OUTRANKED!Representatives of various 9/11 Families groups met with Mayor Bloomberg recently to appeal once again for the first responders’ ranks to be added before their names on the memorial. Their follow-up letter to the Mayor appears below. To recognize the valor and sacrifice of the public servants who lost their lives in the line of duty on that day is what most Americans would want. We are posting this concern at the top of the TTA Home page because the situation makes the official attitude that has blighted Ground Zero for too long crystal clear. When people wonder why the Twin Towers aren’t standing today, all they have to do is look at how hard the Mayor is resisting such thoroughly decent observances as the requests outlined below. Doing the right thing at Ground Zero concerns all Americans. If Mayor Bloomberg is so proud of his position, if he really thinks that most Americans would agree with him, and not just a small minority, then why not use his media empire to make his case and let those who see it differently make theirs? Because he doesn’t care or he doesn’t dare? There has been a lot of talk about consensus at the World Trade Center, but none was ever truly achieved, or even truly attempted, because none was ever truly desired. Everything that has been or will be done at Ground Zero is being underwritten by the public and is a reflection on the American people. So why not employ a sophisticated media outlet like Bloomberg News to engage the people in the process of healing what has become a festering national wound? In 2007, while asking Congressman Rangel’s counsel how we could challenge the legitimacy of the General Services Administration leases that are giving life to the brain-dead Freedom Tower, he promptly replied that the Congressman was not going to anger the Mayor by supporting our request. It seemed a very peculiar response at the time, because, of all the officials to single out, Mayor Bloomberg didn’t seem to be at the fore. We know better now. The Mayor has been claiming that everything he is responsible for at the World Trade Center is moving forward. But his fingerprints are clearly impressed upon every stage of the colossal failure beginning with when he encouraged George Pataki to dump the actual winner of the “competition” — the twin-towered “THINK” design. Then in 2006, he engineered the convoluted Port Authority/Silverstein swap, now locked in an arbitration that promises that whichever side wins, the public will lose. And most recently, following the failure of the Gracie Mansion Summit, he has been trying to intimidate the PA into plundering the public purse — which they are not legally authorized to do — just so that a plan almost nobody likes or wants can be imposed on us as quickly as possible. That’s leadership? Can anyone put into words why the will of the people is being subordinated to the will of a ruling elite? Mayor Bloomberg believes that death is a leveler — so ranks don’t matter. Mayor Bloomberg is giving his body to science and never visits his father’s grave — so the earth that was removed from Ground Zero remains on deposit in a city dump. Mayor Bloomberg thinks that “you can’t please everyone” — so his motto is “because I said so.” Mayor Bloomberg clearly finds it hard to relate to the concerns of those who have differing viewpoints and values. He doesn’t seem to get the democracy thing — at all. Following 9/11, he opposed the idea of suspending Mayor Giuliani’s term limits for just six months, during the most devastating period in the city’s history. But eight years later, he vigorously pursued suspending term limits and wants voters to believe that he is indispensible to their well-being. But his double-digit lead is the inflated result of outspending his opponent 15-to-1. What does that say for his record and appeal? The 9/11 Memorial is where his intractability is most apparent. Both the 9/11 families and the public would prefer a simpler and more fitting memorial than the sterile and extravagant “Reflecting Absence.” He thinks that since the billion dollars-plus for the memorial is being raised privately, the public has no say. But he couldn’t be more wrong about that. He isn’t just forcing a pointless memorial on the current battered generation, but on the generations to come — along with the preposterous $50 million and up annually, pay-as-you-go, price tag. Getting Michael Bloomberg’s cooperation on anything that he doesn’t agree with is like pulling teeth. His “style” is much better suited to a corporation, where being autocratic can pay dividends, but even CEOs have to deal with a Board of Directors. So far, the combination of the Mayor’s wealth and power has meant he pretty much outranks everyone – almost. Last March on MSNBC, three of the individuals who signed the letter below appealed to President Obama to take control of the out-of-control situation at Ground Zero. It was early in his presidency and he said at the time that it should be resolved at the state and local level — but that clearly is not happening. In fact, since then, New York has been identified by the NYU Brennan Center for Justice as the most dysfunctional legislature in the country. In other words, the overseers of the World Trade Center are out to lunch. So now it is the perfect time for the President of the United States to intervene and show that his friendship with the American people is more than just talk. He frequently refers to honoring our founding documents. This is the best chance he will ever have to back that up. Since the breakdown at Ground Zero perfectly mirrors the breakdown in our society, putting the cart behind the horse at the World Trade Center will be a model for pulling our whole country up out of the ditch it has fallen into. That is why we are urging you to contact the President of the United States, and then, every name the 9/11 Families appended to their appeal. NO ONE who comes to this site should feel that they have done their duty until they have contacted every name listed below and on the page that follows: President Barack Obama http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/ |
