cross-posted from the syntax of things - i apologize for the redundancy, but this story hits a little too close to home for me...

a friend of mine up in maine, les rhoda, had an uncle named donald greene. i never got a chance to meet the man, but by all accounts he was a warm, loving and charitable man who lived life to the fullest. he worked in the avation industry, and was a trained pilot. his family will remember him for the man that he was. the rest of the world will remember him as a passenger on united flight 93.

it's next to impossible for me to imagine what les' family went through on september 11, 2001, not to mention what they continue to go through. it's bad enough that on an almost daily basis that the one man on trial for the 9/11 attacks, zacarias moussaoui, is using his seat in the defendant's chair as a means to continually spit in their faces.

but when one of our own lawmakers is the one doing the spitting, it's completely reprehensible. and when that lawmaker happens to be rep. charles taylor, it's downright embarrassing and shameful.

via the washington post:

For emotional wallop, there are few rivals to the windswept, grassy field outside of Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.

But for three years, that field has made do with a makeshift monument while one member of Congress, Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.), has blocked a $10 million request to buy the land for a permanent memorial to the 40 passengers and crew members who overpowered hijackers bent on crashing their jet into the Capitol or the White House.

The families of the Flight 93 passengers and crew will be in Washington tomorrow, this time intent on challenging the chairman of the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee, who oversees funding for federal acquisition of property. With a major motion picture on the doomed flight premiering tonight, a showdown on the issue is the last clash that embattled Republicans want.

"We need to build a memorial for these people," said Rep. William Shuster (R-Pa.), whose district includes Shanksville. "These 40 people were the first counterattack of the war on terror, and they were victorious. We owe them a great debt of gratitude."

For Taylor, a large landowner in the mountains of western Carolina, the issue comes down to principle: The federal government is already the largest landowner in the country, and he believes that no additional tax dollars should go to more land buying for this or any other memorial. Beyond that, the families have committed to raising half the $60 million needed to build the memorial but so far have raised $7.5 million. Taylor is concerned that the federal government will be left holding the bag.

mr. taylor, you are a despicable man who deserves to endure every bit of karmic retribution that is coming to you. we're the ones that have to deal with the local fallout of your legislative missteps, but for something like this you're going to have to answer to not just nc-11, but the rest of america, possibly even the rest of the world. and i personally can't wait for your tribunal on november 7th.

go to hell, you reprehensible bastard.