The Source of Offense

Can you see it? Squint

Supposedly, this is an Islamic symbol. Sadly, the lunatic fringe has enough sway that they have managed to get some changes made. Perhaps they will be modest enough that this can pass.

Flight 93 memorial design to be altered
Critics said crescent shape could be seen as symbol of Islam
By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain NewsSeptember 15, 2005

WASHINGTON - Planners of a Sept. 11 memorial in rural Pennsylvania plan to alter its crescent- shaped design after critics said it could be seen as a tribute to the hijackers.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and others had called on the Interior Department to reject an advisory commission's preferred design, titled Crescent of Embrace, saying its arc of maple trees resembled the lunar crescent used as a symbol of Islam.

Here's the symbol in question, taken from the Turkish flag.

The similarity is striking is it not? NOT!

I suppose if we tried to build the Vietnam Memorial today, one of the most moving war tributes in the world and one that has become one of DC's most sacred landmarks and visited sites, Tancredo would object that it could be portrayed as a V for Vietnam. Such is the state of reactionary discourse.