Stop the presses! I agree with eddobloggo!!!!! The eminent domain abuse is out of control. Utterly ridiculous.
bannedagain
Des Moines, IA Register
Ruth Hardy Park in Palm Springs is 22 acres. Any plans to have ever made this memorial 100 times that size at any cost near that much was always insane.
WesleyC
Palm Springs, CA Desert Sun
[When did sanity ever have anything to do with government? -ED]
Many of the families believe the land should be sacred because the bodies were spread over a wide area. This reminds me of the trooper memorials in Utah and the crosses we see along the highway. Potentially every square inch of land along our highways could end up being sacred...possibly the most frustrating thing about this whole fiasco is that one landowner was working through his lawyer to donate the requested parcel when he was threatened. He's now having second thoughts.
another_patriot
Des Moines, IA Register
That prodigious porcine project may well have stamped on it the cloven hoof print of the Keystone State's erstwhile congressional porkmeister in chief, Bud Schuster, who chaired the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure till his resignation in '01. And it may bear, as well, the cloven hoof print of Bud's son, Bill, who's been the Schuster sinecure's caretaker since porcus pater stepped down.
BTW: Bud claimed he resigned for "health reasons"; but the smart money says 'twas on account of GAO gum-shoes closing in on him.
ignisfatuus
Burlington, VT Free Press
I don't think that the framers of the constitution had this in mind with eminent domain which has become tantamount to land stealing by the government.
Anonymous
This makes me wonder exactly what they didn't find or are trying to hide. Regardless of who's administration is pushing this it must be stopped. Let them build another monstrosity on the mall. Leave the countryside alone.
deserttrek
Palm Springs, CA Desert Sun
Well said Ed. (Or is this just a ruse to convince all the lefties that you occasionally make coherent arguments?) :)
Craig51
Des Moines, IA Register
On every corner we could have a cross across America. A few acres should be enough for this memorial. I feel for the families who lost love ones, but over 2000 acre's. Our gov, at work.
justpoor
Des Moines, IA Register
...I don't like this eminent domain deal. That's supposed to be used for the public good. How is this memorial for the public good? And why would they need that much land anyway?
CarolinStockbridge
Lansing, MI State Journal
Who are the landowners of record? Are these power hungry landlords of mining glory and dairy barn construction playing subdivide parcel games that cause a propensity of fun.
Anonymous
[Regardless of who owns the "needed" acreage, why does the NPS need their land and the additional administrative costs involved with negotiating and/or purchasing it? The landowners are not responsible for initiating this process. -ED]
We are in some very strange times right now when it comes to government intervention on any front to include the reason for this excellent opine. I cannot even make it trough the opening scenes of 'Saving Private Ryan' and I will not visit a place where U.S. Citizens died on our soil during an act of war no matter how big, or small. I had my chance to visit Pearl Harbor on the way to the jungle and I demurred so I guess I will continue to walk the 'fence' on this one if that is OK?
boned
Great Falls, MT Tribune
Yes I have no problem seeing the threat to private property by the government. Native people have had to deal with this all the time, when the gov lets mining operators move in and then calls the land squeeze "encroachment", just another unfair term. With whites it is reluctantly done "as a last resort", while with Natives it is deliberately done as an overall plan to take away what little they have got by corrupt government agencies.
Anonymous
[Another perspective, for sure. - ED]
I'm in the business of eminent domain so I was following this story....last I heard the National Park Service WAS NOT going to use eminent domain to get the remaining land they needed. They already have some of the land anyway. I do agree that 2,200 acres does seem like a lot of land for this.
SWRF35
Wausau, WI Daily Herald
I agree with you. This is nothing but a grab for land. Thanks for your awareness on these issues.
gilliandmax
Mansfield, OH
News Journal
People dying make a site sacred? Really? How many people must die before this sacred metamorphosis takes place? One? JFK's assassination site? Hospitals? War fields? Car accident sites?
TiaMia
St. Cloud, MN
Times
There seems to be a memorial stone in place and that should be more than enough. Yes, their deeds were heroic, and they more than likely saved the attack on another government building. I just can't believe anyone would want some huge visitor center and settle down with a coke and a burger. I have visited Gettysburg many times and have not been able to eat a thing while hiking about the battle fields.
harrygump
Mansfield, OH
News Journal
This has been in the wind for more than 3 years. Prime example of some govt employee ruling over his own little agency building a monument to his own unchecked authority. A living of example of what govt agencies motto is, long unspoken until Rahm Emanule verbalized it for prosterity. "Never let a disaster go to waste."
