SwiftVets.com

[davman]

I don't know if you heard, but blame America first crowd has taken control of the memorial that will be built at ground zero, in NYC. If they have their way, the memorial will have nothing to do with 9/11, and those who were murdered on that day. Please go to this site and sign the petition to help stop them.


http://takebackthememorial.org/

The Great Ground Zero Heist
Will the 9/11 "memorial" have more about Abu Ghraib than New York's heroic firemen?

BY DEBRA BURLINGAME
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
On Memorial Day weekend, three Marines from the 24th Expeditionary Unit who had been wounded in Iraq were joined by 300 other service members for a wreath-laying ceremony at the empty pit of Ground Zero. The broken pieces of the Twin Towers have long ago been cleared away. There are no faded flags or hand-painted signs of national unity, no simple tokens of remembrance. So why do they come? What do they hope to see?

The World Trade Center Memorial will break ground this year. When those Marines return in 2010, the year it is scheduled to open, no doubt they will expect to see the artifacts that bring those memories to life. They'll want a vantage point that allows them to take in the sheer scope of the destruction, to see the footage and the photographs and hear the personal stories of unbearable heartbreak and unimaginable courage. They will want the memorial to take them back to who they were on that brutal September morning.

Instead, they will get a memorial that stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the yearning to return to that day. Rather than a respectful tribute to our individual and collective loss, they will get a slanted history lesson, a didactic lecture on the meaning of liberty in a post-9/11 world. They will be served up a heaping foreign policy discussion over the greater meaning of Abu Ghraib and what it portends for the country and the rest of the world.





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 public will be confused at first, and then feel hoodwinked and betrayed. Where, they will ask, do we go to see the September 11 Memorial? The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation will have erected a building whose only connection to September 11 is a strained, intellectual one. While the IFC is getting 300,000 square feet of space to teach us how to think about liberty, the actual Memorial Center on the opposite corner of the site will get a meager 50,000 square feet to exhibit its 9/11 artifacts, all out of sight and underground. Most of the cherished objects which were salvaged from Ground Zero in those first traumatic months will never return to the site. There is simply no room. But the International Freedom Center will have ample space to present us with exhibits about Chinese dissidents and Chilean refugees. These are important subjects, but for somewhere--anywhere--else, not the site of the worst attack on American soil in the history of the republic.

More disturbing, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is handing over millions of federal dollars and the keys to that building to some of the very same people who consider the post-9/11 provisions of the Patriot Act more dangerous than the terrorists that they were enacted to apprehend--people whose inflammatory claims of a deliberate torture policy at Guantanamo Bay are undermining this country's efforts to foster freedom elsewhere in the world.





The driving force behind the IFC is Tom Bernstein, the dynamic co-founder of the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex who made a fortune financing Hollywood movies. But his capital ventures appear to have funded his true calling, the pro bono work he has done his entire adult life--as an activist lawyer in the human rights movement. He has been a proud member of Human Rights First since it was founded--as the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights--27 years ago, and has served as its president for the last 12.
The public has a right to know that it was Mr. Bernstein's organization, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union, that filed a lawsuit three months ago against Donald Rumsfeld on behalf of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was Human Rights First that filed an amicus brief on behalf of alleged "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla, an American citizen who the Justice Department believes is an al Qaeda recruit. It was Human Rights First that has called for a 9/11-style commission to investigate the alleged torture of detainees, complete with budget authority, subpoena power and the ability to demand that witnesses testify under oath.

In fact, the IFC's list of those who are shaping or influencing the content and programming for their Ground Zero exhibit includes a Who's Who of the human rights, Guantanamo-obsessed world:

• Michael Posner, executive director at Human Rights First who is leading the worldwide "Stop Torture Now" campaign focused entirely on the U.S. military. He has stated that Mr. Rumsfeld's refusal to resign in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal is "irresponsible and dishonorable."

• Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, who is pushing IFC organizers for exhibits that showcase how civil liberties in this country have been curtailed since September 11.

• Eric Foner, radical-left history professor at Columbia University who, even as the bodies were being pulled out of a smoldering Ground Zero, wrote, "I'm not sure which is more frightening: the horror that engulfed New York City or the apocalyptic rhetoric emanating daily from the White House." This is the same man who participated in a "teach-in" at Columbia to protest the Iraq war, during which a colleague exhorted students with, "The only true heroes are those who find ways to defeat the U.S. military," and called for "a million Mogadishus." The IFC website has posted Mr. Foner's statement warning that future discussions should not be "overwhelmed" by the IFC's location at the World Trade Center site itself.

• George Soros, billionaire founder of Open Society Institute, the nonprofit foundation that helps fund Human Rights First and is an early contributor to the IFC. Mr. Soros has stated that the pictures of Abu Ghraib "hit us the same way as the terrorist attack itself."

