SLIGHTLY OFF THE MARK
Some people
felt that after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans would finally come
together for the common good and work out their differences.
But most of
us knew better.
I wonder
how long it took after the Pearl Harbor attack before people started forgetting
its significance, or even complained when others continued to honor the memory
of those lost? I’ll bet some people were getting tired of it before World War
II was even over, and that took “just” four years, for Americans. Here we are
now, twelve years after 9/11 … we’re still at war, but most of us don’t even
know it.
At least
there was one plan to remember, by the city most directly affected by the
attacks on 9/11. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was put in charge
of a museum that would commemorate the attacks. Victims wanted something
simple, and respectful, and other stuff that never happens when politicians and
bureaucrats get involved. Let’s take a look at some things that have gone on
with the 9/11 Memorial Museum:
One of the
most iconic photos of 9/11, the raising of the American flag by FDNY
firefighters, was almost excluded from the museum. Why? Because it was “too
rah-rah American”. According to a book, the museum’s creative director said
“The way we can really do best, is to not be Americans so vigilantly and so
vehemently”.
Um … are we
not Americans? Besides, isn’t not being vigilant one of the things that got us
into trouble in the first place?
That guy,
the museum director, is making a six figure income, but doesn’t seem to
understand the whole point of his museum.
Meanwhile,
the politician who should have cared the most is the same guy who wanted to
stop the reading of 9/11 victim names on the anniversary. “Some people have said change is good,” Mayor
Bloomberg said of it on the radio.
I agree,
but good change doesn’t always happen – after all, he’s still the mayor.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he of the
notorious desire to control everything that goes into his city’s residents (and
maybe out of them, who knows?) also banned first responders from being able to
attend the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
After all, how important are they? It’s not like they got elected to
anything, or contributed to anyone who got elected to anything. Personally, I
think the reading should go on for as long as the Muslim extremists continue to
look for ways to attack and kill people, which could be a very long time. Since
the extremists have not yet had their way in this country, nobody’s forcing you
to show up and listen.
Oddly enough Bloomberg, who
attempts to micromanage his city’s health and has considered a ban on deep
breathing, has largely ignored the long-term health problems of the people who
rushed to the scene to help. But are they bitter? Upset? Do they believe
they’ve been let down by the government?
Sure.
During planning of the museum the officials,
trying to outdo themselves in terms of sheer stupidity, also rejected any
reference to 9/11 at ground level (in a 9/11 museum!), and decided to remove
the ranks of all uniformed members at the memorial. One decision was to list
all the victims without separating them into groups: No mention of firefighters,
medics, police officers.
Look, I was never in the military,
but let me explain something: When someone dies in action, including a vicious
attack on civilians by fanatics, you remember them with their ranks. That’s
respect.
Maybe the museum planners thought
it was too “rah-rah”, or maybe a bit too … I don’t know … American? After all,
the only American flag planned for the site is on one far edge of the plaza, on
top of an air-conditioning building. It’s important not to be too patriotic,
when memorializing an attack on your country.
Meanwhile, in one of the most
breathtaking examples of official hubris and insensitivity since the last time
Bloomberg opened his mouth, there was talk of leaving some 9,000 unidentified
human remains from the attacks at the museum … in the basement.
Some of the families of those
killed felt it would be using their loved ones as a lure for tourists. They
felt the remains should be kept in a separate place, and treated as hallowed
ground. While I see their point (and who am I to speak for them?), all of the World Trade Center site is
hallowed ground – hallowed by those who died both as victims and rescuers – and
should be treated that way. That means yes, entombing the dead in a separate,
Unknown Soldier style crypt, to be guarded 24/7.
(Would that cost money? Take it out
of the Presidential Pet Transportation Fund.)
Take the 9/11 Memorial away from
bureaucrats making six figures, from the politically correct squad, from those
who want us to forget what happened and ignore what’s going on now. Above all, take
it from the inept, micromanaging yet clueless clutches of Mayor Bloomberg and
his cronies.
As a person who hates the
outrageous size of the swelling federal government, it pains me to say this:
But if government has to be involved at all, we should let the feds take over
the 9/11 Memorial site. Consult with the survivors and families of victims, and
make it something like the Washington, D.C. memorials as they used to be done,
something that will reflect honor, remembrance, and the people who make America
great.
Or hand it over to me. Believe me, for six figures I can screw it up just as badly as they did.
