9/11 Memorial Hijacked

[peptoabysmal]

This is just downright disgusting.

The World Trade Center Memorial Cultural Complex will be an imposing edifice wedged in the place where the Twin Towers once stood. It will serve as the primary "gateway" to the underground area where the names of the lost are chiseled into concrete. The organizers of its principal tenant, the International Freedom Center (IFC), have stated that they intend to take us on "a journey through the history of freedom"--but do not be fooled into thinking that their idea of freedom is the same as that of those Marines. To the IFC's organizers, it is not only history's triumphs that illuminate, but also its failures. The public will have come to see 9/11 but will be given a high-tech, multimedia tutorial about man's inhumanity to man, from Native American genocide to the lynchings and cross-burnings of the Jim Crow South, from the Third Reich's Final Solution to the Soviet gulags and beyond. This is a history all should know and learn, but dispensing it over the ashes of Ground Zero is like creating a Museum of Tolerance over the sunken graves of the USS Arizona.

The Great Ground Zero Heist

 

[SezMe]

If peppy and I are in total agreement, it must really be bad.


It is.

 

[aerocontrols]

'Hijacked' is a rather unfortunate choice of words, I think.

 

[Daylight]

Maybe it's me but, wouldn't rebuilding the twin towers with stronger materials be a better statement and honor to those lost?

This seems so defeatist.

 

[SezMe]

Maybe it's me but, wouldn't rebuilding the twin towers with stronger materials be a better statement and honor to those lost?

This seems so defeatist.

You're suggesting that the twin towers be rebuilt to withstand the onslaught of a 747 fully loaded with fuel? I cannot imagine the engineering that would accomplish such a feat. Or, if it could be done, what the costs would be. Then, after it is built and stands as a challenge to every anti-American nutjob, why any company would pay the exorbitant rents to occupy the space. Or, if that did happen, why any employee would agree to be housed there.

The twin towers came down. They will never rise again.

 

[Kevin_Lowe]

This is just downright disgusting.

I agree. No American has any right to interpret 9/11's meaning in any way other than that approved by pepto, let alone to place it in the context of other atrocities in world history. Who do these people think they are? What gives them the right?

 

[Donks]

Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

I agree. No American has any right to interpret 9/11's meaning in any way other than that approved by pepto, let alone to place it in the context of other atrocities in world history. Who do these people think they are? What gives them the right?

Maybe I suddenly slanted right while I was sleeping, but I agree with peptoabysmal. This is a memorial to the victims of 9/11. Not a political statement. Not someone's interpretation of freedom.

 

[dann]

Re: Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

This is a memorial to the victims of 9/11. Not a political statement. Not someone's interpretation of freedom.

A memorial like that is always a political statement!

The public will have come to see 9/11 but will be given a high-tech, multimedia tutorial about man's inhumanity to man, from Native American genocide to the lynchings and cross-burnings of the Jim Crow South, from the Third Reich's Final Solution to the Soviet gulags and beyond.

Does anybody think that the names of any US presidents or for instance Indochina will be mentioned anywhere? (Well, maybe Cambodia ...)

 

[Ed]

You're suggesting that the twin towers be rebuilt to withstand the onslaught of a 747 fully loaded with fuel? I cannot imagine the engineering that would accomplish such a feat. Or, if it could be done, what the costs would be. Then, after it is built and stands as a challenge to every anti-American nutjob, why any company would pay the exorbitant rents to occupy the space. Or, if that did happen, why any employee would agree to be housed there.

The twin towers came down. They will never rise again.

Trump would like to.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/18/wtc.trump/

 

[Dorian Gray]

Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

I agree. No American has any right to interpret 9/11's meaning in any way other than that approved by pepto, let alone to place it in the context of other atrocities in world history. Who do these people think they are? What gives them the right?

That's right, Kevin. Because as we all know, every president's name is on every presidential library and street, people of every religion are allowed to travel to Mecca, and groups and artists from every musical genre are allowed to be voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - all in order to place them in the context of other presidents, religions and types of music, respectively. What's going on at Ground Zero isn't unprecedented - after all, many people on this very forum have been to the Museum of Human Horrors at Pearl Harbor and the Center for the History of Atrocities near the Murrah building.

In other news, Dr. Phil has made the list of the 100 greatest Americans of all time - cementing the idea of the masses as good judges of character and taste.

 

[Kevin_Lowe]

Re: Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

That's right, Kevin. Because as we all know, every president's name is on every presidential library and street, people of every religion are allowed to travel to Mecca, and groups and artists from every musical genre are allowed to be voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - all in order to place them in the context of other presidents, religions and types of music, respectively. What's going on at Ground Zero isn't unprecedented - after all, many people on this very forum have been to the Museum of Human Horrors at Pearl Harbor and the Center for the History of Atrocities near the Murrah building.

This is a nonsensical argument.

The issue, metaphorically, is not whether to let painters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is whether to establish a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or to establish something else entirely.

Pepto is pretending that it's already a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and that anyone who says otherwise hates Rock and Roll and is hijacking their Hall of Fame.

What I'm saying is, who gave anyone the right to proclaim that their vision for the memorial is the only accepted and legitimate one?

