Pete mourns the deaths of his fallen brothers.
If you saw people coming out of 130 Liberty Street dressed like this:
Would you go into it dressed like this?
THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL FATHER A father had two sons, one his own, the other, a stepson. On a frigid, frost bitten day. he tenderly dresses his own son in woolen socks, fleece lined boots, long flannel underwear, layers of over garments, a heavy winter coat, mittens, a scarf, ear muffs, a woolen hat, embraces him with a warm, loving hug and puts a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. The stepson, he ignores leaving him nearly naked in summer underwear. The warmly dressed son goes outside to play in the snow while the nearly naked stepson stays inside. Later on, the father notices the stepson in the house. The father is perplexed. He cannot understand. He asks him, "Why are you not outside with your brother playing in the snow?" He scolds his stepson, yelling "Go to your room until I figure out why, in heaven's name, you are not outside playing in the snow." With a tear in his eye and his head cast down, the stepson shivers as he goes to the "sidelines", we mean, his room. The father seeing the tear in his stepson's eye and his cast down head, turns his back and offers his stepson no comfort. The father then calls a press conference at which he bumptiously announces to the world that "The little bastard has no excuse for not being outside in the snow". Upon hearing the father publicly slander his stepson, those who know the full story recoil in utter disbelief and vehement disgust. (Click Here).
THE CHARGE OF THE FIRE BRIGADE, printed below, puts into words what Bloomberg's and Scoppetta's opinion would be if they indeed sincerely think that the local firehouse ought to have inspected the highly toxic Deutsche Bank Building without site specific training, Haz Mat Suits, decontamination equipment, etc. Because such an opinion is so patently absurd, reasonable people have concluded that Captain Peter Bosco, his Battalion Chief and Division Chief are being framed on trumped up charges. What is more disturbing, however, is the possibility that Bloomberg and Scoppetta knew that inspections were outside the jurisdiction of the local firehouse; yet, to preserve Bloomberg's image and protect his tea and crumpet cronies, Bloomberg directed his spineless lackey, FDNY Commissioner Scoppetta, to scapegoat three decent, decorated and innocent fire officers and throw them to the wolves (Click Here). How despicable! What kind of villains would sacrifice innocence for image. Image is a false god that too many small minded politicians worship. More ignobly, how can Scoppetta betray his own men? You cannot get much lower than that! That Bloomberg was so swift in blaming Captain Bosco, his battalion chief and his division chief - which blame turned their lives upside down - and is so slow in exonerating them despite irrefutable evidence of their innocence, makes it crystal clear that Bloomberg has little regard for anybody outside his chummy circle of tea and crumpet cronies. Bloomberg has treated these three decorated fire officers and decent human beings like worthless pieces of garbage (Click Here). Firefighters from prob'y to Chief of Department ought to be outraged! A billionaire many times over, Bloomberg simply does not give a damn about "the little guy" who depends on a paycheck to support a family. It took a mere 9 days for Bloomberg to blame them. It is many times 9 days and the evidence of their innocence has mounted. Yet, Bloomberg has not uttered a word to undo the damage he has done. Bloomberg's and Scoppetta's position that FDNY expected, desired or wanted the local firehouse to inspect the "jaws of death and the mouth of hell" is not supported by any of the facts. All of the facts prove conclusively that FDNY Headquarters had absolutely no expectation whatsoever that the local firehouse would conduct inspections of the highly toxic building (Click Here) Instead of trying to frame the three decorated fire officers, Scoppetta ought to have defended them and his department by giving the speech outlined in our blog (Click Here) With apologies to Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Charge of the Fire Brigade [Note: The NY Post appreciates a meaningful rhyme (Click Here)]. To learn a little background about Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem, the Charge of the Light Brigade, and the disastrous decisions of the Light Brigade's top commanders, visit Wikipedia by clicking here For the actual poem, click here. Feel Free to republish this Poem or suggest improvements.
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the skyscraper of death,
Inspect while we blunder.
Inspect fire brigade!
"Charge through the toxins", Bloomberg and Scoppetta said
Into the skyscraper of Death
inspect while we blunder.
Toxins to right of them,
Toxins to left of them,
Toxins in front of them
floated and flutterd.
Storm'd at with poison and smell,
Boldly you'll inspect so well
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Inspect while we blunder
But no haz-mat suits for you
no guidance from FDNY too
How you do it is up to you
risk your lungs and your health
Meet my quota of 2 a month, Bloomberg and Scoppetta said
We'll decontaminate you after your dead
Inspect while we blunder
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the firefighters knew
Someone had blunder'd?
Bloomberg and Scoppetta scoff:
"Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to inspect and die."
Into the skyscraper of Death
Inspect while we blunder.