Faith, Freedom, and Memory: Report From Ground Zero, September 11, 2010

The weather.

On the 9th anniversary of September 11, I kept thinking about the weather. It was clear and sunny today, with temperatures in the high 70s. It was a meteorological replica of September 11, 2001. So much natural beauty, and so many beautiful people out and about, living and enjoying the serenity and sunshine. Then the unthinkable. That's how it was nine years ago. It's amazing how the vagaries of nature can make an already intense experience all the more real. (Below I'm walking down Lexington from the Radisson Hotel to 42 Street and Grand Central Station. I'll take the subway to Lower Manhattan. It's a glorious morning.)

I came to New York to be here on this day, to be here --- in person and in solidarity --- for the families of the fallen. It's my first pilgrimage to New York for a 9/11 anniversary. I visited in August 2007, but it's been three years, and Ground Zero has changed tremendously. There's a feeling of attention, affirmation, and purpose that I hadn't felt in my previous visit. The construction largely explains it, but also the weekend atmosphere, with bustling crowds of visitors moving back and forth across the city streets, an hour or so after the official memorial ceremonies. It felt like a special day. And of course, New York has been in the news constantly, and the memory of those who died that day has been disrespected by the administration in Washington and by the left's Media-Industrial-Islamist-Complex. (By his own words, Imam Rauf is no moderate, but Amercans can't get a break from the lamestream press.)

I took hundreds of pictures. Most of what follows is chronological, with special attention to the day's highlights.

Arriving in Lower Manhattan, walking over to the WTC grounds from the City Center subway station, I came upon St. Paul's Chapel. What a perfect way to start the day's events. For eight months St. Paul's was a humanitarian command center following 9/11. As I walked inside, some folks were praying. Others were taking in the sights and significance of the location. Visitors certainly have a richly human record of those times, and my few minutes was entirely inadequate for the occasion. But I was deeply moved:

I felt as though this place was in God's hands. I knelt to pray. Nothing planned, I thanked God for giving comfort to the families and for keeping America strong during times of trouble. I thanked Him for his blessings upon our nation. I asked Him to extend his Goodness and Will as we work for peace in the world.

Walking down Fulton Street toward Ground Zero, I said hello to this couple of truthers. I had no idea how large a contingent these folks would have. More on them further down:

Here's the scene at Vesey and Church Streets. It's about 10:30am, or so. The crowds were pretty heavy and would grow throughout the day:

A pair of young Marines walking down Vesey Street, near the Information Booth on West Broadway. It's a sight for sore eyes to see U.S. servicemen sometimes, and these two were handsome and polite, so starkly different from the raving anti-Americans out in large numbers today:

This is One World Trade Center. It's really the Freedom Tower, now about one-third constructed. This was a kinda rush, thinking about this tower going up:

It will look like this upon completion:

High fencing with the large promotional banners obscures the view of the construction area, but walking down near the tower, there's an entry gate where one can get a good look:

Here's the display at the Information Booth:

Here's a neat before-and-after graphic of the grounds. The memorial pools, at the second diagram, are located at the footprints of the original towers:

Here's the Cordoba Center, on Park Place. The police had erected barricades in anticipation of the protest. Park 51 is at right:

That's an Amish market on the streetcorner. Kinda like a religious trainwreck over here:

One of the truthers challenged some mosque opponents lined up next to the barricades:

Taking a break, I enjoyed a wonderful two-beer breakfast with huevos rancheros on the side. Reminds me of home:

I watched some of the memorial service replay on the local news:

A beautiful mural outside the restaurant:

It's a little after noon by this time. I'm just cruising around a bit now, back and forth between WTC and Park Place. Here's a family waiting for the SIOA rally to begin:

Walking up to Church Street, there's a huge evangelical Christian wing working the street, attracting a lot of attention:

This guy wasn't going for the interfaith cooperation angle:

These folks, a bit further down the street, seemed pretty mellow, even accommodating (of radical Islam):

Continuing down Church, I learn of the Cross of Steel, found during the recovery after September 11. It will become a permanent exhibit at the 9/11 Memorial:

Getting back over to Vesey Street, I see a huge procession of 9/11 truthers. The MFM reports are starting to come in, and I'm watching cable news as well, and no reports so far on these freaks. No one disrespects those killed on 9/11 more than the truthers. Of course, they're allied with the neo-communist left (sounds weird, but I've covered it before, in Los Angeles). Where's the press coverage of the freaks, I say? The signs read, "WHERE IS OSAMA? TEN YEARS MOST WANTED!? MILITARY INCOMPETENCE? CIA ASSET? DEAD?", and "BIN LADEN WAS FRAMED":

The procession continues down Broadway:

The truthers head down into the financial district. They've got a loud chant and response: "9/11 --- TRUTH NOW!! ... 9//11 --- TRUTH NOW!!", and "WALL STREET WAR, WALL STEET WAR."

The procession headed back to Ground Zero. I continued on down to Wall Street to get pictures of the New York Stock Exchange. What a contrast. Pure hatred of Americans and "blood for high finance" extremism compared to the heart of American capitalism. I needed to see that fabulous flag after marching along with the truther creeps like that. Sheesh:

It's getting near-abouts 3:00pm pretty soon now, so I head back over to West Broadway and Park Place. A gentleman takes my photograph in front of the Mennonite choir down the way from the Helmsley Plaza:

The Mennonites are the sweetest people. I spoke with this young woman for a few minutes and I asked her if her group had a political agenda. She said, "Nope. Just spiritual." They came from Pennsylvania mostly, but she said some folks came Canada. Notice the traditional dress:

The ubiquitous repent wagon was circling around all day. I finally got close enough to get a decent picture:

Operation Save America. I'll check later, but I'm not sure if these folks are the same as Operation Rescue. Message is pretty much identical:

Behind St. Paul's, this gentleman below hangs a banner. Unequivocal:

A quiet man with a strong message (and he apparently never learned "i before e except after c"):

Okay, I make it back down to the SIOA rally, still a bit before start time. It's getting packed:

That's not to say there weren't a lot of flags, thanks to some entrepreneurial types:

I actually stayed just through Geert Wilders' talk. Here's Pamela:

She's got some nice photographs at Atlas Shrugs: "America Speaks! Historic 911 Rally Draws 40,000."

