WTC or WTF?

Does anyone really think people don’t see the high-priced sham behind the blue skies and glitz above? Or doubt how spectacular Twin Towers II would look with the same big-budget treatment? As the Port Authority plans for “Life After Larry,” preparing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to replace two of the four towers with low-rise retail stumps, is anyone in the press asking why they would go to such drastic lengths, without first examining a plan that is far more affordable, popular, and rewarding? Or what message the further diminished World Trade Center sends?

Neither dollars nor sense can explain why officials are recklessly depriving the people of a plan that has so much more to offer. They are clearly afraid to evaluate it because they know that trying to do instead cannot withstand the comparison. The critical question is why would they want to? The political calculation to enforce something that is so broken when the popular choice is also the most practical is very disturbing. Why aren’t they rejoicing that there is a way out the current disaster that would delight the public and pay for itself?

If anyone can penetrate that mystery, they will have a Rosetta Stone for deciphering political subterfuge — because whatever is causing the disconnect on this defining issue is the cancer that is eroding America. If we do not fight it we will lose our country — just as our enemies are gleefully predicting we will. They are betting that the American people are too sluggish and self-centered to resist, until it is too late. We are betting that there is just as much dedication to the American Idea as ever before, and that when citizens, including politicians, recognize what is at stake here, they will respond.

Four years ago, a New York Post editorial noted that the mess at Ground Zero epitomizes everything that is wrong with New York. Today, it clearly illustrates an alienation between the people and those in power that is undermining the whole country. How can leaders be trusted to get anything right, when they show no respect for what the public thinks or wants?

The dynamic is always the same: let the “experts” — whose arrogance and ignorance created the problem to begin with — make it that much worse. That, of course, is the inevitable result of most politicians’ single-minded agenda, which is to justify their errors and advance their careers. They may think they can serve the people at the same time, but the official cart is always in front of the public’s horse and that is why we never get anywhere.

The rationale is that our problems are much too complex to be understood by mere amateurs with nothing but common sense as a guide — but, does anyone really expect to get away with spending twice as much on something that is nowhere near even half as good? Apparently they will go to any lengths to impose a plan that has flopped, rather than admit there is another plan that is as good as paid for, would take 3 years instead of 30, and would bring great joy to the people.

Architectural and civic reactionaries are clueless when it comes to what kind of World Trade Center we need. It was their conceit that fueled the political sellout and subverted the recovery the country expected and deserved. They see Ground Zero as their private domain, a place where they are entitled to assert their good taste and political rectitude. That it was the scene of a mass murder and act of war, requiring an unambiguous response for the good of our nation, doesn’t register. Neither does the harm to our image by neglecting to uphold our symbols. But whether they get it or not, most of us do — and politics play no part.

If form follows function, then planners should acknowledge and embrace the truth that the American family was savaged on 9/11 and that the Twin Towers mean a lot to us because they were a big part of that family. So if we can restore their iconic profile to the skyline, while using the latest technology to make them stronger and better in every way, if we can include the residential and recreational features that would make Lower Manhattan a 24/7 destination, then they have no business doing anything else. It really is that simple.

Once an illness is diagnosed it can be cured — and Ground Zero is the most fitting place imaginable to start restoring our country to health. This is the nation that has always overcome every obstacle to the aspirations of its people. The return of the Twin Towers would be the ultimate proof and enduring symbol of a country that is back.

We have been hearing for years that the train has left the station. Now that everyone can see it has derailed, it is time to recognize that Twin Towers II has been coming together, while the official scheme has been falling apart. Ken Gardner’s latest images will soon be presented in a new site that is under construction at TwinTowersII.com. The story that the new visuals will tell cannot be distorted or spun. Our city and country are finally on the verge of something grand and everyone — politicians included — will have something to celebrate.