Posted on 06/30/2002 5:51:35 AM PDT by areafiftyone
(New York-AP) -- Governor George Pataki says the site where the World Trade Center towers once stood would be preserved as a memorial to those who died there.
He called ground zero ``hallowed ground'' yesterday, telling a gathering of relatives of victims of the terrorist attacks that, ``We will never build where the towers stood.''
Several hundred family members who attended a memorial ceremony at the Javits Center in Manhattan gave the governor a standing ovation after his remarks.
Pataki did not make a statement about how large a memorial should be. Some family members have said they do not want any commercial development on the 16-acre site.
The Coalition of 9/11 Families distributed questionnaires at yesterday's event, asking relatives their views on how much of the site should be preserved.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani also spoke at the ceremony. He said his vision is of ``a soaring, dramatic, beautiful memorial that draws people there 100 years, 150 years, from now.''
But there ought to be some type of memorial on the site and I would feel it was somewhat disrespectful of the people who died there to try to put things back the way it was as if nothing has changed.
Like it or not, something did change and it needs to be remebered for future generations just like the graves of D-Day soldiers or the memorials at Pearl Harbor. Future generations will have no trouble figuring out that life went on after 9-11-01. What I'd prefer is for the site to be a testament of our nation's resilience, not a testament to our nation's short-term memory.
We do not pander to the families of our military, or civilians killed in war or combat. Horror, shock, grief, anger are appropriate responses here. But maudlin sappy endless eulogy is not healthy for an individual, or a Nation. Yearly tributes, memorial services are also approproate, but having the 9/11 families call all the shots to prolong thier claim to fame is scandalous. They are not the only people involved in this assault on our Nation and Western Civilization.
By not rebuilding we create a monument not to the dead but to Al Queda and terrorists everywhere! They are immortalized, they have won. A Memorial does need to be built but one within certain perimeters. A oblesk with the names of all the deceased inscribed thereon. No Cross, no Star of David, no statue of Budda, or Mohammed, it is a memorial to the people, just thier names, not thier Gods.
So, rebuild! Rebuild New York's economy! Reaffirm our strengths, move on. Show those fanatics that thier fanaticism is scorned and spit upon. Show the WORLD!
They fired the first volley by taking down what they saw as symbolic Judaism in the form of the destruction of the WTC. Let's match them like this:
Step 1: Phone up Indonesia and tell them to clear out the Pertronas Towers 1 and 2, the symbol of ascendant Islam. We are destroying them completely, afterwhich we are making it a landfill for pig carcasses. We will at least give them the courtesy of a warning where they did not do the same with us. Our intent is to destroy the symbol, not kill the people.
Step 2: Instead of continually losing more freedoms at airports and in our daily lives to a government that isn't making anyone else feel safer by shaking down Medal of Honor winners or 85 year old Anglo-grandmas, which is where terrorists are winning this thing, send the Saudi king a DVD featuring what daisy cutter bombs are capable of doing. Put him on notice that we will destroy the symbols of Islam systematically until Bin Laden is handed over, and terrorism ceases. Targets to be destroyed in this order:
a. Failure to produce Bin Laden? Destroy the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem
b. Still fail to turn over Bin Laden or in the event of any one additional single act of terrorism against a US target: Phone the mayor of Medina, and tell him to clear the town. It's Petronas time all over again, pig carcasses and all.
c. Still don't get it? Third time, and it's Mecca itself.
How's that for a crusade? Simple effective solution isn't it? Worked with the Barbary pirates. Too intellegent for Colin Powell and that subterfuge over at the State Dep't. perhaps.
That being said, it was an attack on our nation. The best message we can send is to rebuild better and stronger. As many times as they knock us down, we can get up.
We are Americans and our country is great because our spirit is strong. Yes, we need a memorial, and MHO is rebuilding with a memorial included in the plan is the best course.
Reagan said to tear down the wall. Now the time has come for us to say "We will rebuild our walls."
I started having these dreams after 9/11 when I saw the people hanging out the windows and jumping and in particular that one guy that tried to shinny down the side of it- he was doing a pretty good job of it too (for a short time) before he fell. I find these dreams very disturbing.
Yes. Politically correctness is the most important thing in this nation. After all, this is the country of victims.
This is in NY, RINOs are to be expected. Better than outright socialists such as Hiliary Clinton. So sometimes we have to vote for and put up with the "lesser of two evils".
The only thing that should be there is a small brass plaque and then we should build the biggest office and international business center in the world there.
We are a capitalist society NOT a socialist one. To build anything less is to waste valuable real estate space. The senseless sentimentalism that is wreaking havoc in our society is what will cause us to become an uncompetetive third world country.
Political Correctness is killing this country. We must lead the revolution ourselves to take this culture, and ultimately the country back. We must lead because conservatives like Trent Lott have failed to lead. What other alternatives do we have?
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