A Visit to the National September 11th Museum

Thoughts on the Patriots Day Bombing

Every year on the third Monday in Massachusetts, Patriots Day is celebrated, which signifies the Revolutionary War Battles of Lexington and Concord; the battles that opened the American Revolution. What has become tradition in recent years in the running of the Boston Marathon on Patriots’ Day. Yesterday’s running, unfortunately, will forever be known for the fact that two bombs went off along Boylston Street in Boston; close to the finish line of the marathon and at about the time when most of the runners were completing the race.

Thoughts on Zero Dark Thirty

Last night, I saw the film that has been the focus of discussion, for months, in American political circles: Zero Dark Thirty. If you haven't seen it yet, here is the trailer:

George W Bush: Eleven Years Later - "I Can Hear You"

Three days ago, we remembered the Attacks of September 11th, and eleven years ago today, the day of remembrance, mourning and prayer took place.

Wheels Coming Off the Obama Foreign Policy Train

It looks like the wheels have been falling off the Barack Obama foreign policy train all this week.

Home Run for Mitt Romney After the 9-11 Embassy Attacks

Mitt Romney hit an absolute home run on a Wednesday Press Conference, where he made a statement on the 9-11 Embassy Attacks!

The Pentagon Memorial

On my most recent trip to Washington DC, I had the opportunity to visit the National September 11th Pentagon Memorial, and realizing I had never spoken of it, September 11th, eleven years later is appropriate.

September 11: Eleven Years Later

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to find the above picture of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. This was taken around 1990, aboard the Statue of Liberty ferry, as it traveled between Liberty Island and Liberty State Park in New Jersey. For years, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center stood overlooking the New York Harbor since 1973; examples of American ingenuity and success. By 2001, they were gone.

Christopher Nolan's Batman is an Allegory to Conservative Ideals

I finally saw The Dark Knight Rises today and left the theater in awe and blown away with the work Christopher Nolan has done in bringing back this amazing character and American hero to film in a more realistic manner than had Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher. Walking back to my car and thinking about this film, combined with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, it brought me to the conclusion that the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy not only ties in with current events in the period of each film's release, but is allegorical to the ideals of Conservatism: protection of citzens, individual freedom from a centralized authority, a belief in Exceptionalism, an acceptance of evil's existence, the reaility that it must be eradicated and that good will prevail! (SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T YET SEEN THE DARK KNIGHT RISES)

Is Liberalism Dead?

As I was doing some Internet surfing, I came across an article about the possibility of Liberalism being dead. The article also led to R. Emmett Tyrrell's upcoming book titled The Death of Liberalism.

Happy Birthday, President Bush!

"The 'Right' Solutions" would like to take a moment to wish former President George W. Bush a Happy 66th Birthday!

American Exceptionalism

On his show today, Neil Cavuto went on a tear about the idea of American exceptionalism; taking apart Bill Maher's insidious comments.

As W Says, there was a Hanging Today

For once, Obama's Blame Bush Brigade came to a halt, and for once, he honored the man!

Veterans Respond to the Football Spike

The men and women who choose to fight for the United States of America are heroes; each and every one of them. They should be honored and revered in every way possible in our society. Whether a "Thank you for your service to our country," (and this was done well over 30 times in my visit to the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery last week) or a donation to a military organization, every little bit helps.

Spiking the Football: One Year Later

It has been one year since the capture and killing of Usama Bin Laden and in this election year, we are seeing Obama re-live the great feat of SEAL Team Six, while rewriting history.

Save the Sphere

When the World Trade Center opened in 1971, Fritz Koenig's The Sphere, commissioned in 1966, was the centerpiece of the Austin J. Tobin Plaza, located between the Twin Towers. This large sculpture was a symbol of world peace through trade. For 30 years, the 25 foot sculpture stood in the middle of a series of fountains and was quite a beautiful public space enjoyed by office workers, tourist and Lower Manhattan residents alike.

Visiting the National September 11th Memorial

Prior to September 11, 2001, I had been to the World Trade Center a numerous amount of times and then after that fateful day in American History, I did not visit. Knowing what stood there, knowing how it was destroyed and also knowing the political wrangling over those 16 acres, I found it very difficult to go. Every time I would look at the New York City skyline, the damage was as clear as day.