While Gov. George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and LMDC are focusing their attention on the economic revival of lower Manhattan, there has been no meaningful oversight with respect to the "cash cow of Ground Zero." Meanwhile, the Freedom Center's organizers are quickly lining up individuals, institutions and university provosts with this arrogant appeal: "The memorial to the victims will be the heart of the site, the IFC will be the brain." Indeed, they have declared the World Trade Center Memorial the perfect "magnet" for the world's "great leaders, thinkers and activists" to participate in lectures and symposiums that examine the "foundations of free and open societies." Put less grandly, these activists and academics are salivating at the prospect of holding forth on the "perfect platform" where the domestic and foreign policy they despise was born.

Less welcome to the Freedom Center are the actual beneficiaries of that policy. According to the New York Times, early renderings of the center's exhibit area created by its Norwegian architectural firm depicted a large mural of an Iraqi voter. That image was replaced by a photograph of Martin Luther King and Lyndon Johnson when the designs were made public. What does it mean that the "story of humankind's quest for freedom" doesn't include the kind that is fought for with the blood and tears of patriots? It means, I fear, that this is a freedom center which will not use the word "patriot" the way our Founding Fathers did.





The so-called lessons of September 11 should not be force-fed by ideologues hoping to use the memorial site as nothing more than a powerful visual aid to promote their agenda. Instead of exhibits and symposiums about Internationalism and Global Policy we should hear the story of the courageous young firefighter whose body, cut in half, was found with his legs entwined around the body of a woman. Recovery personnel concluded that because of their positions, the young firefighter was carrying her.
The people who visit Ground Zero in five years will come because they want to pay their respects at the place where heroes died. They will come because they want to remember what they saw that day, because they want a personal connection, to touch the place that touched them, the place that rallied the nation and changed their lives forever. I would wager that, if given a choice, they would rather walk through that dusty hangar at JFK Airport where 1,000 World Trade Center artifacts are stored than be herded through the International Freedom Center's multi-million-dollar insult.

Ground Zero has been stolen, right from under our noses. How do we get it back?

Ms. Burlingame is a member of the board of directors of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and the sister of Charles F. "Chic" Burlingame III, pilot of American Airlines fight 77, which was crashed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

[Army_(Ret)]

I agree. Respect, and remember. But life goes on, and it's time to do something about it. Put a new Trade Center up.
_________________
Peace is acheived through victory

[rparrott21]

I can see the comparison,,Wearing underwear on your head and someone pointing at you private parts laughing and flying planes into building killing over 3000 people...let us never forget the lessons learning from embarassing
terrorist..they are people too...

[manelly]

Wow
Over 10,000 signatures now
http://takebackthememorial.org/

Scroll down the page and watch the O'Reilly segment with Fox and Friend's Brian Kilmead, you won't believe it

I signed the other day when it was around 3700.
_________________
Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day.
- Thomas Jefferson

[dcornutt]

Just signed it. And thanks for the link

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

Wow, Debra Burlingame certainly acquitted herself well.

Absolutely stood her ground! Way to go!

IMO, this "museum" has NO place on a site where almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens died in that terrible attack.

And don't but that stinkin' crap near our Pentagon or that field in Pennsylvania, either!

Defiling burial grounds is a despicable and juvenile act of vandalism - this "museum" is the same thing on a much larger scale.

Remembering 9-11, forensically: Bodies found intact: 289 Body parts found: 19, 858 Families with no remains: 1, 717
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[davman]

This is from takebackthememorial.com. Over 600 family members of victims of 9/11!

10907 people have signed the petition. Have you?


10,000 And Counting
June 22nd, 2005
Nearly 600 9/11 Family Members. Over 9400 fellow Americans and friends from around the world.

[davman]

This is the email address for Dick Tofel. Please send him an email and ask him to resign!


dtofel@ifcwtc.org

13838 people have signed the petition.


13,000 And Counting
June 24th, 2005
Nearly 800 9/11 Family Members. Over 13000 fellow Americans and friends from around the world.

[kate]

NYTimes

[davman]

18392 sinatures and counting

over 1000 family members of the victims of 9/11

9/11 Family Groups Respond to Governor Pataki
June 26th, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Anthony Gardner (973) 216-2623 June 26, 2005

Fourteen September 11 Family Groups Respond to Pataki and Reaffirm Unity and Resolve to “Take Back the Memorial”

New York, N.Y., June 26, 2005 –On Friday, Governor George Pataki held a press conference to address charges that cultural institutions selected for the World Trade Center Memorial site will include content and programming which will dishonor the victims of the September 11th attacks. We believe the governor’s remarks demonstrate that he is not yet attuned to what the American people expect and deserve in a memorial at Ground Zero.

