Ground Zero Photo Deemed too "Rah-Rah" by Liberals

I wish I was making this up, but if you want further proof that progressive liberals hate America, here it is. As reported in the NY Post, it seems that the iconic photo of firefighters raising the American flag at Ground Zero was almost excluded from the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The reason? The creative director of the museum, Michael Shulan, and other staffers thought that the photo was too "rah-rah America" and too kitschy. These details have emerged in an upcoming book, Battle for Ground Zero, by Elizabeth Greenspan.

Shulan said, “I really believe that the way America will look best, the way we can really do best, is to not be Americans so vigilantly and so vehemently." This is the twisted mindset of the progressive liberal in today's world. The fact that a photo of firefighters, many of whom died going into the burning towers on 9/11, raising the American flag in the rubble of the World Trade Center is taboo just shows how much the left despises America and how out of touch with reality that they are. I guess we should destroy all copies of the US flag being raised over Iwo Jima as well as the memorial statue of that event at Arlington National Cemetery as they're too "rah-rah America."

It appears that the only reason that the image is in the museum is that the chief curator, Jan Ramirez, proposed a compromise. Instead of the single image of the flag raising, they would use three different photos of the same event from different angles. This was done to undercut the myth of the "one iconic moment," according to Ramirez. Apparently, Michael Shulan didn't like that idea as well but eventually went along with it. Shulan said, “My concern, as it always was, is that we not reduce [9/11] down to something that was too simple, and in its simplicity would actually distort the complexity of the event, the meaning of the event."

Honestly, what planet is this guy living on? The events of 9/11 are painfully simple and not complex at all. Evil bastards (Muslim terrorists) hijacked planes and flew them into buildings and murdered over 3000 people. It's that plain and simple. This is just another attempt to spin the 9/11 attacks as somehow being America's fault. Somehow, American policies led to the attack in the minds of progressive liberals. The plain truth is that evil people commit evil deeds and that is what happened. It was not the fault of America. Muslim extremists hate everything about our way of life from how we value individual liberty to how we value education for everybody, especially women.

New Yorkers and all Americans should be outraged. Why are people such as Michael Shulan and Jan Ramirez being allowed to dictate what is displayed in the 9/11 Memorial Museum? Progressive liberals shouldn't be allowed within 1000 feet of the place as their utter contempt for America pollutes the very air they breathe.

This does not surprise me at all. I noticed something peculiar and unsettling in the days immediately after 9-11. The op temp was so fast and days so long that it was a while before I could start to put the pieces in place. Firstly while there was a huge amount of bathos about the trauma of the lives lost and the impact on grieving parents and wives and children there was (deliberately I now am convinced) no full throated roar of anger and determination for revenge from government leaders or military leadership.

I have no use for FDR, but read his address to Congress asking for a declaration of war after Dec 7, 1941. No one in the Bush administration said anything like ‘treacherously attacked’ Day of Infamy that will live in history’.
Instead there were prayers for the dead and tears and admonitions not to blame Islam or Muslims for the events of 9-11. No US military commander said anything like Halsey's remark ‘The only place Japanese will be spoken is in hell when we finish with them.’ Made as he stood on the bridge of the Enterprise as it steamed into a burning and smoking fleet anchorage at Pearl Harbor. Even more disturbing (and this is to this day truly disturbing to me) was the way general officers conducted themselves in the days immediately after 9-11. Instead of radiating a determined can do attitude and exuding a positive relish for the opportunity to crush and destroy those who had dared attack their country and homeland in such a vile and treacherous manner one say a lot of worried, distracted, and dismayed men. There was lots of angry lashing out at subordinates, especially civilians and a great deal of frenzied CYA and often patently stupid and unnecessarily expensive CYA to correct stupidities cravenly enacted to save a few dollars during Clintontime. Overall my take was that the men one looked to for leadership were themselves demoralized by an enemy who had thumbed his nose at all the elaborate and expensive operational templates and deliberate planning cycle products the military (or at least the Army) are so proud of. The enemy had won a huge psychological victory in the opening minutes of this new war without a name. Instead of leaders we had uniformed bureaucrats and mangers. Instead of unyielding firmness from all parts of the political establishment we had whimpering and the start of a strong anti-war movement. Much or rank and file America has not changed as witnessed by the fidelity, courage, tenacity and diligence of the men and women of the armed forces during the Iraq and Afghanistan operations. Our leaders have changed and have neither nerve or conviction or even just brute courage.

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