9/11 Turns Five and Ground Zero is STILL a Hole In The Ground

Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, caught crap when he defended the pace of rebuilding in New Orleans by mentioning NYC's Ground Zero:

That'’s alright. You guys in New York can'’t get a hole in the ground fixed and it'’s five years later. So let'’s be fair.

He was accused of disrespecting the dead and what Tim Russert referred to as "holy ground". Of course, he groveled for forgiveness on Meet the Press, like a good politician, but that doesn't change the truth of what he said.

Ground Zero has not been fixed. It's STILL a hole in the ground.

Does this show respect for the people who died there, that we can't manage to build them a monument of any kind? No park with trees and a pool in the footprint of the towers, no wall with the names of the victims? Or if poignant aint your thing, where's the 250 story Fuck You bin Laden, America Will NOT be Cowed by Terrorists! tower?

Nagin isn't the issue here, we are. Right there in NYC we are confronted by the inescapable evidence. We haven't done the right thing by our dead citizens for five long years, for lack of will, money, consensus, determination, or moral rectitude - take your pick. We have come up short.

Tomorrow is the five year anniversary of 9/11, and everybody's pushing their spin on the war on terror, Iraq, Islam, bin Laden, you name it. Not me. I'm gonna be taking a hard look at the USA, because things aren't entirely right here at home.

Now maybe you don't agree that Ground Zero is indicative of any problem, and I'll happily admit it is only a single example. But turn your attention back to Ray Nagin and his city, and tell me every thing is hunky-dory.