We received the following comment from a family member today about Arizona’s 9/11 memorial that a blame-America-first commission placed its political views upon:

It is a shame that a Memorial has turned into this mess. I stop by every now and then and look at it. I go, get annoyed and wind up feeling sad that a place where I thought I could go and think about my brother has become an insult to all that were lost.

The names of all the fools on the “Commission” are listed on the Memorial but the victims’ names are nowhere to be found [emphasis added mine].

I asked to be on the Commission and was turned down. I asked if I could do something when it was dedicated and never got a response back. It has become a political fight over the power and control. I hope they remove the steel from the WTC. It does not belong with this so called Memorial. If it is to remain, I would like to see it renamed to the 9-11 talking point display. A Memorial it is not.

Gary, I’m sorry. I’m still trying to do what I can to change things. There are 2986 souls that the commission will have to answer to. When you get to meet then, tell them how you feel!

John Herold
brother of Gary Herold

Update: If you looked at the article I linked to in the first paragraph of this post and are hopeful that the legislation will now pass the Arizona Senate, Governor Janet Napolitano must then sign it into law. This is what she said on the subject to a caller into an Arizona radio station, in September 2006:

I’m going to look up Gov. Napolitano’s office number and make an otherwise respectful phone call … here they are.

Telephone (602) 542-4331
Toll Free 1-(800) 253-0883 (available only to those in Arizona)
Fax (602) 542-1381

In 2006, Allahpundit at HotAir.com wrote of Arizona’s 9/11 memorial, “This is what happens to a memorial site when you let political activists design and build it.”

Back then, I added:

Across the street from the memorial in Phoenix sits a place for political discussions, Arizona’s state capitol building, which is where they should have left them. We objected to the now defunct International Freedom Center being on Ground Zero and becoming the gateway to the 9/11 memorial because it was going to be a $300 million center for political activism. A global network of human rights museums urged “the International Freedom Center to downplay America in its exhibits and programs at Ground Zero.” Instead of honoring the 9/11 dead at the memorial in Phoenix, they let political activists create a million dollar insult to them.

Fox News’ William Lajeunesse asked Arizona 9/11 Memorial Commissioner Paul Eppinger to explain. When he responded, Eppinger revealed the commission had juxtaposed their own opinions of 9/11 onto the memorial:

“For me, what is means is that our foreign policy for years [emphasis added his] has focused on total support of Israel.”

When Lajeunesse asked him what [that] had to do with 9/11, Eppinger replied:

“I think that promoted the violence.” [Click here for the video]

In other words, 9/11 and the deaths of the 3,000 were America’s fault, we provoked al-Qaeda’s killers, according to Eppinger and the other activists on the commission.

This report is in The Arizona Republic this morning:

An additional dozen inscriptions would be removed from the state’s embattled 9/11 memorial under a plan narrowly approved by House lawmakers Wednesday.

Those phrases — including “Must bomb back,” “Foreign-born Americans afraid” and “You don’t win battles of terrorism with more battles” — are etched into the memorial’s steel, disc-like face.

Memorial designers intended them to reflect the nation’s conflicted psyche in the days following the terrorist strikes of Sept. 11, 2001. Instead, they’ve helped keep the memorial roiled in controversy in the 18 months since its ’06 dedication.

“I’ve always been saddened by the controversy that has engulfed our 9/11 memorial,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. John Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican and former Port Authority officer. “I think we’re very close to resolving that controversy.”

If that’s the case, it was anything but apparent Wednesday. The measure passed on a 32-26, nearly party-line vote, with all but one Republican voting in favor and all but one Democrat against.
…
The 9/11 citizens commission that helped design the memorial already is working on its own revisions to the structure. They include the removal of two inscriptions considered most objectionable — “Erroneous U.S. air strike kills 46 Uruzgan civilians” and “Terrorist organization leader addresses American people” — and the addition of six new phrases. They are to be carved into a new introductory panel to be placed at the entrance to the memorial.

Kavanagh and other lawmakers say those changes don’t go far enough and plan a new private fund-raising effort for the broader revisions called for by the bill.

We will be watching.

Late note: Our thanks to HotAir for linking over and their previous reports on this.