TNR Senior Editor Gregg Easterbrook Calls some 9/11 Families "Greedy"

[Khephra]

(scroll down to find it)

09.10.03


GRIEF DOES NOT JUSTIFY GREED: So far only about 40 percent of the survivors of those killed on 9/11 have filed for payments from the federal fund. Some of the others may be too paralyzed with sorrow to act, but others of the remaining 60 percent have been waiting for ruling on whether they can sue. Yesterday a federal judge said they can. Set aside the logic of the judge's decision, which in effect held that American, Boeing, United, and the landlords of the World Trade Center all could have reasonably foreseen that 19 suicidal fanatics simultaneously would seize four large airlines and use them as guided missiles. Gee, lots of people foresaw that, didn't they? What's going to happen now is that at least some fraction of the 60 percent of families who have not filed for federal payments will sue.

Which means: some 9/11 families are getting greedy. It's time this was laid on the table.

Families who have taken the federal compensation have, so far, received average awards of $1.6 million, tax-free. Families of the United States personnel murdered by Al Qaeda in the Kenya and Tanzania terror attacks of 1998 received, on average, nothing. Families of the several hundred United States military personnel killed in Afghanistan fighting to destroy al Qaeda, and killed in Iraq fighting at least in part against terrorism, received, on average, $9,000, taxable.

Now some 9/11 families are saying $1.6 million isn't enough. Set aside whether they should be receiving anything from taxpayers, given the myriad other circumstances in which Americans die in various horrible events every bit as traumatic and devastating to their families, who receive nothing at all. Assume for the sake of argument that something about 9/11 justifies offering victims' estates a very large special payment. Yet some 9/11 families are saying very large is not large enough. This is greed; it is employing the memory of lost loved ones for gold-digging.


more......................

http://www.tnr.com/easterbrook.mhtml

[Cha]

1. Fuck easterbrook

Fuck easterbrook

[liberalhistorian]

3. Geez, you really like the guy,

don't you? I agree, to hell with him. What an insensitive, inconsiderate, heartless, worthless SOB! Maybe he'd like to tell that to a widow with young children whose husband was the sole support of the family? Or the families of all of the service workers, who didn't make much but who were supporting their families and may not have even been able to afford, or whose job may not have offered, life insurance, disability benefits, etc.? Maybe he'd like to walk in the shoes of a 9/11 family for a day?

How typical of these wingnut repukes, to wax eloquent about how we all need to pray for and sympathize with and support the 9/11 families, the 9/11 victims were heroes and their families deserve the nation's love and concern, and anyone who didn't think so was unpatriotic, then to turn around and spew this kind of garbage. I guess when money's involved their own greed and avarice trumps patriotism, concern, and sympathy every single fucking time!

[gratuitous]

2. With all due respect, Mr. Easterbrook

If you're not one of the families, then kindly shut up. As the song says, "Trial comes before truth's revealed," and a large majority (a majority, mind you, not just a plurality) have rejected settlement in exchange for the chance to find out just what happened on that awful day two years ago.

To find out for real, not just rely on what they're told by a corrupt administration that's more interested in covering its backside than getting at the truth. To find out why their parents, spouses and children died that day without the filter of "national security" determining what they can and can not know.

Out of the most random pool of people I can think of, 60% of them have said "no" to the quick and sure tax-free settlement. That says "greed" to you. That says to me that the money is not the issue for these people, something else is. I'd say that the ones who have settled and taken the money are the greedy ones; they've been bought off. The ones who are going ahead with the lawsuit are saying that money isn't sufficient. They want to know why the attacks happened. And perhaps more, how to prevent others in the future.

Do you know how to stop these attacks, Mr. Easterbrook? Do you have those answers? Do you know all that happened on September 11, 2001, and in the days, weeks and months leading up to it? Can you guarantee that no more attacks will be forthcoming if this money is distributed to these distraught people? Until you can supply fully satisfactory answers to these questions, you are in no position to judge what someone else should do, and certainly in no position to claim that they are doing it motivated solely by greed.

Shame on you, Gregg Easterbrook. Shame.

[Benhurst]

4. Thanks, gratuitous.

You've saved me the effort of writing a post rebuking the sorry bastard.

[GAspnes]

5. easterbrook's an idiot, and

I know dozens, if not hundreds, of airline pilots who will testify that airport and airplane 'security' was and is a joke. There is tremendous merit to the coming lawsuits -- the airlines and plane manufacturers have always known they were flirting with disaster in the interest of higher profits and not scaring or delaying the flying public.

I'm not so sure about dissing the WTC folks. Airplane impacts were considered and designed for -- the planes that hit were larger, faster and heavier than those possible when the towers were built. By that kind of retrospective logic, the owners should designed for meteor impacts also.

[Skittles]

6. I think the guy has a point

we didn't give sh** to the OKC bombing survivors; we give comparatively little to our soldier's families.

[qanda]

7. I agree with you...

I'm not saying that they shouldn't receive anything, but when is enough going to be enough. Even the families of the soldiers that are dying over in Iraq and Afghanistan aren't receiving large sums of money for their loss. And by the way, what ever happened to all those millions of dollars that were collected after 9/11 for the families of the victims?

[PROGRESSIVE1]

8. The New Republican......

does not want to see anymore law suits brought up about 9/11. It may show who was really behind the attacks and show that Iraq has NO TIES whatsoever to these evil organasations!!!