WP: Lone Lawmaker Blocks Flight 93 Monument in Pa. (Repub, of course)

[Pirate Smile]

Lone Lawmaker Blocks Flight 93 Monument in Pa.

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 25, 2006; Page A01

For emotional wallop, there are few rivals to the windswept, grassy field outside of Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.
But for three years, that field has made do with a makeshift monument while one member of Congress, Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.), has blocked a $10 million request to buy the land for a permanent memorial to the 40 passengers and crew members who overpowered hijackers bent on crashing their jet into the Capitol or the White House.

The families of the Flight 93 passengers and crew will be in Washington tomorrow, this time intent on overpowering the chairman of the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee, who oversees funding for federal acquisition of property. With a major motion picture on the doomed flight premiering tonight, a showdown on the issue is the last clash that embattled Republicans want.

"We need to build a memorial for these people," said Rep. William Shuster (R-Pa.), whose district includes Shanksville. "These 40 people were the first counterattack of the war on terror, and they were victorious. We owe them a great debt of gratitude."

For Taylor, a large landowner in the mountains of western Carolina, the issue comes down to principle: The federal government is already the largest landowner in the country, and he believes that no additional tax dollars should go to more land buying for this or any other memorial. Beyond that, the families have committed to raising half the $60 million needed to build the memorial but so far have raised $7.5 million. Taylor is concerned that the federal government will be left holding the bag.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/24/AR2006042401428.html

[Selatius]

1. Last time I checked, all the rich people together own more land than

the next 2/3rd of the country combined.

[Blue_Tires]

2. um....$60 mil for a memorial?

isn't that a bit much? (i know, i hate america, i'm pissing on the memory of those lost AND i'm giving comfort to the terrorists)

honestly, if the quoted cost is 60, the real cost will be well in excess of 100 after all the graft, budget padding, and cost overruns

[ChristianLibrul]

3. Except they didn't overpower anybody

Or crash the plane. The 9-11 Commission said so. Besides, why memorialize a plane that got shot down?

[countmyvote4real]

4. Shhh... It's too soon to say things like that.

(I was being sarcastic, of course.) More seriously I thank you for the unspeakable reminder about this tragic flight that is about to mythologized in a major Hollywood release.

[WatchWhatISay]

5. $60 million is too much for any monument

Just think of what could be done with that kind of money.

[saigon68]

7. 200 Iraqi Children could be blown into a bloody, pulpy mass

For that kind of money.

Or 30 Black men (at 2 million a piece) could be executed in Florida's electric chair.

[JPZenger]

12. I don't like the tone of this

The transcript of the cockpit shows that the passengers were trying to break into the cockpit to take back control of the plane. The Air Force was getting ready to shoot down the plane, but hadn't done it yet. There was a military cargo plane following it.

The US capitol is still standing because the passengers decided to act.

It is typical in this situation to have private donors pay for the memorial.

Maybe the memorial is too expensive. Sometimes simpler is better. Anytime the National Park Service is involved, they will find ways the triple the costs. However, $10 million to start the site acquisition is not too much to ask.

[Mike Daniels]

13. Shot down / passengers stormed the cabin

This is what I don't understand about this controversy.

The government knew the plane had been hijacked and at least two planes had already hit their targets. If the military actually did shoot it down, why not just say so?

I don't see the public thinking "geez, maybe the terrorists would have changed their mind and just landed the plane safely. Why didn't the military wait a few more moments before shooting it out of the sky?"

I just don't see the risk to the government of shooting the plane down under the circumstance to where they felt that had to come up with some story of heroic passengers storming the cabin as cover.

[EOTE]

16. Watch the documentary "9/11 Loose Change"

You can watch it for free by doing a quick google search. Amazing movie that will most likely answer a lot of questions you have (and maybe bring some new ones to light). It speculates (IMO, pretty damn convincingly) that Flight 93 actually landed safely in Ohio. I have been a supporter of MIHOP/LIHOP pretty much from day 1, but this documentary still sent chills down my spine. Just mindblowing.

[Blue_Tires]

15. pure speculation

"The US capitol is still standing because the passengers decided to act."

it may be true, but we have no way of knowing (i personally believe in lihop, so i'm thinking something more sinister was at play)

[tabasco]

6. These assholes keep saying "the first counterattack"

in the war on terror. That's bullshit. It was the first counterattack after Bush dropped our guard completely. The US has been waging war on terrorists for a long time. Bush is the first President who completely ignored the threat ("forget that Clinton stuff - let's build Star Wars!"). The result was a success for the terrorists.

[HuffleClaw]

8. 1200 acres?

mount rushmore takes up 1278 acres i'm told. how the hell does a flight 93 memorial need that kind of land for? a REALLY big parking lot? souvenir shop? i'm wondering if there is some profiteering going on here behind the scenes.

[JPZenger]

9. Need to Maintain the Vista

This is a very rural area with mountains. If you want to maintain the vista, you need to buy more than a couple acres. The land SHOULD be relatively cheap per acre.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. Until we know the full story about Flight 93, maybe it should be delayed.

[JPZenger]

11. But he will spend money for a volunteer center

Congressman Taylor shows up in the Pigbook of Federal pork barrel projects:

"$2,640,000 for projects in the district of House Interior Appropriations subcommittee member Charles Taylor (N.C.): $1,165,000 for Cradle of Forestry volunteer facilities; $850,000 for Nanatahela National Forest recreation projects; $300,000 for the Biltmore School in Asheville; $250,000 for Cradle of Forestry conservation education; and $75,000 for Graham and Swain counties."

http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2002

Here's the pork projects listed for 2001:

"$4,300,000 added in conference for a high-speed data transmission line between the Library of Congress and education facilities, libraries or networks serving western North Carolina, which happens to be in the district of House Legislative Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Charles Taylor (R-N.C.)."

[DinahMoeHum]

14. Taylor's main Democratic opponent is a former NFL quarterback. . .

named Heath Shuler - used to play for the Washington Redskins:

Link
www.heathshuler.com


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