Good news to report in the battle over Ground Zero: one component of the Blame America building that was planned at the 9/11 memorial site in New York City will not be housed there. Via AP:

One museum planned as part of a cultural center at the World Trade Center site will not be moving there and another devoted to freedom will only do so if it satisfies redevelopment officials, the head of the agency charged with rebuilding the site said Thursday.

In an apparent concession to some Sept. 11 victims’ relatives who said that the World Trade Center Cultural Center could disrespect the dead and America, John Whitehead gave the International Freedom Center until Sept. 23 to work with family members and produce specific plans for its museum. If the plans do not satisfy the LMDC, he said, “we will find another use or tenant consistent with our objectives for that space.”

The New York Post editorializes today: Send ‘em packing. The next step is for oblivious memorial planners to scrap the guilt complex known as the International Freedom Center (IFC). Excerpt:

The Drawing Center is to be applauded for its integrity. And honesty.

It seems “prudent . . . to look at alternatives, if in fact the Ground Zero site is not going to work out,” said center spokesman Fraser Seitel. “The Drawing Center,” he added, “like any cultural institution, stands for artistic freedom.”

By contrast, prudence and integrity are hardly terms that fairly describe the IFC’s record. Indeed, that facility (the brainchild of folks like Tom Bernstein, whose Human Rights First is suing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld personally for prisoner “abuses” in the War on Terror) has taken quite a different tack.

Unlike the Drawing Center, the IFC has disingenuously, stubbornly refused to admit that it can’t guarantee that it won’t “denigrate America,” give the nation’s enemies a platform or open its doors to base, tasteless material.

Instead, the center has responded to Gov. Pataki’s demand for such assurances — impossible demands, to be sure — by pretending it can work things out.

But let no one be fooled: It knows very well that it can’t, and won’t, provide those assurances. Not in good faith, anyway…

It has been an uphill battle for Debra Burlingame, who first blew the whistle on these plans, and the thousands of Americans who raised their voices in opposition to the desecration and politicization of Ground Zero. We owe them thanks, continued support, and defense against the likes of the New York Times, which had the gall to question their patriotism. The job of protecting the integrity of the 9/11 memorial is not over.

Take Back the Memorial has all the latest, plus details on a Sept. 10 rally in NYC.

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Previous:

Schooling the N.Y. Times
Who are they calling un-American?
Take back the memorial: update
Take back the memorial: They’re feeling the heat
Take back the memorial: heat’s on
Take back the memorial: rallying on
Take back the memorial: more voices raised
Battle at Ground Zero: The IFC responds
Take back the memorial
No guilt complex at Ground Zero
The Soros-ization of Ground Zero

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