This is a non partisian scam. This is a federal govt unchecked.
iowan2
Des Moines, IA
Register
[Other than pluralizing the number of bureaucrats involved and blaming certain members of Congress for their pork fight for this example of fed fiasco, I agree with you 100%. Excellent comment! -ED]
Eminent Domain or FLEXING ITS MUSCLE? The power the government has OVER it's citizens is TRUTHFULLY frightening. It is hard to believe that there are those that want EVEN BIGGER AND STRONGER government with almost total control over you. Eminent Domain is just the start.
rocco0607
Great Falls, MT
Tribune
Actually, word from PA is that it is about 75% of the acreage has been acquired without any conflict. However, regardless of the amount still "wanted", to honor the dead is to do so in an honorable way. It includes respect for the living. To grab from the living is not respectful. To honorably create this memorial, those wishing to do so, need to feel gratitude for the land so graciously conceded and readjust the plans accordingly.
OSheila
Wausau, WI
Daily Herald
Thanks, I followed your link and read the full article. I don't care for the crescent symbolism, either. There would need to be a separate area for those who mourn that the five hijackers failed in hitting their target, thus dying without collecting their heavenly virgins!
There should be a Southern-style, open-air barbecue down the road nearby. I'd go there and reflect how those nineteen hijackers are slowly roasting in Hades, and to pray to the Ghost of Charles Martel.
ChernobylFarms
Mansfield, OH
News Journal
2200 acres? This has to
be a misprint, correct? To those that didn't
grow up in the country, a square mile is 640
acres. 2200 acres, then, is about the same size
as 3.5 square miles. That is humongous.
SR1975
St. Cloud, MN
Times
[Like I said in the piece, 'You read
right...2,200 acres...' -ED]
I would think most of us,
on all sides of the political spectrum, are
pretty much ready for a revision of statutes to
rein in Eminent Domain by restricting it to
roads and utilities. I cannot think there are
any other uses that deserve it: not schools nor
other public buildings, not even wetlands
preservation/creation (which I support, but
which should be handled simply by requiring land
owners to comply) (there is a fair difference
between 'restrictions' and condemning
ownership).
BackToTheFarm
Des Moines, IA
Register
A government "land grab"
= socialism. Confiscation of private property.
Why am I surprised at this, we elected a Marxist
president.
We have a society that loves to create
"memorials." Have you noticed the makeshift
roadside memorials marking where someone or
other died in a car crash? In our city we have
these all over town. Some of them are for gang
bangers who have been shot. Who in their right
mind would want to memorialize a criminal?
I say that the NPS should use one acre only and
place a simple memorial on that site. Why are
people, other than friends and family of the
victims, drawn to this hole anyway?
INSanity
Salinas, CA
The Californian
[For the most part
we are in agreement. However, while I totally
agree that the current president is a Marxist
and that eminent domain and shovel-ready project
wastefulness problems will worsen, in fairness
it must be said that this deal was launched
during the previous administration -- although
I'm not so sure that GWB would have allowed his
bureaucrats to submit a crescent design
under any circumstances.
The real reason that this particular project got
blown out of proportion is that one of the kings
of pork and corruption, recently-deceased John
Murtha, was the congressman in this district and
Arlin Specter the Defector tag-teamed with him
in the senate to max out the construction
spending and future costs of upkeep. -ED]
The
Feds want a piece of that "commercialism" which
is why they're grabbing the land.
I mean, this is the height of insult to
me--selling trinkets to sight-seers and paving
over the land.
I ask you, would you want the Feds kicking
people off their land so they can set up their
over-priced concessions and gift shops at your
grave site?
Not me. This is an insult to these brave people.
I can't believe the survivors are going along
with this--because I know I wouldn't be.
Eddo, this really makes me mad. Thanks for
bringing it to our attention. The Feds must be
reined in, starting this November. 2012 cannot
come soon enough either. I'm sick of this, sick
and tired of it all!
novelator
Great Falls, MT
Tribune
If I recall there are 640
Acres in a square mile, the Memorial needs
almost four square miles? I suppose if the Park
Service says so it must be true, right?
As far as stopping the project because of the
crescent shape... I'm better off keeping my
mouth shut.
Grumpyelder
Tallahassee, FL
Democrat
The governments of today
continue to try to break ever expanding records
of spending to "Contribute" to our societies
welfare. Eminent Domain is a great example of
the government feeling that they are better at
deciding what private property should be used
for. Usually it is just some gimmick to pay back
political supporters, or to increase tax revenue
(so they will have more money to spend). Tax
payers should not have to foot a huge bill for
an obscenely oversized memorial.
Many of the wage earners will eventually get to
the point where they pare their lives down and
cut out working so hard, just to limit the
amount of money they give (through no choice of
their own) to this out of control government
expansion.
Eddo, you always bring up some interesting
point, but you always raise my blood pressure. I
think should come with a warning.
spebak
Palm Springs, CA
Desert Sun
[I'll take creating
a Surgeon General's-type warning under
advisement. It's a pretty good and potentially
humorous idea. I always enjoy your comments and
they generally lower my BP. -ED]