Who are we pacifying here?
According to an article in the Daily News, a plan to honor a Harlem cop killed in an altercation at a Nation of Islam Mosque headed by radical Louis Farrakhan more than 40 years ago will “open old wounds.”
Whose wounds? The family of Officer Philip Cardillo, who was gunned down while he was doing his job? Or are we worried about the feelings of the radical terrorist who did it?
When planners gave permission to build a community center and mosque a stone’s throw away from the site of the World Trade Center, no one was concerned about opening our old wounds of 9-11.
In fact, the hue and cry of the politicians and all those that stood to make money on the deal at the time was that it would act as a healing for our city.
This really baffles my sensibilities — how anyone could think that rubbing our noses in the ashes of such a tragedy by building that mosque is beyond me? Now naming a street in front of a precinct where a hero cop worked will open old wounds. How upside down can it get?
What’s more infuriating is the commissioner’s stance. Bill Bratton has distanced himself from the situation, noting that “The community should make the final decision.”
Who is he afraid of offending?
The Commish should be leading the charge to have the signage up and displayed and be the first one to put his seal of approval on the petition in stead of side-stepping the issue like a coward.
Get off it — this was a cop, a man in blue — and you don’t want to get involved.
I say they should add to the signage along with Cardillo’s name — “Hero cop assassinated by radicals worked here and we’re damn proud of him,” with Bratton proudly nailing it in place.
The article further stated that no one has been officially charged in the death of Officer Cardillo, and that after 42 years the case is still open.
Now that’s what I call infuriating — the fact that this man’s assassin remains free to roam the streets should be the real issue here. Rubbing salt in those open wounds is the crime. I know it is infuriating to me, and I didn’t even know him.
Honoring Cardillo and putting up the sign will help his family’s wounds close.
Not for Nuthin,™ but let’s call it as it is and stop the pseudo-political correctness. The Commissioner should be more concerned about how one of his own, a member of the blue brotherhood, is remembered and honored, than sidestepping the issue to protect his own aspirations and political machinations.
Wishing all my readers a Happy Passover and a Happy Easter.
Follow me on Twitter @JDelBuono.
