To the Barbarians Who Toppled George Washington’s Statue:

_{Barry Arrington

June 20, 2020

Intelligent Design}

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You live in the country that Washington founded. Did he found it single-handedly? No, but he was the indispensable man. His efforts were not alone sufficient, but they were necessary, and without him there would have been no founding.

Every single person in this country owes him an eternal debt of gratitude for the indispensable role he played in founding a country that, while far from perfect, would in the fullness of time become the greatest nation that has ever existed in the history of the planet.

244 years later you people stand on his shoulders. And from that vantage you shit on him because he was not perfect and failed to found a leftist egalitarian utopia. Your ingratitude is staggering

Comments

@Vivid The book Apollo 13 is good. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NSN3CZH/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 I really liked Apollo, race to the moon, too. If you are interested in modern science and history of science, the Carl Zimmer book She Has Her Mother’s Laugh is absolutely fantastic. Best pop science book I’ve read in years. Gets into the gory details of evolution and its abuses over the last 150 years.Retired Physicist_{June 21, 2020
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RP “There are a lot of liberals in this country, and just a small number of crazy types, despite the picture the loony conservative types present.” I hope so because classic liberalism is one of the targets of BLM, Critical Race and Critical Social Justice Theory. You have much at stake here and I don’t think liberals understand that their coming after you not only statues. Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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“@Vivid I’m pretty sure most of us would prefer statues of Dolly. Objectors would be ignored.” What most of us prefer doesn’t matter, other forces are running the show. On a lighter note since we share common interest on rockets and such any book recommendations? I’ve read about everything on the subject of getting to the moon. Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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@Vivid I’m pretty sure most of us libtards would prefer statues of Dolly. Objectors would be ignored. There are a lot of liberals in this country, and just a small number of crazy types, despite the picture the loony conservative types present. For Heaven’s sake, the woman wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You on the *same day*. Heavens to Betsy she’s tremendous. Her book program may be the single grestest act of generosity in the history of the world.Retired Physicist_{June 21, 2020
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William Tecumseh Sherman FTW.Retired Physicist_{June 21, 2020
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RP “I’m a big supporter of the idea that in Tennessee the statues that were erected to promote slavery propenents should be replaced by statues of Dolly Parton.” The critical race theorists and Robin DiAngelo would object based on Partons whiteness. She is white therefore she is complicit in racism. Can we have one who is complicit in racism honored with a statue? See where this goes, it never stops Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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DaveS “I worked with an Indian woman for a while who strongly disliked Churchill and what the British had done to her country” Well Ghandi did not .want to help the British in the fight against the Nazis and honestly I can understand why she would dislike Churchill however he stood alone against Hitler amidst great opposition, even FDR. Would she rather India exist under Nazi rule if England caved? I find that in general people are ignorant about history and presentism to be a very destructive ideology. Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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I’m a big supporter of the idea that in Tennessee the statues that were erected to promote slavery propenents should be replaced by statues of Dolly Parton. I’m not particularly a fan of country music but she is an amazing woman and it would be much better to celebrate her than scumbags who fought a war against America to try to preserve slavery.Retired Physicist_{June 21, 2020
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@Ed well in the early to mid 20th century A lot of white people felt the need to erect statues to Confederates. What message do you think they were sending when they did that?Retired Physicist_{June 21, 2020
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Vivid, I can answer your questions together: No one should be allowed to destroy other people's property, including statues or books. That includes statues of FDR and Winston Churchill. People can do whatever they want to their own stuff obviously, as in the case of the Savile carving. I didn't notice it was the owners who actually destroyed it, by the way. I think it's worth listening to people who feel that certain statues should be voluntarily removed from display (by their owners). The community could decide whether to act on their proposal. I worked with an Indian woman for a while who strongly disliked Churchill and what the British had done to her country. I don't know whether she cared about statues though. Perhaps she would have found the idea of a Churchill statue a bit odd (or repugnant, even), like I find the idea of a Jefferson Davis statue odd.daveS_{June 21, 2020
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DaveS My SOP is to not answered questions when the ones I have asked have not been responded to. I will make an exception for you. Evidently it was a statue or wood carving on display in some kind of media center. It appears that those who financed and put up the statue took it down. I think those who put it up have every right to take it down. I see you have edited your position on statues does that apply to books as well? Finally you have not answered my questions here “Let’s take Winston Churchill should those who (BLM) are trying to tear down his statue who ,from their anti colonial perspective, is a really bad guy, be allowed to do so? The man who stood alone against Nazi tyranny? Who alone stood against his cabinet and Lord Halifax and Anthony Eden. The man that is responsible for those being able to tear down his statue in the first place? How about FDR who interned Japanese Americans“ Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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KF, Vivid, et al, Apparently there is/was at least one statue of Jimmy Savile on display in Scotland. Was it ok to destroy that one (in a safe and orderly manner)? Edit: In my previous post, I said I was not in favor of destroying statues. By that, I meant mobs tearing them down as we are seeing now.daveS_{June 21, 2020