 

[RandFan]

Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

I agree. No American has any right to interpret 9/11's meaning in any way other than that approved by pepto...

I think pepto's point is that no one should have the right to exploit the tragedy for polemic and political purposes.

...let alone to place it in the context of other atrocities in world history.

Context???? Why the hell does it need context? It is what it is. It speaks for itself.

Who do these people think they are? What gives them the right?

Wich is a damn good question. Why do these people think they can use the memories of fallen Americans to further controversy and dissent. Why must the deaths of these individuals be used for political purposes?

 

[RandFan]

Re: Re: Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

A memorial like that is always a political statement!

This is silly. I suppose any memorial can be seen as political. Certainly it will be to some extent political. It need not be overtly so. Those who seek to exploit the tragedy for political purposes are a$$holes. When Bush was doing it he was an a$$hole. Leave the politics out as much as possible. Don't make a stupid Tu Quoque argument. Just because politics can't be completly divorced from the monument is a lousy reason to make it even more political.

 

[Kevin_Lowe]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

This is silly. I suppose any memorial can be seen as political. Certainly it will be to some extent political. It need not be overtly so. Those who seek to exploit the tragedy for political purposes are a$$holes. When Bush was doing it he was an a$$hole. Leave the politics out as much as possible. Don't make a stupid Tu Quoque argument. Just because politics can't be completly divorced from the monument is a lousy reason to make it even more political.

I agree with you, as a matter of fact. I think that a minimalist memorial would be a very good approach. Let people make of it what they will.

Earlier I was mostly taking issue with people getting self-righteous because the memorial had been "hijacked" to be one thing rather than another, implying that they were the memorial's rightful owners and that it had been taken from them illegitimately.

 

[RandFan]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

I agree with you, as a matter of fact. I think that a minimalist memorial would be a very good approach. Let people make of it what they will.

Earlier I was mostly taking issue with people getting self-righteous because the memorial had been "hijacked" to be one thing rather than another, implying that they were the memorial's rightful owners and that it had been taken from them illegitimately.

Cool, I agree with you. I also like the minimalist approach.

 

[peptoabysmal]

Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

I agree. No American has any right to interpret 9/11's meaning in any way other than that approved by pepto, let alone to place it in the context of other atrocities in world history. Who do these people think they are? What gives them the right?

You give me super-powers that I do not possess. Uh, thanks. You also create a nice fluffy straw-man.

I have every right to be disgusted with this. In my opinion, what was sold as a memorial is nothing more than a pulpit to some new-age religion. What makes you think that I could or should not be disgusted by this?

 

[peptoabysmal]

Re: Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

I think pepto's point is that no one should have the right to exploit the tragedy for polemic and political purposes.

No not really. As a matter of fact it happens all the time.

In this particular case, I am way more specific. I don't want to see this 9/11 memorial become a flag waving Fourth of July spectacle any more than I want it to become another ugly statue dedicated to man's inhumanity. I just want it to be a memorial to the people who died and the people who risked thier lives on that fateful day.

That is solely my opinion. I don't think that it is solely my disgust in the direction that this memorial is headed. Perhaps enough public opinion will change the outcome, perhaps not.

For me, if there is a tasteful memorial built I may go see it and spend a few dollars in New York. However, if the plans go through as outlined in the article, I think I'll just visit one of the other states like Hawaii. I wonder how many other people feel that way? Enough to make a difference that someone will feel in their pocketbook?

 

[RandFan]

Re: Re: Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

No not really. As a matter of fact it happens all the time.

In this particular case, I am way more specific. I don't want to see this 9/11 memorial become a flag waving Fourth of July spectacle any more than I want it to become another ugly statue dedicated to man's inhumanity. I just want it to be a memorial to the people who died and the people who risked thier lives on that fateful day.

That is solely my opinion. I don't think that it is solely my disgust in the direction that this memorial is headed. Perhaps enough public opinion will change the outcome, perhaps not.

For me, if there is a tasteful memorial built I may go see it and spend a few dollars in New York. However, if the plans go through as outlined in the article, I think I'll just visit one of the other states like Hawaii. I wonder how many other people feel that way? Enough to make a difference that someone will feel in their pocketbook?

My apologies, I stand corrected and I agree with you.

 

[AWPrime]

a journey through the history of freedom

What has freedom really got to do with 9/11 anyway?

 

[Dorian Gray]

Re: Re: Re: Re: 9/11 Memorial Hijacked

This is a nonsensical argument.

The issue, metaphorically, is not whether to let painters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is whether to establish a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or to establish something else entirely.

Pepto is pretending that it's already a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and that anyone who says otherwise hates Rock and Roll and is hijacking their Hall of Fame.

What I'm saying is, who gave anyone the right to proclaim that their vision for the memorial is the only accepted and legitimate one?

1) What gives YOU the right?
2) IN America, the First Amendment gives us the right to proclaim that our vision for the memorial is the only accepted and legitimate one.
3) (and most importantly) Pepto didn't say that his opinion was the only one that mattered - you're putting words in his mouth. Instead of criticizing him, why don't you tell us what your opinion is of the issue he raised? Especially since you appear to agree with Pepto.