do you call the people who run public education? They've got more money per pupil and more people working under them than the did 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago and they still can't improve quality...
Dear Patty R.,
The tragedy at Ground Zero has EVERYTHING to do with "greedy slimeball corporations"!! The attacks on 9/11 were not against political targets, they were against the military/industrial complex (which now includes the massive fossil fuel complex). These slimeballs are the primary backers of aid to Israel in the quest for more cheap oil. That was one of the stated reasons for the attacks.
Ground Zero is being held up by FINANCIAL considerations and FINANCIAL responsibilities and FINANCIAL finger pointing.
The "Muslim" factor is a smoke screen to divert the public's attention from the crimes of Larry Silverstein.
(Silverstein was interested in acquiring the entire World Trade Center complex, and put in a bid when the Port Authority put it up for lease in 2000. Silverstein won the bid when a deal between the initial winner and the Port Authority fell through, and he signed the lease on July 24, 2001, only weeks before the towers were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Soon after the September 11 attacks, Silverstein declared his intent to rebuild, though ran into dispute with his insurers over whether the attacks constituted one or two occurrences. A settlement was reached in 2004, with insurers agreeing to pay out $4.55 billion, which was not as much as Silverstein sought. Silverstein also ran into dispute with other parties in the rebuilding effort, including the Port Authority. In an agreement reached in April 2006, Silverstein retained rights to build three office towers (150 Greenwich Street, 175 Greenwich Street, and 200 Greenwich Street), while One World Trade Center will be owned by the Port Authority as well as Tower Five which may be leased out to another private developer and redesigned as a residential building.)
In addition, Mayor Crookberg, of the political identity crisis, is seeking the best opportunities for his greedy cronies.
By the way, both the Honda Accord and the Corvette are highly overpriced for the functions they serve. The truth is, the results of public education systems have not changed significantly over many decades. High school graduation rates are the highest they have ever been and more people hold college degrees than ever in history. It is only the propaganda of the "privatization" slimeballs and the laziness of the general public in fact checking that makes their claims seem legit. BTW, recent developments in NYS have demonstrated that charter schools have underperformed public schools in the tests championed by the slimeballs like the Kochs and Crookberg!!! SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!
quixi,
The twin towers were part of the military industrial complex? Forgive me for rolling my eyes. Don't forget the delay in rebuilding everything occurred because A) politicians got in the way b) they hired an architect who was incompetent c) the redesign was too close to the road, and d) they insulted everyone with every memorial idea
As for education...
Nevada - near tripling of inflation adjusted per pupil funds. More than doubling the staff per pupil. Results, below average bordering on bottom ten ranking. Ranks first in largest graduation rate slide in U.S. history...
The rest of the nation has seen virtually flat achievement gains in the last 40 years, despite more than doubling inflation adjusted expenditures. The public education monopoly is about employing adults, not educating students.
As for charter schools in NYC. Credible research using random assignment studies proves they work to improve student achievement. Work by Stanford professor Carolyn Hoxby finds that low-income students attending charter schools from K-12 see the vast majority of the have/have-not achievement gap closed.
I can even point you to a study by the Boston Foundation that proves charter schools work better there too (and even beat out the union run empowerment schools). Let me know if you're interested in reading both.
Patrick_R_Gibbons works for NPRI/NV, Cato Unthink Institue, Koch Brothers, as an educational policy analyst, but we know he is just a blatant propagandist "Hatchet Man" for that corrupt and incompetent segment of America's corporate/business world that has a great desire to privatize "We the People's" government so they can have a free lunch, breakfast, and dinner, at the taxpayer's expense.
The Illegal miserable failure mis-administration of bush/cheney went privatization "Crazy" and awarded no-bid and inflated contracts to their corrupt business cronies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in the privatization of government.
Many of the contracts were never fulfilled in Iraq and Afghanistan but the contractors still got paid. Many of those privatization of government contracts wound up costing as much as 100% more than what civilian servants could have done the job for.
Let the American corporate/business world garner their money the old fashion way--"Earn It."
Vidi,
Sorry, but the Kochs, Cato, Reason Magzine and other organizations including NPRI believe in limited government, low taxes and free markets because the government is largely incompetent, grows to unsustainable levels, and almost always fails in its objectives. We believe the best way to help people is to get the government out of the way.
Btw, when are you ever going to address my points instead of lazily falling back on ad-home fallacies...