In Bill de Blasio’s New York City, the official 9/11 commemorations have been canceled. The official reason is the same coronavirus that hasn’t stopped any of the Black Lives Matter events. That means the Towers of Light and the reading of the names of the victims of the Islamic attack on America have been suspended.
Some private events, including one by a police union and by a non-profit, are going forward.
We’ll see if the media and the Democrats run their usual hypocritical, “how dare you have in-person events during a pandemic” spiel. I wouldn’t put it past them.
Virus or no virus, the commemorations were always awkward. And would be especially awkward this year.
In a season in which the Democrats have decided to demonize the police, commemorating their heroism would be uncomfortable. And they would prefer not to do it.
Nationally and locally, Democrats have tried to water down the commemorations, from Obama’s day of volunteering, to the increasing exclusion of family members. Last time around, the reading of the names of the victims by family members turned into a criticism of Rep. Omar’s some people did something dismissal.
And the family members tend to be white and middle class. The people in the towers were working for major companies. And the FDNY and NYPD of the era leaned heavily Italian-American and Irish-American.
The entire ceremony is a reminder of the New York City and the America that was. Like the statues of our founding fathers and explorers, they would like to see them gone.
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