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Which Progressive Hero Just Got a Memorial in NYC?

Oct. 17, 2012 3:40pm Erica Ritz

This photo provided by FDR Four Freedoms Park LLC, shows the New York City memorial park honoring President Franklin D. Roosevelt, completed 40 years after the original design was created. (Photo Credit: Associated Press)

(TheBlaze/AP) — Dignitaries from across the country gathered in New York City Wednesday to dedicate a memorial to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt– a hero of the Progressive movement as Glenn Beck has pointed out — and his ideas. A champion of redistributionist policies, regulation, and government involvement, it is perhaps fitting that it took roughly forty years to complete the project.

Located on an island in the East River of New York City, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park “will stand forever as a monument to the man who brought us through the Great Depression and brought us victory over great evil,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg told several hundred people at the dedication ceremony.

Former President Bill Clinton added that Roosevelt’s dream for a better world “is still the right dream for America,” and the park should remind the nation that FDR’s lofty goals are worth pursuing.

The triangular park is named after Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, known as the Four Freedoms Speech. Given before America got involved in World War II, Roosevelt said the way to justify the enormous sacrifice of war was to create a world centered on four essential human freedoms: freedom of speech and expression; freedom of worship; freedom from want; and freedom from fear. He eventually proposed a “second Bill of Rights” that mirrored the constitution of the Soviet Union.

Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the dedication ceremony of the new Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012.

The park sits on Roosevelt Island, a 2-mile slice of land between Manhattan and Queens. The 4-acre triangular expanse of green is flanked by 120 trees leading to a colossal bronze bust of Roosevelt at the threshold of a white granite open-air plaza.

The statue is an enlargement of a 28-inch bust of Roosevelt, also a New York governor, created by American sculptor Jo Davidson. It sits in a stone niche on the back of which a passage from the Four Freedoms speech is carved. The statue sits a mere 300 yards across the river from the United Nations headquarters.

The park will open to the public once arrangements for its operation and maintenance are final, officials said.

“We hope visitors of different ages will understand that the four freedoms are the core values of democracy and that each generation has to be sure to protect them,” said former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. William vanden Heuvel, chairman of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park LLC.

A bronze bust of Franklin D. Roosevelt is part of the new Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York, seen during during the dedication ceremony Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012.

Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and Mayor John Lindsay first announced creation of the memorial park and appointed Louis Kahn as its architect in 1973. Vanden Heuvel, who was there that day, said Kahn completed the drawings a year later. That same year, Rockefeller became vice president, and the city verged on bankruptcy. With no money, the park was shelved.

“It is altogether fitting that this day was delayed until a time when we knew that we could never take the Four Freedoms for granted,” Clinton warned. “In a time when we too would have to decide whether to build a country that benefits the many, and not just the few.”

The project was revived by vanden Heuvel in 2005 after the Oscar-nominated documentary about Kahn, “My Architect,” brought renewed interest to the memorial.

Over the next seven years, $53 million was raised, $34 million from private donors. The rest came from the taxpayers of New York City and New York state.

The park had been embroiled in a legal dispute with two of its major donors over how prominently their names would be displayed at the site. The Alphawood Foundation, which donated $10.8 million, reached an undisclosed settlement, while the Reed Foundation, which gave $2.9 million, won a court judgment for its name to be engraved in an area near the memorial bust as spelled out in a contract. The park had argued that “such a placement would dishonor a great president and defile Kahn’s great work.”

A sculpture highlighting Roosevelt’s disability is planned for the future. Roosevelt was stricken with polio at the age of 39 and needed a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The statue by sculptor Meredith Bergmann will depict him seated in a wheelchair, reaching for the hand of a young girl on crutches.

The memorial honoring Roosevelt in Washington, D.C. features lines of identical-looking men standing in unemployment lines, highlighting Roosevelt’s struggles during the Great Depression.

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Comments (54)

blackyb
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 11:17pm
Patty H. That is good.

