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| Relatives Protest Plan for Museum at 9/11 Memorial Site |
| 2005-06-22 |
| Chanting, "9/11 memorial only," about 200 relatives of those who died in the terrorist attack gathered at ground zero yesterday to express anger over a proposed museum at the site. They said a museum would dilute the purpose of the memorial and dishonor the memory of their relatives. Although plans for the museum, the International Freedom Center, have yet to be completed, its Web site (ifcwtc.org) said it would include an educational and cultural center "that will nurture a global conversation on freedom in our world today." Fine. Take it down the street to the UN. They can add another billion to their rehab budget to cover it. It doesn't belong here. To me, it sounds like some touchy-feely bullshit idea anyways, so it should fit right in down there. Relatives said they feared that the museum would shift the focus from the victims of the terror attack toward political harangues against United States foreign and domestic policy. Debra Burlingame, whose opinion piece on June 8 in The Wall Street Journal ignited a movement to remove the museum, has focused her anger on the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Anthony D. Romero, who is an adviser to the museum. Just who I want involved in a project like this. Tell ya what, Tony. Since your organization's doing so much to ensure that 9/11 happens again, you can have the next site. "Do we really want to entrust the meaning of Sept. 11 to a man who is calling our secretary of defense, in a time of war, dishonorable and dishonest?" asked Ms. Burlingame, whose brother, Charles F. Burlingame III, was a pilot of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77. That borderlines on "hate speech" there, Ms. Burlingame. You'll be hearing from our lawyers. But project coordinators vowed to press forward and held a quickly organized news conference to address the family members' concerns."It's important what we have here is not a place for political polemics, but a place to memorialize the history of man's march toward freedom and to remember the role that Sept. 11 plays in that important march," said John P. Cahill, appointed by Gov. George E. Pataki in May to lead the rebuilding effort in Lower Manhattan. Ah, "polemics". Breaking out the "pretty words". I'll bet he thinks the peons don't even know what "polemics" means. But relatives at the protest said there should be no political slants at ground zero. "The organizers of the International Freedom Center say that in order to understand 9/11, we must see exhibits about slavery, segregation and genocide and its impact around the world," said Michael Burke, whose brother, Capt. William F. Burke Jr. of the Fire Department, died in the World Trade Center collapse. "This is history that all should know and learn, but not here - not on sacred ground." He added: "Nobody is coming to this place to learn about Ukraine democracy or to be inspired by the courage of Tibetan monks. They're coming for Sept. 11." Amen. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg also defended the idea of the freedom center yesterday and vowed to move forward with plans for it on that site."You are never going to please everybody," he said. "I don't think any memorial is going to do what they would really like to have; clearly it's not going to bring back their loved ones. But we're trying to remember those who have passed and at the same time build for the future." Rudy weigh in on this yet? Thank Christ Bloomberg wasn't the mayor that day. The relatives vowed to continue the fight against the center. All day long, signatures poured in on an Internet petition on the Web site takebackthememorial.com. "Three thousand people died on their way to work," said Rita Riches, holding a photograph of her son, Firefighter Jimmy Riches. "That's what this is about, nothing else. Absolutely nothing else." I wish these people luck and I'll be signing their petition. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |