The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has published guidelines for submissions of designs for the World Trade Center memorial. Just in this most sensitive corner, they've managed to inject the worst kind of fake egalitarian nonsense into the rules in just about the most offensive possible way:

The World Trade Center site memorial should honor the loss of life equally and the contributions of all without establishing any hierarchies.

In other words, by the official rules you cannot represent artistically that some people were merely victims setting in their offices and some were heroically rushing in trying to save them. Can't even list the professional rank or title of firefighters or policemen. Might hurt the feelings of families of office workers by making them think the firefighters were more heroic. That the statement is obviously true does not matter.

This nonsense is so precise in its faux egalitarian offense that I almost expect Ayn Rand to rise from the dead and smite these ignorant bastards as they deserve. Of all the places in all the cities of the world, the World Trade Center in New York City has come to be the great symbol of America, of our wealthy capitalist dream. This is why is was chosen for destruction on 9/11, and why we're needing a memorial.

The big point of America's capitalist market system is recognition for individual achievement. The rewards (mostly) go to those who are actually doing things. A brilliant market analyst has rank over the janitorial staff, as evidenced by their pay and their nice suits. The window washer may be a fine fellow human being, but the sharp broker gets the corner office.

In the case of 9/11, the extra factor would go to the firemen and cops who were really making the performance that day. Their posthumous perk should naturally be a little bit of glory. Not necessarily anything ostentatious, but modest acknowledgement of their heroic contributions. That is simple justice.

This does not take anything away from the fellow working in the mail room. In this case, he and the CEO come out about the same. That is, they are both blameless victims of an undeserved attack. They weren't particularly heroic in many cases. They were both just poor schmucks in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hey, not everybody can be heroic all the time.

Denying simple proper recognition to firemen and cops who died in the line of duty does not raise up the janitor in any way, however. It merely denies the special contribution of people who with full consciousness gave all.

The beautiful and sensible Kathleen Parker breaks it down further without cussing, which is better than I can do.