Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Freedom Tower: Let Arrogance Ring


Another development in the saga that is the rebuilding of the World Trade Center here in New York: The first beam of the Freedom Tower was erected yesterday, amidst the now annoying pomp that precedes anything having to do with Ground Zero.

Does our elected officials have nothing better to do besides "commemorating" every last bowel movement that takes place below Canal Street?
What irks me most about the Freedom Tower is the arrogance behind the project -- we're not showing the world anything by building an even taller edifice downtown, we're just waving the red flag in front of the bull. Five years after thousands of people were wiped from existence it's become our city's prerogative to account for all the deaths in dollars and cents. Which means that this very pricey bit of real estate, which is now a cemetery, has to be repurposed and every last person who lost a loved one there needs to be placated with hollow praise and the drone of a bagpipe.
Some simple-minded people might gasp and tear up at the thought of steel, glass and copy machines soaring 1,776 feet into the heavens, ever closer to their departed loved ones. I find it sickening and audacious. But predictable. Given our heady times, when our government seems hell bent on winning an un-winnable war, it's small, empty "victories" like these that emphasize, oh what is it, "the resilience of the American spirit" and bla bla bla.
If you want to commemorate anything, how about making the day George Bush said we're NOT winning in Iraq a national holiday? Check out the Boston Globe for that.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

This is purely a question - not loaded in any way, I'm simply curious to find out how people feel about it - do you believe the wiped-out parts of New Orleans should be rebuilt where they are/were?

Unknown said...

Not all of New Orleans flooded. The parts that can be protected by adequate dikes might be rebuilt, but if dikes strong enough to withstand a category 5 hurricane aren't feasible, then the city should shrink to the category 3 limits of the dikes.

The current discussions about restoring the wetlands will also play a factor.

Is the cultural value of the city worth the price? We'll soon find out.

Rob said...

If you want to commemorate anything, how about making the day George Bush said we're NOT winning in Iraq a national holiday?

Liberals need a national holiday to tell us how bad America and our military sucks? I thought that happened every day. That and the constant death toll orgasms.