We are heartened that Governor Pataki likened Ground Zero to historic memorials such as those found at “the beaches of Normandy or Pearl Harbor,” and that he affirmatively declared that the International Freedom Center (IFC), the Drawing Center and other institutions slated for the site “won’t be there” without an “absolute guarantee,” that they will respect the mission of the memorial. But he later sowed uncertainty and confusion by indicating that standards of taste and respect for the lost would be determined by the institutions themselves. While the governor may sincerely hope and even believe that the IFC and these institutions will observe the sanctity of the site, ultimately, compliance with appropriate standards will be, in the governor’s words, “their call.”

The governor’s new plan to sanitize the IFC and Drawing Center and the other cultural programming is nothing more than an empty promise. The stated mission of these cultural facilities is irreconcilable to the memorial’s own mission statement. Sadly, the governor’s remarks confirm that the honor of those lost on September 11 will take a back seat to free speech and artistic expression as realized in works, exhibits and programming which is completely unrelated to the events of that historic day. We believe the solution is simple. The IFC and the Drawing Center must be removed from Ground Zero.

Also, it took a great deal of courage for Debra Burlingame to speak up in her Wall Street Journal opinion piece titled “The Great Ground Zero Heist.” We have all experienced first hand the efforts the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation will take to discredit victims’ families, divide and intimidate us and marginalize our concerns when we dare to disagree with the powers that be. This is not the first time this has happened, but it needs to be the last time. We will not let that happen to any victims’ family member ever again. Together we stand united to “Take Back the Memorial” at Ground Zero.

We remain resolved that the IFC, the Drawing Center and all cultural programming unrelated to the attacks on the World Trade Center must be removed from Ground Zero. The history of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 must be preserved for future generations. It must be told plainly, without distraction and with the respect that the victims and our country deserve. We are committed to achieving a proper memorial. We urge leadership in the state of New York to respond to our plea, but we will not allow inaction or indecision to deter us.

Please visit www.takebackthememorial.org to learn more and join in the effort to take back America’s memorial.

[Tanya]

New York Times comes out against Pataki

I won't post the NYT rag but it's here at LGF:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/

"Gov. George Pataki’s decision to side with increasingly vocal critics of the cultural plans for the World Trade Center site is not surprising, but it is alarming. The governor has been deeply and rightly sensitive to the concerns of the families of the victims of 9/11. Like all of us, he honors their loss and their grief. But by bowing to some of the survivors’ growing hostility to any version of 9/11 except their own, Mr. Pataki is doing a disservice to history and to the very idea of freedom."

More at above link!

[davman]

26,651 SIGNATURES AND COUNTING

[davman]

Major September 11 Family Organizations Challenge America and Its Leaders to Keep the Promise to Never Forget 9/11

July 11, 2005 New York, N.Y. – At a press conference today on the steps of City Hall, family members of relatives lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 representing fourteen major September 11 organizations challenged the International Freedom Center’s latest ploy to hijack the memorial at ground zero and called on America and its leaders to act now to ‘Take Back the Memorial.’

The event was opened with a moment of silence in memory of the victims and survivors of last week’s bombing of London transport. The family organizations, which represent civilians, firefighters, police and emergency personnel, restated their objections to a massive cultural complex intended to house institutions that have no relevance to September 11, 2001 that infringes on and will overshadow the memorial.

“Freedom is an ideology,” said Charles Wolf whose wife Katherine was murdered in the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. “Ideologies change over time. Memorials are meant to be perpetual and eternal – they’re meant to go beyond a period in time.”

“We must not make a mockery of the words ‘Never Forget,’” said Debra Burlingame who lost her brother Charles F. "Chic" Burlingame III, pilot of American Airlines fight 77, which was crashed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. “We think the public will not be fooled by the IFC’s new plan to appropriate 9/11 artifacts. It’s the height of arrogance and insensitivity to use these precious objects as mere window dressing or statuary.”

Calling on President Bush to intervene, Jack Lynch whose son, Michael F. Lynch died rescuing others in the South Tower on September 11, 2001 remarked, “Mr. President, one of your staff last week stated in response to a reporter’s question that the memorial is a ‘New York issue.’ Nothing could be further from the truth; this is an American problem as it was America that was attacked. Saying that the memorial at Ground Zero is a New York problem would be like calling Gettysburg a Pennsylvania problem or Pearl Harbor an Hawaii issue. We expect better of you.”

The 14 major family organizations called on President Bush and Congress to come to their aid and honor their promises to ‘Never Forget.’ They asked all American citizens to log on to www.takebackthememorial.org, sign the petition and call their elected officials and ask them to make the WTC memorial reflect only the history and events of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001. They also called on the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Boards who both meet later this week to exercise their fiduciary obligation to protect this memorial.