over-done: the phallus symbol as an icon of american virtue (WTC new plans)

Enough Phallus Worship, Already!
By Tova Gabrielle

i. some "mad" therapist ravings:
If the planning board members involved in rebuilding the WTC site really want to develop ‘a sacred precinct’, as they claim, I strongly suggest they begin rethinking their narcissistic presuppositions. I find my country's old-school penis obsession, to be as over-the-top at my ripe middle age as having to listen to some junior high school boys in a locker room, bragging and taunting each other.
And Yet. Others my age, continually insist that My country will heal it's broken heart at not being invincible as superman and in"fallible" after all, only by restoring it's embarrassing loss of erection with more engorged probes, such as those now most popularly entertained, by New York City planners for the WTC. Seven major developers all assumed that it is a must we begin restoring by promising to exceed the former ones in height, Oh Boy. Excuse me while I gag.
When one planning board member, a Mr. Libeskind, claims that, "It’s about freedom, it’s about America, and it’s about New York, and how does the city move forward in the face of these tragic event," he (and we as a country) risks maddeningly overlooking others: specifically the rest of the world:
Whether or not our collective conscience and culture can realize that we North Americans can never be truly free until all people are free; and that our responsibility towards nurturing affectionate relationships with the rest of the globe must be at the core of our decisions/actions, remains to be seen in my lifetime. Why isn't it more apparent to others besides me that, New York as a melting pot, has an inherent responsibility towards carefully considering just how our own grandparents and ancestors would want us to proceed towards their native countries?
We've just GOT to stop living in an episodic state of knee jerk consciousness: as if there is not past nor future. We can not survive with the nursery schoolkit of just constantly reacting to whatever present traumas raise our ugly heads.
Sure I'm angry- I'm enraged, about how our country does business with the rest of the world, as so perfectly portrayed in our sacred icons and statue worshiping. But I represent the many other feminists, besides me, who are too angry or scared to articulate their feelings about the way our country does it's dirty little businesses in the face of the rest of the word. You know; there's a reason "they" hate us: we injure, kill and then insult "them" to the point of evoking insanity!
ii. The Problem with Sky Probes
Most male (and many hypnotized female) North Americans, continue to be impressed by displaying huge phallic memorials. As a woman, mother, therapist and feminist, I note that this is equivalent to, and as primitive as, idol worship. [I do admit however, that perhaps my view is the result of being a-pparent.]
Can our country please evolve, dammit? What does it take? It's quite a time-jog from idol worshiping to ingesting Freudian thought, and to expect our country's collective un-conscience (sic) to now arrive at a saner, "broader" perspective: how about one which honors the whole (and the hole--including the one in the skyline as well as the place to plant new seeds: mother/earth)?

Why must the male member continually expose itself in such aggressive defiance of all smaller members (and, please consider the feminine-smallest one, as well)?
I say, "move over, guys, it’s our turn, for Chrissake! You stole the show and a lot more, for the last two hundred years here." If we must erect idols, how about some vagina worship for a change? Do it for the survival of the planet, don't do it for women if that makes you shrivel, OK? This country’s obsession continues to reflect and perpetuate an aggressive, warlike attitude that helped us get our asses kicked in the first place. Maybe less is more, you know? After all, is it not possible or even probable, that by shoving those images representing the rape of other cultures, into the world’s face, smaller but not less dignified countries, may feel put down, abused and humiliated? Might it not be a bit foolish even to continually boast our might, even after we’ve been hit?
Come off it guys, let the other half of the world have a turn, for survival’s sake! We can show off some collective compassion and awareness of others, maybe the enraged children who might consider stunts like that of 9/11 would begin the long arduous task of evolving: calming down before reacting, if we stop reacting first: who knows? How about some depth and roundness instead. Instead of the phalluses…. how about, some—Alice’s? We who have been down the hole and back up again, have seen and felt it all and I am here to tell you that we are not impressed. Where did all our fathers’ and forefathers’ and patriarchal upstanding strutting and posturing get us? Our country is more fearful than ever and the world is more fearful and angry with us, too.
So how about planning a new trade center where, a) we trade, or at least exchange goods for reasonable prices, rather than steal and
b) memorialize our collective losses with images of things close to the earth, in flowery, layered, round, and spiral arrangements? That way, our real and imagine enemies will have to get down and dirty, if they, like most old school, upstanding Americans, consider vaginal type displays a bit "icky".
I say, let's kill em with embarrassment or keep em away by being too "irrelevant" and "personal".
Incidentally, the personal may prove in the long run to be the savviest political stance of all. If it doesn’t confuse our real and, or imagined enemies, it may well confuse if not disarm them. [The scene in "Little Big Man forever haunts me" where the Native American elder walks through the battle at Wounded Knee, unscathed, because he is invisible to those who seek a more stridently aggressive and fearful "enemy".
I will concede to agreeing with what one developer amongst the New York seven, a Mr. Schwartz said, re,
"I live here. I walk out my front door—that’s where the towers were. But we recognize the global importance of what we’re doing." If only he and other developers involved can let go of their things long enough to provide a breather for the rest of the world. Maybe the message our country sends out to the world could even inspire some respect from the majority of humans who live so much closer to the ground.