It’s been 18 years since the 9/11 terror attacks.
That’s a while — children born that day are now legal adults, something that will no doubt make some of us feel very old — but certainly not long enough that our memories of that day are diminished.
It’s a solemn day, a day when the coverage should be focused on the men and women who were killed in the attacks and in the war on terror that followed.
It’s a time to remember how America rallied and came together.
It’s a time to remember how we rebuilt, bigger and better than we were before. It’s a time to remember why we say the words “Never Forget.”
It’s not the time to consider whether or not the Twin Towers memorial light display is bad for birds.
Testing for the twin towers light tribute ahead of the 9/11 anniversary on Wednesday @newscomauHQ #tributeinlight #911Anniversary pic.twitter.com/tyZywD6V3z
— Megan Palin (@Megan_Palin) September 10, 2019
As you’re probably aware, each year New York City puts on what’s known as the “Tribute in Light,” in which two powerful rays of light where the Twin Towers used to be beam up into the night sky. It’s a powerful reminder of what the city’s skyline used to look like.
But, as ABC News decided to point out, it’s dangerous to migratory avians.
“The ‘Tribute in Light,’ New York City’s annual homage to the victims who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, endangers an estimated 160,000 migrating birds a year, drawing them off course and trapping them in the powerful twin beams that shoot into the sky and can be seen from 60 miles away, according to avian experts,” ABC reported on Tuesday.
You know, Tuesday, Sept. 10.
“The illuminating installation on display for seven days leading up the anniversary of the hijacked airliner attacks that brought down the two World Trade Center towers, killing nearly 3,000 people, may serve as solemn beacons of remembrance for most people,” the story reads.
“But the exhibit also coincides with the annual migration of tens of thousands of birds crisscrossing the New York region — including songbirds, Canada and yellow warblers, American redstarts, sparrows and other avian species — that get confused and fly into the towers of light, circling and expending energy and threatening their lives, according to officials at New York City Audubon.”
Raptors and bats also flock to the lights to hunt the smaller birds or insects that are drawn to the lights.
This is really what we’re so concerned about on the eve of the anniversary of 9/11?
“We know it’s a sensitive issue,” Andrew Maas, a spokesman for NYC Audubon, told ABC News.
You don’t say?
Last nights Tribute in Light from the west side of Manhattan #NYC pic.twitter.com/UrOTu4hfqI
— Max Guliani (@maximusupinNYc) September 5, 2019
ABC News wasn’t the only outlet running this story, either.
The New York Times published a piece with an almost identical headline (“The 9/11 Tribute Lights Are Endangering 160,000 Birds a Year”) a day before ABC News. Splinter News, a far-left outlet, dumbed it down a bit: “The 9/11 Tribute Lights Are Killing Tons of Birds.”
The Times’ piece deserves particular criticism for this bit, however: “The tiring detour through the beams of light can put birds at risk of starvation or injury to populations already threatened by light pollution, collisions with buildings, habitat destruction and climate change.”
Yes, how are the birds going to deal with a light display for a few nights which commemorate the victims of the most deadly terror attack this country has ever seen? I mean, they’re already dealing with light pollution and climate change.
There are 11 months of the year in which this story could have run. If there was any sort of actual concern for birds, this story could have been published in August or April or any other month that wasn’t September.
This isn’t really about the media’s concern for birds, though. What it’s about is the fact that ABC, The New York Times and Splinter can use the timeliness of this to get some attention.
Except that’s not where the attention should be on Sept. 11.
That solemn date is about 3,000 innocent victims, killed by terrorists motivated by an evil ideology. It’s about how we fought back. It’s about America.
This is just more proof about how out of step the establishment media is with America’s values.
The mainstream media isn’t just dying off of its own accord. It’s committing suicide with stories like this.
Via WesternJournal
