The Fight for Sept. 11: Terror Anniversary Becomes American Day of Hate

[unhappycamper]

The Fight for Sept. 11: Terror Anniversary Becomes American Day of Hate
By Gregor Peter Schmitz in Washington
09/09/2010

Sept. 11 used to be a day when America came together -- party politics took a backseat to reconciliation. Not so this year. From the Muslim prayer room at ground zero to Koran burnings in Florida to a certain gathering in Alaska, the anniversary of the terrorist attacks this year threatens to become a day of hate.

The open letter was born of a desire simply to mourn. The signatures on the letter included the father of Jonathan Ielpi, a firefighter who died in the ruins of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001; the sister-in-law of Myra Aronson, who was on American Airlines Flight 11 when it was hijacked en route from Boston to Los Angeles and crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center; and Mary Ellen Salamone, wife of John Salamone, who was at work on the 104th floor of the North Tower at the time of the terrorist assault.

Together with many others also mourning loved ones, they wrote: "To hold rallies of any nature on Sept. 11 would be inappropriate and disrespectful to all of us who see 9/11 as a day outside of politics."

The letter was targeted at activists who want to use this Sept. 11 of all days, to protest the planned construction of a mosque -- actually an Islamic cultural center with a prayer room -- near Ground Zero.

The open letter didn't have much of an effect on the anti-mosque demonstrators. "We need to be at Ground Zero, Sept. 11, 2010, now more than ever," they insist, well aware that choosing the date for a protest is a good way to guarantee headlines.

[Xenotime]

1. The RW is just looking for a fight.

[NYC_SKP]

2. That's about it in a nutshell, unhappycamper.

Sad about our culture, really... or much of it.

recommended.

[cliffordu]

3. Yep.

Sad but true.

[NYC_SKP]

11. Because Burning the Koran Can Do So Much to Restore Our Security and Build Harmony Among All Nations

...is why they wanna do that, doncha know...

:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

4. k&r

[arbusto_baboso]

5. To quote an old Bill Mauldin "Joe and Willy" cartoon....

"You can alluz tell the man wut ain't seen combat. He's the one stompin' around LOOKIN' fer a fight."

[BurtWorm]

6. People of all parties came together on one day and one day only: 9/11/01.

Since then, every 9/11 has been a day for political posturing and one-upmanship, especially from Republicans--let's be real. It took one year for the Bushists to suck any remotely pure and genuine common humanity out of that day. They've asserted ownership over it ever since and ever since it has been sucked dry of all meaning and stuffed with phony sentiment.

[Brewman_Jax]

7. A sad testimony

and a theme far too often repeated. :(

[Ron Green]

8. The real significance of 9/11 is

that the presidency of George W. Bush was legitimized in the minds of masses of Americans, thereby guaranteeing the dystopia into which we're now sliding. Until that day, he was just vacationing a lot, ignoring the Palestine/Israel issue and dismantling environmental protections.

"9/11 changed everything." Yeah, it did, but not in the way most people think.

[krabigirl]

10. +1000

[blondeatlast]

9. Imagine if the haters did the same on Pearl Harbor Day. Who's more disrespectful of the dead?

Not those refurbishing a building a few blocks away.