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"I am going to miss my son every day of my life but this, the death of Osama bin Laden, seems to be perfect closure for the foul and evil deeds that that man has committed. Bill Clinton made a real effort to root out Osama bin Laden. George W. Bush promised the American public that we will not rest until we have Osama bin Laden in our control, and then Barack Obama was able to make good the promises and efforts of his two predecessors. I'm very grateful to all three men for their strength and their persistence in this project." - Alice Hoagland, mother of openly gay rugby player and 9/11 hero Mark Bingham, speaking to the Bay Area Reporter.
RELATED: The documentary With You, The Mark Bingham Story previews at the Castro Theater on June 18th.
According to the New York Daily News, Dubya declined to join President Obama at Ground Zero today because he feels he didn't get enough credit for taking down Osama Bin Laden.
Bush's visit to the rubble after the 9/11 attacks was the emotional high point of his presidency, but associates say the invitation to return with his successor was a non-starter. "He doesn't feel personally snubbed and appreciates the invitation, but Obama's claiming all the credit and a lot of other people deserve some of it," the source added. "Obama gave no credit whatsoever to the intelligence infrastructure the Bush administration set up that is being hailed from the left and right as setting in motion the operation that got Bin Laden. It rubbed Bush the wrong way." Bush spokesman David Sherzer said Bush "appreciated the invite, but has chosen in his post-presidency to remain largely out of the spotlight." Associates familiar with his thinking say Bush does not believe Obama or his handlers wanted to exploit his presence. But the tag-team idea "was for the benefit of Obama, and Obama withheld credit from people Bush believes deserved it," a source said.Since leaving office, Bush has maintained the presidential tradition of declining to criticize his successor.
One week after 9/11, I rescued the above unsigned painting from the front wall of the elementary school on my Chelsea street. It was one of hundreds affixed there in what doubtlessly was a group therapy project for the children. A violent rainstorm had just begun when I removed it and by morning the hundreds of other drawings lay ruined in puddles. I'll never own one of the repulsive commercial 9/11 souvenirs still being hawked on downtown corners, but Hugging Towers (as I have dubbed it), I'll keep forever.
NYFD ladder trucks arrived in Times Square around 12:30am to the wild cheers of the ever-growing crowds. I tried to get down there myself to witness some history, but at this writing there's about 200 people frantically waving for cabs along my block on the Upper East Side.
NOTE: The above photos have been retweeted so many thousands of times tonight that attribution, for now, is impossible.
In case you haven't been following along, nutjob Pam Geller is the Atlas Shrugs blogger largely behind the battle to block NYC's now infamous "Ground Zero mosque."