Ten years later, we see some evidence of progress and closure: the National September 11th Memorial has opened, the National September 11th Museum will be open in less than a year and the Freedom Tower is starting to tower over Lower Manhattan, with steel now reaching the 85th floor. With the approach of the 10th Anniversary last month, I decided to visit the memorial once there was an opening (To visit, one must acquire timed entry tickets on the Memorial's website), and today was that day.

As one walks around the Memorial's entrance, the evidence of progress and construction on the World Trade Center site is apparent. Not only is the Freedom Tower, aka 1WTC, well under construction, additional towers are being built and the museum's opening is less than a year away! Entering the memorial, the security is quite steep, as photo IDs are checked, the tickets are checked multiple times and scanned, and one goes through security similar to how it's done at American airports (minus the TSA and body scanners).

One enters the site on the southwest corner, near the oak groves. At this point, the construction noise is loud. I do not believe this was intended, but it's going to be the norm for a few years. Closer to the Memorial Pools, the volume of the waterfalls is heard over everything else. Their roar truly allows one to reflect, remember and pray. Each Memorial Pool is built within the footprint of the Twin Towers. Water falls down 30 feet and then another 20 feet into a void in the center of the pool. Ringing each pool are the names of those who perished. They are grouped by location, company and relationship(s). In looking at the Memorial Pools and knowing they were once the location of two 110 story towers, it further hits, at that point, the massive level of destruction and human loss America endured on that day. To this day, nearly 1000 souls who perished at the World Trade Center have not been discovered.

I was very moved by the National September 11 Memorial, its magnitude and setting, as well as the fact that it's a beautiful monument and a solemn place of remembrance and reflection. Over time, it will rival the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery as being one of America's most hallowed grounds and most sacred places of remembrance. It is for those reasons that the leadership of the 9-11 Memorial/Museum needs to devise and enforce of code of conduct. Seeing people running around the grounds like they're a park or taking "crazy pose" pictures like they're in Times Square or Disney World is highly inappropriate for a place where nearly 3000 souls perished and nearly 1000 souls have not been found. In time, I hope that issue is addressed and as the World Trade Center site nears completion, I am confident this site will become one of New York's and America's most visited, and most revered.

Miss Me Yet?

Ten years ago today, visiting Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center, George W. Bush stood on a destroyed fire truck, with his arm around firefighter Bob Beckwith, and gave this speech:



This was George W. Bush at his best: no teleprompter, off the cuff and genuine around fellow Americans. We saw leadership at its best, as this was a seminal moment in his presidency. It was because of this leadership that the homeland was not attacked again during his presidency and for that, every American should thank George W. Bush for his leadership during those very challenging days.

Repugnant

In surfing Drudge yesterday, I came across a link for a Paul Krugman post to a New York Times blog entry, where he called the reaction to 9-11 "shameless" and referred to George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani and others as "fake heroes." If they are such "fake heroes," how come this homeland was not attacked again during the Bush Administration after 9-11? If they are fake heroes, how come they get a much larger applause at events where they appear with the current president? If they are fake heroes, then why are they so honored by all 9-11 families and families of our brave service men and women?

You know what I think about Mr. Krugman? I think he is a shameless, gutless coward! Krugman, from his ivy towers at Princeton does these quick shots across the bow, where he doesn't articulate or provide the reader with reasoning to his position. Then, he starts to sing the same old song about Iraq that all the leftists wine about. In his closing, Krugman cowardly write "I'm not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons." Afraid of what your readers may think?

Donald Rumsfeld has it right and hopefully, more Americans follow his lead. In addition to cancelling subscriptions, Americans, can call the New York Times at (212) 556-1600 to state their complaints.

I doubt we will see a retraction, but we will see Mr. Krugman and his ilk become even more increasingly irrelevant.

George W. Bush in Shanksville, PA

Even after his two terms in the presidency, George W. Bush continues to impress and inspire. On Saturday at the dedication ceremony for the United Flight 93 Memorial, he gave one heck of a speech, maybe one of his best.



Now THAT is a leader!

"One of the lessons of 9-11 is that evil is real, and so is courage."