There is going to be more of this backlash if the "Jersey
Girls" keep it up. - From: LindyBill
entitlement attitude
By Nolan Finley / The Detroit News
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America adopted the families of the September 11 terrorism victims, showered them with support and sympathy, and lifted them up as a living emblem of the national wound suffered.
But now, some of the family members are wearing thin.
Some groups have morphed into quasi-political organizations, using their mourner status to gain a platform for pushing their views on everything from immigration laws to the Patriot Act to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Others express their grief in the form of endless protest, rallying against the design of the September 11 memorial, carping about the inadequacy of the family compensation fund and demanding scapegoats at the highest level of government for the deaths of their loved ones.
Wednesday, family members erupted at a hearing of the September 11 commission in New York City, heckling former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as he tried to testify.
Giuliani suffered as much as anyone on September 11. He was devastated by what happened to his city and his citizens. The strength and grace he displayed helped rally the nation. Yet on Wednesday, family members treated him like he was one of the terrorist hijackers, greeting him with derogatory signs and angry shouts.
Giuliani endured the assault calmly, excusing the extreme rudeness as a byproduct of grief. Of course — the families are off-limits to criticism.
But grief doesn’t explain the increasingly inappropriate behavior of some September 11 family members. Greed might. Nearly as soon as the federal government established the $6 billion compensation fund — an average $1.3 million per victim — some survivors began squabbling over its size, who would be eligible and how much they’d get.
The fund was set up as an alternative to the families filing questionable lawsuits against airlines and building owners, and as a gesture of the nation’s sympathy. Other private funds provided for college scholarships for some of their children.
All this is good. But some family members forget that
thousands of Americans die each day, many in incidents
equally tragic and senseless, and their survivors get
nothing.
The lack of gratitude by some September 11 families is
unseemly. As is their venture into politics.
A group calling itself September 11 Families for Peaceful
Tomorrows exploits its victim status to attack the Bush
administration on issues ranging far afield from the
terrorist attacks.
They are leftists and peaceniks in mourner’s clothing. But
they’re presented simply as September 11 families,
allowing their rantings and ramblings to go out
unfiltered.
Currently, family members are demanding a seat on the September 11 commission that is exploring whether the terrorist attacks might have been prevented.
The families have a unique personal interest in the outcome of the report. But they don’t own the tragedy. It belongs to all of America.
Family members are entitled to our sympathy, as is anyone who loses a loved one.
But they aren’t entitled to an elevated political platform or to interfere in the work of the experts examining the attacks, and certainly not to inexcusable rudeness like that displayed toward Giuliani last week. |