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Vivid, I'm not in favor of burning books or destroying statues. I would never participate in such a thing. As to who gets to decide when or if place/building names should be changed that should be up to the local community I suppose. I'm not agitating to have our building named after a notorious racist and KKK member renamed, but I would not be disappointed if that happened. It's historical of course, but it's also a mere 'worldly thing'.daveS_{June 21, 2020
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EG, the answer to that lies in why the Red Guards -- sponsored by Mao -- expended so much effort in desecrating, defacing and destroying cultural symbols and monuments. There is a reason we erect monuments to our dead, to our heroes and to our ideals. Well do I remember the monument to a 19 year old security guard for the Peruvian Embassy in Havana, who died most valiantly on that spot in defending his post against invading terrorists. KFkairosfocus_{June 21, 2020
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I have a crazy idea. Why do we have to erect statues and monuments to anybody? Of what benefit are they?Ed George_{June 21, 2020
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DaveS People have different perspectives on a lot of things. Let’s take Winston Churchill should those who are tearing down his statue who ,from their anti colonial perspective, is a really bad guy, be allowed to do so? The man who stood alone against Nazi tyranny? Who alone stood against his cabinet and Lord Halifax and Anthony Eden. The man that is responsible for those being able to tear down his statue in the first place? How about FDR who interned Japanese Americans? You have not answered who goes, when does it stop, who decides? What happened to all the so called liberals? We have entered into the modern equivalent of book burning now. Are you ok with book burning? Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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All this talk reminds me of the time when some in the US insisted on saying "freedom fries" instead of "french fries".daveS_{June 21, 2020
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Folks, this is not rocket science. Ask, why did the Red Guards expend so much effort on attacking and desecrating symbols? After, please read Havel's essay, The Power of the Powerless. Then, ask yourself, who benefits if we despise our history and heritage as a civilisation. Then connect the dots to our own situation, asking if that is a road we really want to go down. KFkairosfocus_{June 21, 2020
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There was a town in Canada that was named Berlin, but was renamed to Kitchener during the war. Yet there still exists a town named Swastika. But, it is Canada. We have town names such as Come By Chance, Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump, St. Louis de Ha Ha, and Dildo.Ed George_{June 21, 2020
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Vivid, I'm hardly a SJW. But I know that natives and other people of color have a different perspective on these issues than most of us posting here. (To prove I'm not a SJW, I find the expression "person of color" very awkward). :-)daveS_{June 21, 2020
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DaveS “It must be a little depressing seeing the name of someone who killed your ancestors plastered on buildings in your town.” How about living on their land, that must be depressing. If you live in Canada or the US you are living on “stolen land” When you give your “stolen land” back get back to me and I will take all you SJWs seriously. Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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Acartia Eddie:
All I think about is what if a prestigious university 150 years in the future was named after someone instrumental in the holocaust?
You must be one pathetic human, then.
Would we argue that “you can’t rewrite history”?
Did you just really post that? Are you daft?
There is one uncomfortable fact. The south fought to defend their way of life.
The uncomfortable fact is if the South had the resources of the North, they would have won, easily.ET_{June 21, 2020
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DaveS “Are there some cases where renaming things is the right thing to do? “ Where do you start? When do you end? Who decides? This is dangerous s....t going down. It is not rewriting history as EG contends it is canceling history the good and bad. Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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Are there some cases where renaming things is the right thing to do? Some pioneers chose unfortunate place names in my area (examples include n-word this and that). "Squaw Butte" is another one which natives find inappropriate. These are not peoples' names of course, but we have buildings named after KKK members, men who fought and killed Indians, etc., and many people of color are bothered by it. It must be a little depressing seeing the name of someone who killed your ancestors plastered on buildings in your town.daveS_{June 21, 2020
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VB
I assume you are wanting your Mr Blackface Prime Minister to resign.
Yup.Ed George_{June 21, 2020
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EG “All I think about is what if a prestigious university 150 years in the future was named after someone instrumental in the holocaust? Would we argue that “you can’t rewrite history”?” Funny all I think of Is Mao Lenin and Stalin. Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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All I think about is what if a prestigious university 150 years in the future was named after someone instrumental in the holocaust? Would we argue that “you can’t rewrite history”? There is one uncomfortable fact. The south fought to defend their way of life. In most instances, that would be admirable. But when a fundamental aspect of this way of life was slavey....Ed George_{June 21, 2020
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EG Or this https://origins.osu.edu/article/canada-s-dark-side-indigenous-peoples-and-canada-s-150th-celebration Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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EG “If it was truly named after a slave trader, by all means, rename it.“ I assume you are wanting your Mr Blackface Prime Minister to resign. Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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Yes also Stanford named after Leland Stanford and the Bear Flag of California and San Francisco. Vividvividbleau_{June 21, 2020
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