The Rant, the Recount and the Petty Ridicule

Last night, Mike sent me this link containing video of Keith Olbermann's 9/11 commentary. Granted, I thought it was rather long and some parts were a little strange but he makes a critical point: five years later Ground Zero is still empty. No memorial, no construction.

To me this speaks of government bureaucracy, infighting and politics. If Donald Trump was in charge of rebuilding the WTC, we'd be halfway there by now. (Trump World Tower, a 72-story residential building, took only two years to complete.) Sadly Olbermann's focused on the blameful Bush rather than take a stab at government in general but we can only hope for so much. A favorite passage:

Instead they bicker and buck pass. They thwart private efforts and jostle to claim credit for initiatives that go nowhere. They spend the money on irrelevant wars and elaborate self-congratulations, and buying off columnists to write how good a job they're doing instead of doing any job at all.

Shortly after the video hit the internet, NewsBusters, a self-proclaimed "liberal media" watchdog, posted this article which recounts Olbermann's commentary but never seriously refutes it.

Another NewsBusters article accuses Olbermann of using Ground Zero partisanly while complaining others do just that. Perhaps it was mere politics (though in this case the point was to show everyone that nothing has been done rather than use it as a prop for political grandstanding). Also note that when one side of the aisle legitimately accuses the other of doing something wrong, the other side paradoxically attempts to save themselves by throwing the accusation back. They don't refute it--indeed sometimes they agree they did wrong--they just say others do it too as if that makes it alright. But somehow I doubt "well my neighbor tried to kill someone, too" would hold up in front of a judge. It's sad it works so well in the court of public opinion.