gives way to...
"The Age of Cynicism"
by Rich Lowry
Three Quotes:
"In five years, we built the Hoover Dam. From 1931 to 1936, the Colorado River was diverted with tunnels blasted into the Black Canyon walls, a town was built to house a small army of workers laboring in the desert, and 3 1/4 million cubic yards of concrete were poured into a dam reaching 726 1/2 feet high -- two years ahead of schedule."
Impressive only-- to my mind at least --because of the time and available technology...
"In the 1930s, the Empire State Building was built in 410 days; more than five years after 9/11, the World Trade Center site still features a gaping hole."
Wow! 102 floors in 1 year, 1 month, and 15 days.... that's 4.02 floors a day! Double wow!!! That's the American "Can-Do" spirit for you.
[ Hmmm. Now where did we lay that "Can-Do" spirit? Well, wherever it is it'll be in the last place we look.]
"The best thing that might have happened to Republicans lately is their loss of Congress, which means that Democrats have gone from attacking a spectacularly unpopular Congress to running a spectacularly unpopular Congress."
Harry Reid's approval rating as of the other day was 19%. NINETEEN PERCENT! That's even lower than President Bush's!
But here's one Lowry left out... and that's the number 2,504. 2,504 days. Six years, three-hundred fourteen days. Care to guess? That's right! Very good! On September 12, 1962 President Kennedy announced, "We choose to go to the moon..." And it only took 6 years, 314 days [including leap days] to get there.
One day in April of next year will mark 6 years, 314 days since Ground Zero was cleared... And yet it remains empty. A sad testament to the lack of Pyramid Builders in America today.
But this shouldn't surprise anyone. Think about it! We could build the Hoover Dam, the Empire State Building, and send a man to the moon..... amazing feats all! But we can't build a measly 700 mile fence along our southern border, let alone stop arguing long enough to do something with that big gaping hole in Lower Manhattan!
Let alone do something with that big gaping ideological hole in Washington D.C.
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Ah, wait. Something is coming to me ...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the descendants of the boys who made the impossible possible during WWII, have become the handymen and general contractors of not just the military and military needs, but the rest of the national government, as well.
They've spent decades now designing and working on flood control projects and such, and thus have morphed into a national version of most local planning and street departments.
Lordy, as a believer in government and its power to do good, I must admit that bureaucracies are ruining this country's government like they did ... France, among others.
Posse comitatus, and questions surrounding the wisdom of fencing our border aside:
If the president orders a fence be built, built the fence!
Heads should roll.
As to the WTC emptiness, I always thought from the beginning that the best use of the land was to rebuild the WTC just as it was, with the exception of lessons learned regarding planes hitting it and such. What better way to stick it to the scumbags than to say, "Hey look! We got another just like it!" I think it would piss them off.
How many times have we seen a road crew of 10 or more standing around talking while only one or two of them were actually working?
I don't know if ER is right about the ACE becoming the national version of local planning or street departments. Maybe he's right, now, But when they repaired the highway in KC, they did an amazing job.
I agree with Art about rebuilding the WTC, but on the other hand, that big hole serves as a reminder to every Ammerican of the ever present threat to terrorism. There are good arguments on both sides, and that may well be the cause of the delay of the decision.
The new World Trade Center will be...
more resistant to terror attacks.
a monument to the deaths on 9-11.
a major business center.
a piece or architectual art.
and a "F--- You!" to the world that America can't be beat.
I would rather wait a few more years than have the project be rushed and the resulting building not accomplish those goals.