Rich Uncle Bloomberg does not want terrorist Khalid Shaikh Mohammed tried in Federal court in lower Manhattan. And so now it will probably not happen. Not because of fear of terror, but because of fear of real estate prices dropping.

Back when the opposition to trying KSK in Lower Manhattan was made up of Republicans who wanted military tribunals (or just indefinite detention with no sort of trial at all!), protesters who were afraid that KSM would re-blow up the WTC with his mind, and congressmen who pretended to be concerned about New York suddenly becoming a terror target, the Justice Department could safely ignore them and proceed with the trial. But Mr. Bloomberg is not worried about the security threat posed by a terror trial. He is worried that it might hurt the real estate market, and the finance industry, somehow! This is opposition that the administration cannot stand up to, apparently, as a New York trial now looks off the table. (And Californian Dianne Feinstein is involved, somehow?)

Two month ago, Mayor Mike said, "It is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site, where so many New Yorkers were murdered." Since then, though, he's heard from the Real Estate Board of New York, who are pretty sure a high-profile trial will not be good for getting rid of those TriBeCa units at a reasonable price.

So now Bloomberg is complaining that securing the area for the trial will cost too much money, even though the feds are "expected" to pick up most of the tab.

But do you know what? Mayor Mike of two months ago is completely right!

In terms of principle, all that matters is that it is an actual legal criminal trial. So, yes, moving it is not a victory for the psychos who think the act of giving an accused terrorist an attorney will somehow also give them superhuman strength, the power of flight, and heat vision.

But KSM was going to be tried in lower Manhattan instead of Nebraska for the symbolism of it. Contrary to popular national belief, 9/11 happened in New York, to New Yorkers. And so New Yorkers should get the privilege of seeing that sonuvabitch brought before a judge and forced to account for his crimes, a couple blocks away from the scene of the crime. He should have to see both the vitality and the righteous fucking anger of the city he did this to. He should not be shuttled in a goddamn school bus to a military base because we are afraid of him, and we definitely should not move the whole thing upstate because justice is bad for business.

The people who don't want Mohammed to have the "platform" of a civilian trial are afraid of what, exactly? That people will hear his testimony and become convinced that murdering thousands of New Yorkers was the right thing to do? They let Son of Sam have a trial and the dogs of New York did not rise up as one to tell the populace to murder young women.

It is weird to be aligned with November 2009-issue Mike Bloomberg and Antony Weiner, but there you have it!