Today is Independence Day, a day that signifies the beginning of our country’s existence as a recognized sovereign nation of its own. To celebrate this joyous day, most Americans celebrate with a barbecue with friends and family – while silently thanking our Founding Fathers for giving us the country we so proudly call home 228 years ago today.

This morning, at the most sacred of all American sites – Ground Zero – Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York Governor George Pataki, New Jersey Governor James McGreevey and World Trade Center Owner Larry Silverstein placed a cornerstone on the sacred site – marking the beginning of the rebuilding of Ground Zero, and signifying the commencement of construction of the Freedom Tower – the building that will replace the Twin Towers, which were destroyed on September 11, 2001.

The 20-ton granite slab, which was cut from the bedrock of the Adirondack Mountains, reads, “To honor and remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, and as a tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom – July Fourth 2004” When it was unveiled by the aforementioned dignitaries and 13-year-old Julian Davis, who lost his father, Port Authority Police Officer Clinton Davis on September 11, 2001, the crowd of invited guests applauded – and the rebuilding at Ground Zero officially began.

I can’t tell how disgusted I am that a new tower is going to be rebuilt on the site of the worst civilian atrocity to ever take place in United States history. How dare those in charge of such sacred ground choose arrogance over tragedy, real estate over lost lives – and financial gain over incalculable loss. Instead of leaving the 16-acre site as the only thing it should ever be – a graveyard for the 2,602 lives that were lost on that tragic day – New Yorkers and tourists from around the world will now be able to “enjoy” the tallest building in the world, which will be a 1,776-foot tower encompassing 60 floors of 2.6 million square feet of office space, 10 stories of open-air retail and restaurant space, and a 276-foot spire, which will hold energy-generating windmills that will supply electricity to the entire building.

At this morning’s ceremony, Mayor Bloomberg said that by building the Freedom Tower, “We are reaffirming life at Ground Zero.”

No – you’re pissing all over it.

How is being able to shop for clothes, buy lunch and get a shoe shine reaffirming life? How is allowing people to work over the site of so many fallen souls remembering those who lost their lives? And how the hell is allowing Larry Silverstein to rake in billions of dollars in rent and profit by placing new steel over crushed bodies honoring the fallen?

It isn’t – but they are going to do it anyway.

Set for completion in 2009, the Freedom Tower will be joined by four other smaller towers by 2015. But despite the new construction, the footprints of the Twin Towers will not be built on, but instead will become two memorials which will include reflecting pools and a cultural center.

I say don’t bother.

I think instead of “preserving” the footprints, because after all – every single person that was killed on that tragic day only died on the footprints and not all over the site and even blocks away – forget about the memorial altogether and use the expensive real estate for something more fitting – like a gun shop, or a crack house. Hell, why not put a public bathroom on the footprints so people could relieve themselves on the site where so many people died? Bottom line is I don’t care what they put on that site – because anything other than a memorial on every single millimeter of that sacred and Holy ground is a desecration to each and every person that went to work that September morning to pursue the American Dream – and never came home again.

I have a suggestion. When the Freedom Tower is completed and the developers are finished counting their blood money – why not head to Oklahoma – and build a strip club on the site of the Oklahoma City bombing? I am sure the people of Oklahoma, and the families of the 168 people who were murdered wouldn’t mind one bit…

…after all, building something there would be “reaffirming life,” right?