Posted on 08/18/2017 10:50:53 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In February of 2003, then-aspiring Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean got applause at a Democratic National Committee meeting when he argued that “white folks in the South who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals on the back ought to be voting with us.”
More than a decade later, in the wake of the violent white supremacist rally surrounding a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, last wekend and President Trump’s full-throated defense of Confederate monuments, the politics have changed.
What used to be a series of low-key, local fights has turned into a party-defining wedge issue with Democrats demanding the monuments must be relocated to museums and Republicans arguing that Democrats are destroying history for the sake of political correctness.
“You are changing history, you’re changing culture,” President Trump argued in his press conference Tuesday, saying that some who had gathered in Charlottesville were “very fine people” simply trying to preserve a statue.
Across the country, from city councils to the halls of Congress, an increasingly fractious and even violent battle has begun over the future of the more than 350 monuments to the Confederate States of America — several of which are under the dome of the U.S. Capitol.
On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey announced he would be introducing a bill to remove all the Confederate statues in the Capitol, which include the President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis, Vice President of the Confederacy Alexander Hamilton Stephens, and, of course, Confederate General Lee.
“Individuals who were treasonous to the United States, who took up arms against their own country, and inflicted catastrophic death and suffering among U.S. citizens should not be afforded such a rare honor in this sacred space,” Booker said in a statement to VICE News on Thursday.
And the issue appears to be turning into a litmus test among the Democratic base, some of whom took it upon themselves to topple a statue of a Confederate soldier in Durham, North Carolina, on Monday. “They are monuments to white supremacy, and every Democrat (and every Republican) should support their removal,” Leah Greenberg, the co-executive director of the powerful grassroots group Indivisible, told VICE News.
But the politics are not as clear-cut as the moralistic language. Unlike some Trump policy proposals that seem to be aimed at his core supporters, the public is overwhelmingly in favor of preserving the statues for now, indicating hazardous ground for Democrats. Only 27 percent of people support removing the monuments, according to an NPR/PBS News Hour/Marist poll conducted after the violence in Charlottesville. And Democrats are deeply divided on the issue, with 44 percent saying the monuments should remain as a historical symbol and 47 percent supporting their removal.
And Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon told the New York Times and The American Prospect this week that taking on these symbols of the Confederacy was a losing issue for the Democrats. “Just give me more. Tear down more statues. Say the revolution is coming. I can’t get enough of it,” Bannon said.“I want them to talk about racism every day. If the Left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.”
And GOP strategist Tim Miller, who has been very anti-Trump, seemed to agree:
(TWEET-AT-LINK)
Even as the removal of the monuments has gained some momentum this past week, Republicans are already beginning to stand firm and push back.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only other black man in the Senate besides Booker, told HBO’s “VICE News Tonight” in an exclusive interview that he did not support relocating confederate monuments. “So I’m not of the opinion that somehow removing these monuments or markers are a way of cleansing history,” he said. “I think keeping the markers and monuments is a wonderful way of reminding us of how dark the human soul can get and how bright the light can be afterwards.”
And House Speaker Paul Ryan poured cold water on Booker’s legislative proposal, telling VICE News through a spokesman that the statues in the Capitol will continue to be decided by state legislatures.
Democrats carried on anyway. On Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi joined Booker with a statement saying “There is no room for celebrating the violent bigotry of the men of the Confederacy in the hallowed halls of the United States Capitol or in places of honor across the country.” She has been joined by Democratic politicians across the country, including the governors of southern states like Virginia and North Carolina, who called this week to relocate the monuments.
Trump, for his part, seemed to welcome the fight, taking to Twitter Thursday morning to defend the statues.
(TWEETS-AT-LINK)
And some Democrats indeed seemed more wary of entering into the fray. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a rare split with Pelosi, issued a statement on Thursday that implied the debate over the monuments was a distraction and that Democrats should focus on Trump playing footsie with white supremacists.
“President Trump and Steve Bannon are trying to divert attention away from the President’s refusal to unequivocally and full-throatedly denounce white supremacy, neo-Nazism, and other forms of bigotry,” Schumer said. He added that he’d continue to “work towards the goal” of Booker’s legislation.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides – on many sides” is not clear enough for Schumer?
