The president of the International Freedom Center, Richard Tofel, tries a little sleight of hand and misdirection in today’s OpinionJournal: A Fitting Place at Ground Zero.

This article is an attempt to soothe the critics, by tossing out a bunch of happy-sounding phrases about memory, loss, courage, etc. — without once confronting the appallingly simple fact that America was attacked on September 11. Instead, Tofel sees 9/11 as a chance to learn lessons, a tragedy, anything but the atrocious mass murder it really was.

And he has the utter gall to quote Abraham Lincoln.

The most outrageous statement in Tofel’s piece, cloaked in tones of reasonableness:

To be sure, the International Freedom Center will host debates and note points of view with which you—and I—will disagree. But that is the point, the proof of our society’s enduring self-confidence and humanity. Moreover, the International Freedom Center will rise above the politics of the moment. It will not exist to precisely define “freedom” or to tell people what to think, but to get them to think—and to act in the service of freedom as they see it. And it will always do so in a manner respectful of the victims of September 11.

Tofel doesn’t even mention the involvement of the ACLU and Human Rights First, or radical leftists like Columbia professor Eric Foner and ubermoonbat George Soros; let’s just ignore the America-haters behind the curtain, shall we?

After reading Tofel’s “nothing up my sleeve” column, I’m more convinced than ever that this memorial will be a complete travesty, and a disgrace to the memories of 3,000 murdered people.

Contact information for the parties that are involved in the International Freedom Center is in this post.