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- bobdiamond
  Posted on October 18, 2012 at 5:56am
  Just another example of leftist moral bankruptcy. Read political commentary at: http://smallcraftadvisorychronicles.blogspot.com/
  
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blackyb
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 10:49pm
It is a wonder they did not put Bill Ayers or Frank Davis up there. These people are about cracked.

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blackyb
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 10:48pm
I am surprised it is not Bill Ayers or Frank Davis.

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OklahomaBound
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 9:42pm
Instead of putting it on an island on the East River they should have just put it IN the East River.

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ProbIemSoIver
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:27pm
Here is my favorite 2:14 video clip that shows how much of a disgusting low-life this “thing”, FDR was.

He played a huge role in the destruction of America. Probably the biggest.

The new DEAL. lol. Give me a break. He was the one who declared Americans enemy combatants and seized “citizens” and their gold as collateral for the debt to the FEDERAL RESERVE PRIVATE BANK !!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlCs7u1ihws

Also notice in these pictures of New York, the Chemtrails in the sky.
Notice how White the skies are these days???? Look in the picture.
Remember our deep blue skys ????
Everyone has figured out what they are spraying. It ‘s mostly ALUMINUM, BARIUM and STRONTIUM
being forced into your body.
Now this new Viral Movie has a very good theory as to the “WHY IN THE WORLD ARE THEY SPRAYING” ????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEfJO0-cTis

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- Spqr1
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:41pm
  Chemtrails? Is this the new “Fluoride in the Water” for the ****** Generation? What’s wrong with you people?
  
  Report this comment
- ProbIemSoIver
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:44pm
  The POS Woodrow brought the FEDERAL RESERVE ACT, INCOME TAX, The IRS, the FBI.
  
  The other progressive POS FDR declared America Bankrupt and pledged U.S. LAND, U.S. Government Branches and agencies, All of America’s GOLD and ALL AMERICANS AS COLLATERAL TO A PRIVATE BANK !!!!!!!
  During FDR’S reign, America was Seized by a PRIVATE BANK, Social (Social-ism) Security (bond-written evidence of debt) and the infamous pyramid on our dollar.
  Birth certificates became federal law in all states in 1933.
  Social Security in 1936.
  Before he left office, FDR quit-claimed the deed to the bankrupt U.S. Corporation to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
  Those two global elite-owned financial institutions, created the United Nations the following year.
  
  Report this comment
- ProbIemSoIver
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:57pm
  @Spqr1
  
  I tryed to help you. I gave you a link.
  
  My links are red. Like pills. Take one, and see how far down the rabbit hole goes.
  
  Or you can remain nescient and enjoy your steak.
  
  All I offer is the truth.
  
  Report this comment
- Spqr1
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 1:48pm
  Anyone with the most basic knowledge of science and aerodynamics can tell you how a CONDENSATION trail works, and have seen them reproduced in a wind tunnel. It’s water vapor, get over it.
  
  Report this comment
thegreatcarnac
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:22pm
Roosevelt???? I thought it would have been Flo in the progressive commercials.

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57states
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:10pm
you have to love the artificial manmade synthestic clouds everywhere, Geo-enginnering or chemtrails!

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- ProbIemSoIver
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:20pm
  I didnt even see your post until after I posted mine . lol. spread the word.
  
  It was the first thing I noticed when I saw the first pic. They are spraying think in Florida. It is unreal.
  
  95 % of the population is oblivious to it. It is unreal.
  
  Who ever is behind this, I want charged with assault with a deadly weapon, and I am NOT KIDDING !!!!!
  
  I suspect it is a Global Elite/United Nations agenda. Geoengineering my @$$.
  
  Report this comment
- db321
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:24pm
  I’m waiting for the empty chair to be on Mt. Rushmore!
  
  Report this comment
- ProbIemSoIver
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:25pm
  *spraying thick in florida
  
  (my first comment was never posted)
  
  Report this comment
- drs1969
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 10:34pm
  If there is anything to it, I’d say the ‘cancer industry’ would have the most interest. I can’t go anywhere anymore w/o seeing, or hearing, ads for cancer treatment centers.
  
  Report this comment
whatsupdoc
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 6:13pm
Clinton must think he’s in Europe. The United States is not a democracy, which means “Mob Rule”. The United States is a Constitutional Republic, meaning the power comes from “We The People”. The United States offers endless opportunities to everyone. You just need to get off the couch and stop playing the “victim” game of the Democrats / Socialists. Earn it…

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arty6164
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 6:08pm
@ 40 years, can you spell “union job”? Sounds like “regressives” to me.

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Miketheplumber
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 5:52pm
when we look at ancient cities we judge the citizens of that area by the monuments they left behind, many times that is the only evidence to judge them by… What does this monument sat about our culture?

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suz
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 5:33pm
tag it.

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Claudius
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 5:13pm
LOL! That monument reminds me of the Lenin and Stalin head monuments from the USSR. Fitting that they chose a communist-like monument for a progressive president.

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oddball130
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 5:05pm
O ya , he was such a good President that after he died we passed an Constitutional amendment to make sure Presidents could only server 2 terms.

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- drs1969
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 10:38pm
  Still too many.
  
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IC Lemmings
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:59pm
WELL now I will know where to go when I have to take a Pee !

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The-Monk
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:43pm
The reason for the blocks on each side of his head represents the progressive way of looking at things.

Never look around… just keep your eyes focused on moving Marxism Forward.

Also known as “blinders”.

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- @leftfighter
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 5:23pm
  Secondary purpose:
  
  Prevents a full wind-up by sledge hammer wielding Conservatives.
  
  And oh, boy. Would I like to take a 25 pounder to that thing.
  
  Bronze statues of would-be kings in NYC have a history of bad results for said potentate-for-life’s supporters. Just sayin’.
  
  Report this comment
Beachbaby
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:34pm
Did you see where his daughter is now fascinated in runny poop? This hedge fund rip-off fell hard from that hick tree. I dont know how to spell diarrhea.

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Jenny Lind
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:15pm
Please Glenn, have the tantrum and throwing stuff off camera. You do not have to say a word, we get it, we agree, and we don’t want you having a heart attack or something. Take a deep breath (or two or three) and realise the time will come when someone will shove it in the water, or take a sledge hammer to it. That is NOT to give you ideas either.

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elosogrande
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:13pm
Roosevelt did a great job managing the war effort. He did a terrible job with the economy. Facism ran so deep with him, that there was a protrait of Mussolini hanging in The White House until 1940. His policies made it worse for a longer time; and he would probably have been an abject failure, if he had not pushed us into WWII.

He was a master at selling the war to the American people. I believe that less than 500,000 Americans were killed in the war. That’s an amazing statistic, considering what our men and women went through, those long four years. The losses suffered in Europe and Asia were astronomical. I doubt if the Chinese, Russians, Poles, or the rest of the allied countries even know how many or their countrymen were killed – military or civilian.

Roosevelt would probably fail completely in today’s America, because of the changed attitude, lack of character, and the incompetence displayed by a good many Americans today.

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:26pm
  No he didn’t. He sold out eastern Europe, and in particular, Poland.
  
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- Spqr1
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 5:58pm
  FDR Fascist? Try again. It was members of the GOP, American Nazis and Fascists, German Nazis and Italian Fascists who founded “The Family,” an organization that many Republicans belong to at this very moment. It was members of the GOP who looked to over throw FDR and establish a Fascist State. It was members of the GOP who did business with both Hitler’s Germany and Fascist Italy, most notably Prescott Bush. The GOP has been happily sucking up to and supporting Fascist butchers in every corner of the planet since day one.
  
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- whatsupdoc
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 6:04pm
  Roosevelt is responsible for sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. The war was pretty much over in April 1941 when Hitler, against his generals advice, decided to invade Russia. By September 1941 the Germans were bogged down with little supplies and still in their summer duds when it started snowing. The Russians simple kept pulling back and waited until the Germans were sitting ducks. Meanwhile back at the White House, wanna be king Roosevelt, was secretly arming the Flying Tigers to attack Japan out of China, cut off Japans oil from Indonesia and ordered intimidation forces around Japan to push the Japanese into attacking the U.S.. Roosevelt was a complete failure and should have been arrested and jailed.
  
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- Spqr1
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:39pm
  whatsupdoc: Over in 1941? Tell that to the millions of people who suffered and were murdered under Nazi and Japanese occupation all over the world.
  
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- drs1969
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 10:50pm
  FDR first parked the fleet in Manila Bay, trying to bait the Japs. Then Pearl Harbor. Why would the fleet be parked together, where were the aircraft carriers?
  
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- drs1969
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 10:56pm
  Re: Spqr1
  Bush was got into hot water for dealing w/ the enemy. Joe Kennedy was also a big fan of Hitler. It has to do with their common origin, the Northeast money corridor, same as FDR, not party affiliation. They all stood to profit from war, and did.
  
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blanco5
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:12pm
Clinton’s would have been a big huge phallic symbol!

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I Luv America
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:12pm
Looks like one more reason to never visit NYC.

When Obama loses, they’ll put his memorial under the water.

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Brizzly_Adams
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:06pm
Statue has a bit of a Soviet feel to it. Shocker

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- Brizzly_Adams
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:09pm
  Maybe even “The great and powerful FDR”
  
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- PATTY HENRY
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:51pm
  @ BRIZLEY_ADAMS if you will notice, anything Progressive or Communistic is designed without GOD. You can hear it in Secular Music, Identify it in Plays, Architecture, Sculpture and Art Work.
  Mainly it lacks HOPE. It lacks LIFE, FAITH. It lacks INSPIRATION. Like the difference between Mozart and
  Antonio Salieri (antagonist)…Cezanne and Peter Maxx… you get the idea.
  The REASON that the works of SECULARISTS lack “life” and always seems “Dead” inert; Lifeless, is because these self-centered types refuse to BELIEVE in GOD. They look all around them and see zillions of evidence of a Grand Designer, a Loving Father, a Master Planner yet they make themselves into “gods” and the arrogance is deadening!! I mean we humans use about 1% of our Brains, we know very little yet some of us think we can/could have created all that exists!!! For example, using RAY COMFORT’S method…ask any one of these Atheists dudes if they know how many gallons of water are in the Pacific Ocean, or how many stars in the sky or how many hairs on their head? They don’t know. They then have to admit that “No, I don’t know everything” yet they insist there is no GOD. Unfortunately, that is the ONLY SIN that can’t be forgiven…denying GOD. Hopefully most souls come to their senses (as most Scientists do) before they die…but that’s why whatever they create is DEAD. :) Artists know that whatever we create – we are not alone in it. Not by a long shot!!
  
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BurntHills
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:01pm
sad pathetic old design, very 1930s communist era, but look who it’s for. looks like a lot of concrete construction barriers… and what a big bronze head. the NY ghettoe will have that crapped up, stripped out and chunked down for the junkyard salvage metal money in no time.

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progressiveslayer
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 3:55pm
FDR one of the worst presidents we’ve ever had and actually made the depression worse.He gave us social security and a whole host of other unconstitutional programs,a big government progressive as bad as Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. FDR actually taxed corporations on profits they didn’t earn,what a guy I mean tyrant.

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- adeleeeee
  Posted on October 18, 2012 at 4:39am
  I came from Taiwan. Damn, I have no idea who FDR is but learned from our history book that FDR was doing so great that Americans want him to serve more than two terms!
  
  In Taipei we have a road name after him. Can’t believe it!
  
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marine249
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 3:55pm
looks like a junk to me

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Lothmar
Posted on October 17, 2012 at 3:52pm
This design, creeps me out… Why do I see a corronation or a line up of people meeting someone disembraking from a plane/saucer here?

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 3:56pm
  If Obama wins a second term – King Obamicus the first will probably have his coronation there.
  
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- progressiveslayer
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 4:09pm
  SNOW Barry doesn’t have a SNOW balls chance of being re-elected. :)
  
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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on October 17, 2012 at 5:54pm
  @Progressive – that is always the second option Obama can take – seize power by force.
  
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