I think if we step back from this a little bit and put a little time into the equation we will find out that this movement will run its course and the people who believe that this is the way to achieve some kind of emancipation will look like complete and total fools. This destruction of statues does nothing to create jobs it does nothing to create Economic Opportunity and it does nothing except create more and more noise over how miserable blacks insist upon making their own livesl.And that is how it is going to turn out. That’s my prediction.
In 2018, president Trump thinks 4 percent growth, more jobs, better wages, and lower energy prices will be important. Democrats think statues of dead democrats will be top priority.
“February of 2003, then-aspiring Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean got applause at a Democratic National Committee meeting when he argued that “white folks in the South who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals on the back ought to be voting with us.”
Well the Dems sure are screwing that up!
Very considerate of Liberals/Democrats to be kickstarting Donald’s campaign even earlier this time round.
If this keeps up for the next two years The Don’s an absolute certainty for a second term in office...
If you are not a Muzzie. faggot, pervert, DFG, or socialist the Democrats are not interested in your welfare
““We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides – on many sides” is not clear enough for Schumer?”
The progressive game plan is to control both sides of the conversation. You must apologize for “this”...You must condemn “that”...And, when you apologize and condemn you didn’t apologize or condemn enough. Now you owe reparations. You must resign from office. You must institute our agenda.
Their agenda never ends. They get gay marriage and immediately move on to transgenders in the military, to legalizing sexual intercourse between minors and older people, to legalizing bestiality, to decriminalizing crime...the list never ends. And, it can’t end. They must have something to fight and to protest because their power arises from the fighting and the protesting. It’s community organizing for (fill-in-today’s-outrage.)
Frankly, I’m just tired of the whole thing. And, that is how they win. Reasonable people can not fight all day every day against unreasonable people who mostly don’t have to work for a living and have no family commitments...no reasonable commitments at all, really.
More than a decade later, in the wake of the violent white supremacist rally surrounding a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, last wekend and President Trump’s full-throated defense of Confederate monuments, the politics have changed
If you start with a lie, you will never find the truth.
Democrats could not win when they labeled their opposition as “deplorables”.
Democrats could not win when they labeled their opposition as “racist”.
Now they are trying to win by labeling their opposition as “white supremacist”.
This is a divide and conquer technique. The Democrats already have the blacks, gays, and a few other minorities, do they really think these actions will convince southerners to vote Democrat?
Hah — good cartoon.
You got it were all racist...that will really help the democrats
The only difference now and Reagan in 1980 is the 24 hour news cycle
Best thing to do is just shut it off...
I’m down to one hour of OANN news or Lou DObbs
OANN. is better for real news ...not just political crap
This is what the law says:
Confederate soldiers, sailors, and Marines that fought in the Civil war were made U.S. Veterans by an act of Congress in in 1957, U.S. Public Law 85-425, Sec 410, Approved 23 May, 1958. This made all Confederate Army/ Navy/ Marine Veterans equal to U.S. Veterans. Additionally, under U.S. Public Law 810, Approved by the 17th Congress on 26 Feb 1929 the War Department was directed to erect headstones and recognize Confederate grave sites as U.S. War dead grave sites. Just for the record the last Confederate veteran died in 1958. When you remove a Confederate statue, monument or headstone, you are in fact, removing a statue, monument or head stone of a U.S. VETERAN.
18 U.S. Code § 1369 - Destruction of veterans’ memorials (a) Whoever, in a circumstance described in subsection (b), willfully injures or destroys, or 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 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. (b) A circumstance described in this subsection is that— (1) in committing the offense described in subsection (a), the defendant travels or causes another to travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or uses the mail or an instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce; or (2) the structure, plaque, statue, or other monument described in subsection (a) is located on property owned by, or under the jurisdiction of, the Federal Government.
Ping to #2 cartoon.
I’m down to one hour of OANN news or Lou DObbs
I stopped watching local and national news unless something big is going on.
I watched local news mainly for the weather. No longer necessary as I can get weather prediction on line.
If something big is going on FreeRepublic will give me a heads up and I will go look at YouTube since someone will have posted the raw footage there.
Nancy must have forgot when she was a colleague of the KKK
HTTPS://www.c-span.org/video/?294298-4/house-tribute-senator-byrd
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