The South has risen

 

Every accusation is an admission.

Symbols

Oh, shit

Will there be riots?

"Now it will be up to our thoughtful museums, informed by the people of Virginia, to determine the future of these artifacts, including the base of the Lee Monument which has taken on special significance as protest art."

The museum will partner with The Valentine, the city's oldest museum, to get input from the community on how the statues should be displayed. Before any of that can happen, however, the plan still needs approval from the city council.

[...]

In Charlottesville, Va., the city council recently decided its statue of Lee — the proposed removal of which helped spark the deadly Unite the Right rally in 2017 — will be melted down and turned into a public art piece, a project that will be led by the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in town.

  NPR

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

It's not quite Sunday

MAGA evangelicals are going to be up in arms again.  A bible was found in the base of a RE Lee statue removed in Virginia.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

"Cancel culture" only exists if it's against Republicans

I guess the one "no" voter is just collateral damage.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Confederate monuments and other Trump fetishes

What a list!  Just in the sheer number of statues he wants erected.  Insane.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Cancel culture!

I'm afraid the next few months (at least) are going to be very tense, if not violent.

Save the statues!

At least he's focused on the important things.

Christ-oh-for.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Naming and honoring

Also...

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The times they are a-changin'

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley criticized Confederate symbols before the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, and called the Civil War an "act of treason."

Milley said that minority service members — which he noted make up 43% of the U.S. military — may feel uncomfortable that Army bases are named for Confederate generals who "fought for an institution of slavery that may have enslaved one of their ancestors."

"For those young soldiers that go on to a base of Fort Hood, Fort Bragg, whatever, named after a Confederate general, they can be reminded that that general fought for an institution of slavery."

[...]

"I personally think that the original decisions to name those bases after Confederate generals, the 10 bases you're talking about in the Army, those were political decisions back in the 1910s and 1920s and 1930s and World War I, World War II time frame, 100 years ago. And they're going to be political decisions today."

Milley said he has recommended a commission to reconsider the names of military bases named after Confederate generals.

  Axios

Oy!

His campaign is  as hopelessly ridiculous as he is.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Another idiot gets her moment in the spotlight thanks to Trump

When does she think the Civil War occurred?

“Across America these last several weeks, we have been witnessing a very troubling situation unfold. In real time, we are watching an organized, coordinated campaign to remove and eliminate all references to our nation’s founding and many other points in our history,” Noem said at a Fourth of July celebration at Mount Rushmore with President Trump.

“The approach focuses exclusively on our forefathers’ flaws, but it fails to capitalize on the opportunity to learn from their virtues,” she added. “Make no mistake, this is being done deliberately to discredit America’s founding principles by discrediting the individuals who formed them, so that America can be remade into a different political image.”

  The Hill

One without slavery and racial injustice. How awful.

And, yes, Trump's Mount Rushmore speech was the same.

“Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children,” Trump later said. “Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities.”

Confederate monuments are "our most sacred memorials"?  Only if you're a bigoted racist.

GOP, the party of small federal government

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Talk about your excessive penalties!

There's a special statute for vandalizing certain statues.

Welcome to America.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

It's Teddy to him, and you can't convince him otherwise.

Mississippi will redesign its racist state flag

To be sure, that's excellent, but it's a disgrace that they've had it this long

Protecting statues is a Trump administration priority

Trump signed an executive order stating that it is U.S. policy “to prosecute to the fullest extent permitted under Federal law, and as appropriate” any person who destroys, damages, vandalizes or desecrates a monument, memorial or statue or who damages, defaces or destroys religious property.

The order also states that it is U.S. policy to withhold federal support from state and local governments who fail to protect public monuments, memorials and statues, and from public spaces tied to state and local governments who do not meet those conditions.

[...]

The Veterans’ Memorial Preservation Act passed in 2003 already allows for authorities to impose fines and a prison sentence of up to a decade for “attempts to injure or destroy, any structure, plaque, statue, or other monument on public property commemorating the service of any person or persons in the armed forces of the United States.”

  The Hill

So the executive order is essentially for show. Too bad statues can't vote.

Trump told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that the executive order would “consolidate various things.”

Oh well, then of course it was necessary. "Various things."

The order directs Barr to “prioritize” investigations and prosecutions of those who destroy, deface or damage monuments, incite violence in connection with riots or destroy, deface or damage religious property. It also directs Barr to work with state and local law enforcement to ensure federal officials “appropriately” provide information and assistance in connection with investigations or prosecutions related to monuments, memorials or status.

[...]

It additionally allows for military, homeland security and federal law enforcement personnel to be dispatched to help protect federal monuments, memorials, statues and property if requested by the secretaries of Interior or Homeland Security or the Administrator of General Services.

Statues' lives matter.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Wow, change really is happening

The Alabama Department of Archives & History said in a statement today that for much of the 20th century it promoted a view of history that favored the Confederacy and failed to document the lives and contributions of Black Alabamians.

Archives & History Director Steve Murray said he drafted the “Statement of Recommitment” that was approved by the agency’s Board of Trustees. Read the statement.

  AL.com

This is what they are admitting:

“The State of Alabama founded the department in 1901 to address a lack of proper management of government records, but also to serve a white southern concern for the preservation of Confederate history and the promotion of Lost Cause ideals,” the statement says. “For well over a half-century, the agency committed extensive resources to the acquisition of Confederate records and artifacts while declining to acquire and preserve materials documenting the lives and contributions of African Americans in Alabama.”

[...]

“But the reality is, some bad decisions were made along the way. And we collectively are continuing to pay a price for that. This is not a situation where only African Americans in the past paid a price for that. It continues to affect our people today. It continues to affect all of us because it rolls into issues related to access to education, to pockets of economic prosperity as opposed to persistent areas of widespread poverty.”

Race has two meanings at NASCAR

Losing control of the Senate?

President Trump said Wednesday he "will not even consider" renaming Army bases that were named for Confederate military leaders after top Pentagon officials indicated recently they are open to the idea.

In a series of tweets, Trump argued the bases have become part of U.S. history and should not be "tampered with."

"These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom," he tweeted, adding that "HEROES" who won two world wars were trained on the "Hallowed Grounds" of the bases.

"Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations," Trump continued.

  The Hill

The Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee has approved an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that would require the Pentagon to rename bases and other assets that are named after Confederate military leaders, a source confirmed to The Hill.

  GOP Presidential

The military has a very large number of black servicemembers.  Just saying.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

OMG!

Will the rubes boycott NASCAR now?*

*UPDATE:  Indeed they will.  See the comments to this NASCAR tweet.

UPDATE:

Still laughing at Barry TotalToughScene: Lifelong fan since 2017.

UPDATE: