Why Is NYC Waging A New War On Its Own Surviving 9/11 First Responders?
There appears to be a new war on the surviving 9/11 first responders, those brave men and women, often firemen and policemen, who were among the first on the scene of New York City’s World Trade Center attacks. The Republican candidate in a New York City special election to fill shamed former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner’s seat, Republican Bob Turner, says the new 9/11 first responders law should not cover volunteers who were sickened, as a result of their selfless efforts. Add to that the news that NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg has not invited the first responders to next month’s tenth anniversary ceremony, and you really have to wonder, why is New York City waging a war against the very people who saved the lives of so many, and who helped clean up when no one else could, during the worst attack in its history?
The New York Daily News reports Turner’s thoughts on the bill today:
“I think it is a little too broad,” Turner said.
“My call would be to protect police, fire, emergency workers, construction workers, etc.
“If someone said, ‘I volunteered’ or walked through there, it’s just not the type,” added Turner, who faces Democrat David Weprin in the Sept. 13 special election.
The Zadroga bill, named after late NYPD Detective James Zadroga, was pushed through the House in a bipartisan effort led by New York Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan), Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan) and Pete King (R-Nassau).
The three have noted in joint statements that “the collapse of the Trade Center towers released a cloud of poisons, including carcinogens, throughout lower Manhattan.”
Activists and lawmakers who struggled to pass the bill blasted Turner for missing the point.
“That day [9/11], and for months after, there were no uniforms. Volunteers worked next to rescue crews for weeks,” said John Feal, a 9/11 activist and former construction supervisor who lost half his foot at Ground Zero.
“For Bob Turner to turn his back on those New Yorkers, but use images of the burning towers in campaign ads – a circus monkey can out-politic Bob Turner, he’s an embarrassment to the Republican Party,” fumed Feal.
Turner, a former television executive, has made his opposition to a planned mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero a key plank of his campaign.
In a recent campaign ad, he used footage of the smoking twin towers to blast Weprin for supporting the mosque developer’s legal right to build there.”
And then there’s this from Fox News:
“They were the first ones on the scene when the World Trade Center towers fell on September 11, 2001, but ten years later, the first responders are being told that they will not be invited to take part in this year’s tenth anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero.
The city announced earlier this week that due to security and space issues, there would be no room for the first responders. Instead, they’ll be invited to a private ceremony on a different date.
Retired NYPD officer Anthony Flammia told FOX News, “I’m absolutely disgusted.”
He said the exclusion was “a total disrespect to the responders … it’s very easy for them to make the space for us.”
WIBX adds,
“Many of the 3,000 firefighters, police officers, and other city employees who’ve been excluded feel the decision was made to try to hide the medical ailments many of them are now suffering. ‘It’ll bring up the fact that we’re basically walking dead and that we’re not being treated,’ remarked first responder Bonnie Giebfried.”
There certainly was enough room for the 9/11 first responders when we needed their help. There’s enough room now. They should have been the first on the invitation list.
What happens the next time New York City is attacked? Don’t say it won’t happen — it already has. Anyone want to remember the Times Square Bomber? Remember who were the first to recognize a problem and take action? T-shirt vendors.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, with uniforms and without.
If you want there to be a hero the next time, treat these ones with respect.
I live next to a firehouse in New York City. I was here on 9/11. Every single fireman in the firehouse left and never came back. We owe their memory, and the memory of those who were on the ground saving lives, sometimes giving theirs, more than this.
Pay their bills, invite them to the ceremony. Seriously, this is even a debate? Shame on us all.
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Donald Trump’s decision to allow one of his lawyers to speak before a grand jury on Friday morning, instead of appealing all the way to the Supreme Court, may have been made out of fear of what the justices on the nation’s highest court might see if they reviewed the case.
According to MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, under normal circumstances, the former president would have dragged out a legal fight over attorney-client privilege that would have kept attorney Evan Corcoran from testifying under oath about Trump’s possession of government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort that led to the FBI showing up with a warrant.
As Rubin notes, the fact that Trump let Corcoran testify over three hours raised eyebrows.
“For one, yes, it is indeed unusual, if not unheard of, for a lawyer to be litigating against a party one day and then testifying under court-ordered examination by that same party the next one,” she wrote before suggesting Trump and his legal team were looking at the long game when he might need the predominantly conservative Supreme Court to lend him a helping hand.
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Writing, “Trump has made clear he believes this Supreme Court — controlled by conservative justices, three of whom he appointed — owes him one,” she added, “My hunch is that Trump’s team let Corcoran’s testimony happen because of what’s likely involved in any request to pause, much less, review a crime-fraud-related ruling: the evidence.”
“Put another way, if Trump had petitioned the Supreme Court to stay Corcoran’s testimony and document production, the justices would have seen some, if not all, of what Judge Howell and the three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit have already reviewed: proof that Trump misled Corcoran and engaged in criminal conduct,” she elaborated.
Rubin went on to note that Trump would likely appeal any conviction to the Supreme Court, writing, “And for someone whose one last hope, if he is ultimately charged or tried by any of the multiple entities now investigating him, is that same Supreme Court, letting the justices see evidence of his alleged crimes now would be a bridge too far.”
“Trump can’t afford to lose the Supreme Court yet,” she suggested.
You can read more here.
News
No TX Congressional Republican Will Say If They’re Attending Trump’s Rally in Waco – Will He Have Trouble Filling Seats?
Donald Trump‘s Saturday campaign rally in Waco, Texas, falls during the 30th anniversary of the 51-day siege that community is known for, when 86 people died after a failed ATF raid on an anti-government religious cult suspected of illegally stockpiling firearms amid allegations of sexual abuse, statutory rape, and polygamy.
Experts have been warning for a week that Trump’s choice of Waco, synonymous with violent anti-government extremism, was no accident. His rhetoric this week, including most recently Friday when he warned of “potential death & destruction” should he be indicted, has been seen as encouraging violence.
NCRM was among the first news outlets to report experts’ concerns over Trump’s choice to hold a rally in Waco during the 30th anniversary of the deadly siege.
Not a single congressional Republican from Texas will say they are attending, nor has the town’s GOP mayor, according to a report from Insider, which contacted over two dozen Republican lawmakers and other elected officials.
“None of the 30 Texas Republicans Insider contacted about the event said they were going,” Insider reveals.
“Most of the 30 GOP members contacted about Donald Trump’s inaugural visit to the site of a 30-year-old standoff between cult leader David Koresh and federal authorities did not respond to requests for comment about whether they intended to rally with the scandal-plagued candidate and perhaps say a few kind words,” Insider reports.
“Rep. Pete Sessions, a Waco native who now represents the surrounding 17th congressional district, praised Trump for shining a light on his hometown but said he’d have to miss the spectacle,” Insider adds. “Aides to Rep. Troy Nehls, one of the four House Republicans from Texas who have formally backed Trump’s 2024 run, told Insider he wouldn’t be heading to Waco because of a prior commitment in Washington, DC, this weekend.”
Meanwhile, in addition to guest list challenges – the campaign refused to tell Insider who the guest speakers will be – Trump may have trouble filling seats.
Mary Trump, the ex-president’s niece who opposes him, has been running a campaign to get anti-Trump Americans to “sign up” for tickets to the Saturday rally, in the hopes of being able to turn away supporters.
Let’s fill this venue with empty seats.https://t.co/3tGSfan5iw
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) March 24, 2023
“Donald has a rally in Waco this Saturday,” she also said via Twitter. “It’s a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI. Scores of people died. He wants the same violent chaos to rescue him from justice.”
“But we can stop him. If we book the 50,000+ venue, we can make sure most of the seats are empty when the traitor takes the stage,” she said. “We can no longer fail to hold powerful men accountable for their crimes against our country.”
Image via Shutterstock
News
‘Utter Cowardice’: Jim Jordan Blasted for Telling Reporter He Can’t Read Trump’s Violence-Threatening Post Without Glasses
Countless GOP lawmakers over the years have professed ignorance over Donald Trump’s tweets as reporters ask them to respond, often claiming they hadn’t read them, but House Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan took that performance to a whole new level Friday afternoon.
NBC News senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur asked the Ohio Republican congressman to weigh in on Trump’s social media post threatening “potential death & destruction” if he gets indicted.
“Jordan said he hasn’t seen Trump’s post,” Kapur said via Twitter. “When I showed [it] to him on my phone, he said he can’t read well without his glasses.”
“He added he’s reviewing DA Bragg’s letter,” Kapur added.
READ MORE: ‘Big Shoe Drops’: Bad Day for Trump on Multiple Fronts in Special Counsel’s Grand Jury Probes
Jordan, who didn’t need glasses to appear on Fox Business just two days ago (photo) is getting blowback.
VICE News Deputy DC Bureau Chief Todd Zwillich explained the progression.
“The stages of ignoring incitement,” he tweeted. “2016: I don’t respond to tweets —> 2018: I havent seen the tweet —-> 2023: I literally can’t see the tweet.”
“Utter cowardice,” declared former GOP Congressman Joe Walsh. “Not at all the @Jim_Jordan I knew & served with in Congress 10 yrs ago. Or…maybe it is.”
“The sheer dishonesty and cowardice of these people,” lamented MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan, echoing Walsh’s remarks.
Government watchdog group Citizens for Ethics said the “extent to which Trump’s backers in Congress are going to not condemn [his] calls for violence are ludicrous.”
RELATED: Ninth Wrestler Comes Forward to Say Jordan ‘Snickered’ When He Complained of Sexual Abuse: Report
Some tied Jordan’s inability to see the post to his apparent inability to see or remember all the Ohio State wrestlers who say they complained to Jordan when he was their assistant coach, about being sexually harassed or assaulted by the team doctor. To this day despite numerous reports and people publicly coming forward, Jordan denied it ever happened.
“Apparently, Jim Jordan is unable to see wrestlers being sexually abused or Donald Trump social media posts,” attorney and Republican turned Democrat Ron Filipkowski tweeted.
“Well, @Jim_Jordan has shown before that he has trouble seeing threats right in front of his nose, so this checks out,” tweeted historian Kevin M. Kruse.
But Jordan’s Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee may have served up the best response: “Why do you need your glasses to condemn violence @Jim_Jordan?”
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