The IFC Responds

Regarding the hijacking of the memorial portion of the plans for the rebuilt WTC towers, noted here, and discussed in Debra Burlingame's WSJ article, Richard Tofel counters in today's Wall Street Journal.  His strongest arguments come during his closing, which is difficult to cut, so the latter half is below, in full.

To be sure, the International Freedom Center will host debates and note points of view with which you--and I--will disagree. But that is the point, the proof of our society's enduring self-confidence and humanity. Moreover, the International Freedom Center will rise above the politics of the moment. It will not exist to precisely define "freedom" or to tell people what to think, but to get them to think--and to act in the service of freedom as they see it. And it will always do so in a manner respectful of the victims of September 11.

Judge Learned Hand may have put it best in the speech he gave in a New York City park during one of freedom's darkest hours, in the midst of another generation's greatest test: "The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the mind of other men and women."

Ground Zero is precisely the right place to make this stand and leave a legacy for our children and generations to come. No less than Abraham Lincoln told us so, and at no less a place than Gettysburg. One hundred and forty-two years later, many Americans remember what was done there, but nearly all know what was said there. Lincoln did not speak at Gettysburg of Little Round Top or Pickett's Charge. He talked about the future, and here is what he said:

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom."

There is no doubt that Lincoln's words speak the truth here.  If the intent of the IFC proponents is to create a center that celebrates and examines the halting steps forward taken throughout history in the development of freedom and individual liberty, without the anti-American bias that some have shown in that regard, then their cause is worthy.  On the other hand, I am with Mrs. Burlingame on this point.  Such a center, while perhaps worthy in it's own right, if done correctly, is inappropriate at the Ground Zero site.  Put it in Washington, DC, or in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania if you must.  But leave the WTC site itself as a remembrance for that single event and the thousands of victims and acts of heroism and bravery on that day.  Do not tarnish that site with the political infighting that would undoubtably occur over the contents of that site.

This is a "camel-nose-under-the-tent" situation.  The intent seems pure, based on what Mr. Tofel writes.  Sure, it'll be a wonderful tribute to freedom.  Then it gets approved, and becomes part of the plan.  Then anti-American influence from people like George Soros will influence content, such that a prominent place will be given to a photographic essay on Abu Ghraib.  Oh, it'll be tastefully done, but does it make it's point "in a manner respectful of the victims of September 11?"  Is that appropriate at Ground Zero?

With a brother who perished on Pan Am 103, I would be enraged to see a memorial looking at the "root causes" of terrorist acts piggybacked on top of a Pan Am 103 memorial.  The intention may be benign, but that would be a hijacking of a high order.

UPDATE: Wizbang has more.  As does Michelle, and Jeff Jarvis.  From Mr. Jarvis:

On my grave, please do not build a memorial to the mistakes of my neighbors and ancestors. Don't stand on the grass above me and flagellate. Just let me lie there in peace, please.

Amen.

UPDATE: Additional thoughts from Rick Moran.