| My inbox is full of statements from politicians, mostly from New York, but also as far away as Texas, about the 7th anniversary of 9/11. I won't be publishing any of them, so if you are about to send me yet another one, don't bother. I'm not terribly interested, and I'm sure most other New Yorkers aren't either.
I'm not going to write about what I remember from that tragic day either. We all know where we were that morning. We all have our own memories. We've had 6 previous anniversaries to rehash, sort and share our recollections. I don't feel the need to go through with it all again and I suspect that I'm not the only one who feels that way.
Quite frankly, I've grown weary of the annual look back to the day when 3,000 people were murdered in cold blood. It's not that I don't mourn them. I do, profoundly so. It's not that it doesn't anger me to my very core that so many of those who visited such barbarism upon these shores are still at large. It does, profoundly so.
But, I'm also a New Yorker. We do things. We build stuff. We march unflappably, inexorably forward. Sure, we will always mark this day and we should. But, the fact that there's still a hole in the ground in lower Manhattan should shame us all.
Last week at the Republican National Convention, they saw fit to show the world yet more 9/11 murder porn. They, the party that brought their convention to the scene of the crime in 2004, once again tried to wrap their party and their candidates in the crimson glow of our tragedy, to once again wave the bloody flag of September 11, 2001 in the faces of the nation they hope to scare silly one more time for the Gipper.
What they did not do, and they haven't done since that awful day is offer a way forward. I heard not a word about why there is still a void in my city. I heard nothing about what they plan do about that. I did not hear anything about who is to blame or how this party would do better now.
To be fair, I haven't heard all that much, if anything, from the other party, my party, about it either.
And that's why I'm not terribly thrilled about the fact that both major presidential candidates are here today. Please, pay your respects to the dead and murdered. By all means, we all are doing so today. But, then tell me why there's still nothing there at Ground Zero. Then tell me what you are going to do about it.
The fact that Ground Zero is still an open, empty wound on this city is a disgrace, pure and simple, and there's plenty of blame to go around. Bush, Pataki, Giuliani, Bloomberg, Corzine, Spitzer, Paterson, Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno. I could go on...
But, we built the Empire State Building in a year, folks. In the 1930s. In the middle of the Great Depression. Goddamn it, we're New Yorkers, for crying out loud. We build and we build BIG. We're now told that the 9/11 Memorial will be finished by the 10th anniversary, not the Freedom Tower or whatever they're calling it this week, the Memorial.
That's. Not. Good. Enough.
It's become a cliche' to say that "If (this happens) then the terrorists have won!" This is actually a case where I believe that sentiment has at least some merit. Every day that passes whilst there remains an acres wide hole in the ground in Lower Manhattan is something of a victory for the murderers of 9/11. It's been 7 years. Let's get cracking.
So, as a New Yorker, I welcome all you folks to our city today. Your sentiments for the fallen are duly noted and appreciated. But, if you really want to show your respect for both the fallen and the living, help us fill that hole. Help us fill that void in our city and in our nation. Point the way forward. Let us talk about caring for those victims of 9/11 that are still living and how we are going to care for them in the years to come. Let's talk about the future and get moving towards tomorrow, even as we pause to remember a terrible day 7 years past.
There's so much work to do and we've already lost so much time.
Let's get moving. Let's Build something already. |
