Funding for Flight 93 memorial moves forward – finally
posted at 9:59 am on May 5, 2006 by Allahpundit
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The stumbling block was Rep. Charles Taylor (R-N.C.), chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department. What finally swayed him? Says WaPo:
Taylor maintained that the planned memorial was overly grandiose and that private fundraising efforts could fall short of their targets, leaving federal taxpayers with too much of the responsibility.
His position grew increasingly untenable when the issue appeared on the front page of The Washington Post last week, the same day a major motion picture about Flight 93’s ordeal was premiering in New York. Universal Pictures, which made the film, “United 93,” said Wednesday that it would donate $1.15 million — 10 percent of the movie’s opening-weekend gross — toward the memorial. That brought to about $9 million the private donations raised, nearly a third of the target.
More from the Charlotte Observer. He was holding out over a $5 million expenditure. A Republican finally draws the line on profligate spending — and the issue he chooses to make his stand is a monument to American heroes. Perfect.
The right thing to do would be to go through this guy’s voting record and list all the crappy projects he’s supported over the years that didn’t spike his pork-o-meter. But since it’s Friday and I’m tired, I’ll let the Democrats do it for me. Here’s the memorial’s webpage, by the way. It’s not quite a crescent anymore.
Construction on the Freedom Tower and a 9/11 memorial is finally under way in New York City, too. They’ve already proposed a, ahem, spending cap. At 1,776 feet, the Tower will be the tallest building in the world — for a few years, until a skyscraper being planned for Bahrain blows past it with a height of 3,000 feet.
Three. Thousand. Feet.
The Bahraini tower will be part of a complex of five buildings, each of which represents one of the five pillars of Islam. And the firm that’s set to design it … is Danish.
World’s tallest building. In a Muslim country. Built by a company from the same country that produced the Mohammed cartoons, whose embassies in the Middle East have been burned as a result.
What could go wrong?
Update: So much for the spending cap.
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About time.
As for Bahrain, stay tuned.
Carvin Guitar Man on May 5, 2006 at 10:20 AM
I guess the Bahrainians figured that they could buy themselves a little insurance by claiming the towers represent the five pillars of Islam.
What are those pillars, anyway?
Death.
Torture.
Destruction.
Rape.
World Domination.
Did I get that right? I’m not exactly up to speed on the concepts of the Religion of Peace.
pistolero on May 5, 2006 at 10:35 AM
Michelle, and the rest of the Blog world, had a lot of energy around the design of the memorial to the passengers of United Flight 93 back in October ‘05.
When the Park Department announced (in November) that the design would be changed, all the energy on the topic dissipated. Gale Norton, has since resigned, but the design (as modified) still exhibits the characteristics that caused the uproar – has anyone re-visited the Flight 93 Memorial Design?
Now that it has been funded will this abomination actually be built?
US_Citizen on May 5, 2006 at 11:42 AM
pistolero,
Absolutely hilarious! But you were wrong on the fifth pillar. Remember, it’s the religion of peace:
Death.
Torture.
Destruction.
Rape.
World PEACE.
Works good for beauty pageant answers, too. If you can hear the ladies through their burkas.
y2church on May 5, 2006 at 11:55 AM
US-Citizen–yes, someone has revisited the design, ( http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=9220 ) and yes, it will still be built: http://www.flight93memorialproject.org/
see-dubya on May 5, 2006 at 11:56 AM
Is it too late? Not just the memorial, but for our country?
The difference between Latinos invading from the south, demanding ‘rights’ they haven’t earned while flying MEXICAN flags(and other Flags -of alien lands exhibiting American enemies-Castro,Che,etc)
and this memorial that clearly shows an Islamic crescent, is the flags are gone today….the memorial will be permanent.
Maybe this bothers me so much additionally because it will be most visible from the sky…where the airplanes will see it most clearly. DUH.
What are we allowing to happen in America? Would any of the passengers or crew of Flight 93 approve of this memorial? I strongly doubt it. Would the thousands of men and women who died for this country be happy with the border situation? Allowing Illegals to demand rights that our armed forces DIED for?
What disease has entered the American blood stream that our leaders(some)fear votes more than doing the right thing?
SOMEONE HAS TO TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM !!! The USA TEAM.
Is it too late? Have we lost? Are our enemies, disbelievers and cynics so deep within we don’t recognize them? Please tell me I’m wrong.
OH WAIT, I just heard a Korean Memorial in San Diego has to take down the CROSS…because it’s on public land. An atheist group won in court. Crescent OK – Cross not OK.
Again 3% gets to tell 97% of us where to stick it.
Have we already lost?
shooter on May 5, 2006 at 1:07 PM
Is this still a memorial to the terrorists, as was initially envisioned?
pat on May 5, 2006 at 2:46 PM
Shooter, the “crescent” closed in as a full circle in the new design. They also took out the American flag from the site. I still count it a net loss.
see-dubya on May 5, 2006 at 4:37 PM
pat, yes it is.
Jhn1 on May 6, 2006 at 2:23 AM
My preference would be to visually recreate the major pieces of the aircraft, full scale and durable weather resistant materials, and place them in the actual positions on concrete pads. Make a set of paved trails between them, and have placards alongside the trail denoting occurences during the flight. Place a simple memorial (probably headstone) to each of the innocents at either the end or beginning, and the plaques of the terrorists in the walkway itself. .
(closest we can come to being able to desecrate the scumbags).
(Actually, I would want urinal mats of all of the 19 terrorists available onsite, but that isn’t going to happen).
Jhn1 on May 6, 2006 at 2:38 AM
Actually, last I heard, they’d decided to build the memorial underground, and put reflective pools in above ground. This is what’s up as the current plan at takebackthememorial.com, run by 9/11 families.
rightwingprof on May 6, 2006 at 3:30 PM
RWProf, that’s the WTC Ground Zero memorial. We’re talking about the Flight 93 one in Shanksville.
That’s a disgrace, though.
see-dubya on May 6, 2006 at 5:18 PM
The best memorial we could build would be huge, deep, glow in the dark crater … where mecca USED to be.
We must either liberate them, contain them or destroy them.
They must either convert us, enslave us or destroy us.
Which of the six options will it be?
Condi ‘08!
Tony737 on May 6, 2006 at 6:36 PM
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