Geert Wilders gave an speech both fascinating and deeply felt. It was powerful.

Pamela posted the text: "Geert Wilders Speech at the 911 Rally of Remembrance." One of my favorite passages:

Friends, in honor of these victims, these heroes and their families, I believe that the words of Ronald Reagan, spoken in Normandy on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, resonate with new purpose on this hallowed spot. President Reagan said: “We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

And, we, too, will always remember the victims of 9/11 and their loved ones who were left behind;

We, too, will always be proud of the heroes;

We will always defend liberty, democracy and human dignity;

In the name of freedom: No mosque here!

And you can watch it as well, at Blazing Cat Fur, "Geert Wilders At Ground Zero Mosque Demo." Added: See El Marco's coverage, "Geert Wilders Warns America at 9/11 Remembrance Rally."

The New York Times has some brief coverage, placed in the larger national context: "On Sept. 11 Anniversary, Rifts Amid Mourning." AP is spinning the day as one of dueling protests. Yeah, multiple demonstrations, but nothing like the Ground Zero Freedom Rally. (And no mention of the 9/11 truther freaks.) That said, London's Telegraph has a decent piece, "America's agony: September 11 anniversary marked by anger and controversy."

Thanks for reading. I'll have more thoughts later.

And a special thanks to my friend Norman Gersman for his awesome New York hospitality.

September 11, 2010

As this post goes live I'll be somewhere at the World Trade Center covering events. Expect updates later tonight.

911 Rally of Remembrance: No Ground Zero Mosque

Check Pamela's for late updates on the rally.

AP has the bogus leftist meme for the day: "Islam Controversies Cast shadow Over 9/11 Events (via JammieWearingFool and Memeorandum). The lead editorial at NYT also continues the meme, although I'll permit myself some conciliation. I disagree that the huge majority of Americans are vilifying Islam. It is good, however, to just step back, take a moment to remember the fallen, and Thank Goodness for our freedoms. Have a good day friends.

Plus, Glenn Reynolds has some thoughts here.

And the latest from NYT, "At a Memorial Ceremony, Loss and Tension."

Building Freedom

The first clip is Part I from a Port Authority documentary, made in 1983. Interesting. At bottom is a Fox News report on the construction of the new Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center.

Safe Landing in New York!

That's my outstanding friend Norm, enjoying a wonderful sandwich from Katz's Delicatessen on the Lower East Side. He was waiting for me at La Guardia. The flight arrived on time and Norm dropped me off at the Radisson Hotel Lexington Avenue. After checking in we headed down to Katz's. It's a beautful night in New York. All kinds of vibrant people enjoying the evening, and some of the most beautiful women in the world!

Here's a shot of the food. I had beef brisket. We shared fries and cole slaw:

A picture of Rep. Charles Rangel, with the proprietor, in happier (and younger) times:

It's a nice place:

Norm mentioned that the deli scene from "When Harry Met Sally" was filmed here:

Leaving the restaurant, a view from the sidewalk:

Back at my hotel room, I turn on Fox News --- and I'm immediately brought back to the Ground Zero Mosque controversy:

I don't worry about keeping up with the news while traveling. Some folks were logging on at the airport before boarding this morning. But I just caught up with some dead-tree newspapers (and I'm reading a new book as well). I'll be at the center of events tomorrow, so check back. Meanwhile, I guess President Obama held a press conference today, and the New York Times reports, "Obama Tries to Calm Tensions in Call for Tolerance":

President Obama gave an impassioned call on Friday for tolerance and better relations between Muslims and non-Muslims at home and abroad, defending the “inalienable rights” of those who worship Islam to practice their religion freely.

Mr. Obama made his statements as protests and violence continued in Afghanistan, set off by a Florida pastor’s plans, now suspended, to burn Korans on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and against the backdrop of the controversy in New York over a proposed Islamic center near ground zero.

With relations between the United States and the Muslim world perhaps at their most frayed since the invasion of Iraq seven and a half years ago, the president sought to appeal to America’s core founding principles.

Mr. Obama said it was imperative for people in this country to distinguish between their real enemies and those who have the potential to become enemies because of continued vilification of Islam in the United States. At a time when polls suggest that a substantial number of Americans erroneously believe that Mr. Obama is Muslim, the president cited his own Christian faith at one point.

I have not watched the video clip yet, but I'm bothered --- extremely bothered --- that Obama continues to feed the leftist meme that it's the families speaking for sensitivity, to say nothing of the 80 percent of Americans --- who are responsible for the alleged "vilification of Islam."

I'll have more later. Just thinking about this is taking buzz off from my visit with Norm.

Traveling to New York Today!

I'm departing from John Wayne Airport at 7:30am for New York City. My good friend Norman Gersman will be meeting me at La Guardia tonight. I don't know when I'll be back online for posting, but perhaps late tonight or early Saturday morning. I'll be covering the September 11 memorials and the Ground Zero Mosque protest. I'll be coming home Sunday, so I probably won't have a major report until Sunday night, but I'll try to get some photos and updates posted in the interim.

Here's Pamela's video clip. Look for me at WTC on Saturday if you're in New York!

The Day the Earth Was Soaked With Tears

Via No Sheeples Here!