Trial and Terror

When stacked up against the toughest people on the Earth, New Yorkers typically come in at or very near the top. You have to be tough - not to mention coordinated and multi-tasking, to dodge cabs while reading a newspaper and eating a bagel. And don't get me started about the weather!

So it's surprising to read that New Yorkers don't want to host the 9/11 trials, at least not in Manhattan. Something about the congestion and disruption to business.

NIMBY in New York. Never would of believed it, but then there it is.

Of course, the conservatives in government and the media have fanned the flames of fear, painting images of Manhattan becoming once again target number 1 for Al-Qaeda, if the trials take place there. Who can blame people for not wanting to go through that again?

But I really thought New Yorkers were made of sterner stuff. Who among them would have taken this stance in the days and weeks after 9/11? I don't see any threats, real or imagined by Fox News, daunting the resolve of New Yorkers in the days following the fall of the towers. So it's disappointing to see them shrinking back now. It's a shame they can't support President Obama's decision to try the attackers in a US criminal court.

Of course, I don't have to live there and experience the commotion and disruption the trials will undoubtedly entail.

I would suggest that Obama move the trials to Washington, but what a circus that would be. Plus I am not so sure the beltway could handle any extra congestion.

So my advice to the President and Attorney General Holder is to move the trials to Lincoln, Nebraska. The people there are fearless as they come, and the local airport has got security nailed. I once was stopped and interrogated because my flip-out VW car key looked like a potentially lethal weapon. Good luck to any terrorists trying to slip past with an exploding suppository up their wazoo.