No Room

[poliphilo]

Apparently there's no room at the Ground Zero memorial ceremony for the first responders- meaning the fire fighters and other public servants who were there on the day.  If there's no room for them you've got to wonder who there is room for.

I was just watching live coverage of Presidents Obama and Bush and their wives moving round the site. There seemed to be plenty of empty space where they were.

Dennis Smith- author of A Decade of Hope- was being interviewd for the BBC near the firefighter's memorial in NYC. He said the firefighters would rise above the insult- but he made it perfectly clear he thinks it is an insult. 

Comments

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Survivors of any war are always awkward for officialdom to deal with. Their testimony is raw and inconvenient. It's easier to honour the dead than to repair the shattered lives and bodies of the living.

God bless those who died on that day and those who had to live through it.

[ingenious76.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It reminds me of how cleaned-up our own Remembrance Day ceremony is.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Well said.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

Having chewed on this for a while, I suspect that you are quite correct.

The firefighters have suffered serious health issues due to exposure to dust, smoke and god-knows at Ground Zero. Republicans have blocked all attempts to give them compensation or medical benefits. Consequently, I suspect that the powers that be in New York thought their mere presence would either be political or risk becoming political.

Yes, the Republican party really are bastards to this degree.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

It is an insult, and it is beyond my ability to fathom.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Who was responsible for this, I wonder...

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

The FAMILIES were there. The family members of 3000 people pretty much filled the available space.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Plenty of room for victims and politicians, no room for heroes. Makes perfect sense to me.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've no problem with the victims being there, but as for the politicians- I don't see there's any need for anyone apart from the President and the Mayor of New York.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

I have no problem with the victims and families of victims being there, but I have a little trouble with the message sent by excluding the heroes.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I understand it. My understanding is the fire fighters are widely revered. To keep them away from the ceremony seems not only crass but politically stupid.

[calizen.livejournal.com]

It is rather stupid, isn't it? I wonder who the idiot was who thought this one up.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

Dignitaries first - those who do the actual work always come last. That is our American way! A disgrace that the firefighters were stuck "in the back of the bus" so to speak.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

That's pretty mean.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't have a problem with this. There are space limitations, and they would have had to choose between first responders and families of those who were killed. There were no good choices.