Writes Chris Clark:

Any semblance of property rights at "Ground Zero" vanished in 1965 when the Port Authority exercised its power of eminent domain to effect a Rockefeller dream dating back to the days of Thomas Dewey. The original victims of the disaster known as the World Trade Center were the scores of property and business owners—and more than 100 residents—who resisted their forced relocation but whose demands for justice were not even considered by the Supreme Court. So a bureaucratic entity has long since claimed ownership of the property. It has granted the redevelopment and leasing rights to favored vendors of its choice, and, as you've noted, it remains a hole in the ground all these years later. Is it any wonder that the property rights of 45 Park Place's current owner have no significance to anyone sounding off on this so-called debate?

The whole brouhaha reeks of the same old divide-and-conquer technique used time and again by the power elite to suck the life out of populist reform movements. This time, at least here in New York, a significant amount of energy has been successfully drained out of the End the Fed movement and refocused on a plea for government to save us from the infidels. Many of our local Tea Parties are divided on the issue (thanks in part to the self-proclaimed Tea Party candidate for governor). Regardless of whether Cordoba House is built or not, this will be an unqualified success for the self-serving politicians and their media mouthpieces.

As I say to my friends, over and over again, most likely to the point of tedium or beyond: ignore the mainstream media and their manufactured controversies.