Disgraceful! West Point to remove portrait of Robert E. Lee

Another wave in the tsunami of leftist iconoclasm sweeping America is about to hit West Point, the military academy of the United States Army (President Joe Brandon, Commander-in-Chief).

For 70 years, a portrait of General Robert E. Lee, the greatest American military leader of all time, has graced the Academy's library. But the twenty-foot portrait, showing General Lee in his Confederate uniform, could soon be coming down.

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 established a commission to rename military bases that honour Confederate generals, and otherwise erase from memory all references to the "enemy" in the War of the Secession, in the name of political (if not historical) correctness. 

The commission is expected to recommend that West Point -- now led by the first black Superintendent in its history, Lieutenant-General Darryl Williams -- remove anything that commemorates Robert E. Lee's association with the Confederacy.

The creation of the commission was one of the reasons President Trump, who had given the commencement address at West Point in 2020, vetoed the 2021 NDAA. After his veto was overridden by Congress, his administration named four individuals to the commission, all of whom were immediately removed by Brandon's Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin, who is black. 

In Ken Burns' Civil War series, a freed slave is quoted as saying "Bottom rail on top now!" And so it is in this case. Retired Admiral Michelle Howard, the Navy’s first female four-star admiral and the first black woman to command a Navy ship, now serves as chair of the iconoclasm committee. 

Other members include retired General Thomas Bostick, the first black graduate of West Point to serve as chief of engineers of the US Army. The downgrading and degrading of General Lee, even though he was opposed to both slavery and secession is nothing less than the revenge of the Democrats and triumph of their diversity hires.

Robert E. Lee was a man of deep integrity, whose ancestors helped found the United States of America. He was born, it was said, in the same room as two signers of the Declaration of Independence -- his uncles Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee. He graduated first in his class at West Point, and went on to become Superintendent of the Academy. 

Later, Lieutenant-Colonel Lee fought with distinction in the Mexican-American War, and led the unit that went to Harper's Ferry to quash John Brown's little rebellion. Within days of the South's attack on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln offered Colonel Lee -- he had been promoted -- command of all the Union forces. 

General Lee declined, saying that he could not take up arms against his "country", by which he meant the Commonwealth of Virginia. (It was common, in those days, for people to refer to their state in that manner.) "If Virginia stands by the old Union," he wrote to his son Custis, "so will I. But if she secedes...then I will follow my native state with my sword, and if need be, with my life."

Robert E. Lee was a great American patriot. To dishonour him by removing statues, paintings and other monuments to his very existence is disgraceful.

President Trump decries removal of statue of Robert E. Lee

In his prescient novel 1984, George Orwell describes the "woke" society which the liberals and loony left have created for us in this century. A quote: "Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute." 

The endless process of trying to make the past conform to the liberal vision of the present and future continued this week, as the great monument to General Robert E. Lee, hero of the Glorious War of the Secessrion and (some would say) the Greatest Virginian of All Time, was lifted off its plinth in Richmond VA.

You can erase the images of history. You can obliterate the images and statues that commemorate great events and great people. But, try as you might to pretend that these things -- people and events -- didn't exist, you can't change history. They did exist, and until you can lobotomize the entire population [Don't think they wouldn't do it, if they could! Ed.], some people will remember, and will pass on their memories to others.

President Donald Trump remembers who General Lee was, and what he stood for, and has issued a statement denouncing the removal of the biggest Confederate statue in the US of A. He called General Lee a "unifying force" who was "ardent in his resolve to bring the North and South together through many means of reconciliation and imploring his soldiers to do their duty in becoming good citizens of this Country." 

He went on to say the US would have benefitted from having Lee leading the war in Afghanistan. Could be. General Lee's orderly withdrawal from Richmond saved the city from further destruction, and saved the lives of 1000s of his men. More important, it brought the war to a close without one final bloodbath. 

"If only we had Robert E. Lee to command our troops in Afghanistan, that disaster would have ended in a complete and total victory many years ago," wrote President Trump. "What an embarrassment we are suffering because we don't have the genius of a Robert. E. Lee."

Well, the ultra-woke iconoclasts encourage by the Democraps and their Antifa and BLM allies have succeeded in hauling General Lee from his pedestal. In other cities, statues of Washington and Lincoln have had the same shameful treatment. But it's a long road that has no turnings. What has been torn down can be erected again, once Americans recover from their temporary insanity. Selah!

What's wrong with this picture?

Here you see one of Walt's agents in conversation with a statue of Sir John Eh Macdonald (aka Sir John A. Macdonald), the first prime minister of Canada. The statue was erected in 1967 in beautiful downtown Charlottetown PEI, as a Centennial project.

What's wrong with it? It's actually a pretty good statue, in a genre that was popular until recently, showing historical or other figures standing or sitting in poses such that people can have their pictures taken with them. Any objections? Well yes... 

Sir John, very much a product of his times and Scottish origins, was a hard drinker ("Single malt, but make it a double!"), anti-French, and anti-Catholic. He was also determined to civilize the natives, by means such as sending their kids to residential schools where they could be turned into quasi-whites.

Today, Sir John is called a white supremacist by, among others, the Epekwitk Assembly of Councils, a joint forum that includes the councils of both Abegweit First Nation and Lennox Island First Nation. (For our American readers, "First Nations" is the current politically correct term for the people who used to be called "Indians".) 

In keeping with the current fad for iconoclasm, the Assembly petitioned the Charlottetown city council to "amend" the art installation and "tell the true story of this individual and begin to address the trauma that its presence is continuing to perpetuate." 

The councillors, with the exception of Clr Mike Duffy [That Mike Duffy? The erstwhile Senator? Ed.] voted to leave the statue where it is, albeit with some modifications. The assembly made five suggestions to the city, viz:

Add another figure, such as an Indigenous child or elder. 

Fill in or seal off the empty space on the bench so it can't be used for photo opportunities like this picture.

Install signage so viewers understand "the devastating role that Sir John A. Macdonald played in the Indigenous history of Canada." 

If the artist engaged is not Indigenous, a Mi'kmaw artist should be hired as a consultant.

Complete the work as soon as reasonably possible.

In voting against the resolution, Councillor Duffy referenced a survey last summer that indicated the majority of respondents wanted the statue to remain as is. The other councillors predictably said what the majority of the people want doesn't matter. Such are the times.

More poetic justice in Virginia

Readers with long(ish) memories may recall our post headed "Poetic justice in Portsmouth, Virginia" (WWW 13/6/20) in which we told you the sad (NOT!) story of how one of the anti-Black racism (etc etc) protesters tearing down a statue of Robert E. Lee in Portsmouth VA was injured when said statue fell on him. The story ended with Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's pledge to get "justice for all the 'protesters'."

Believe it or not, fourteen (14!) of the "protesters" and their colleagues/associates/supporters -- including a Democratic state senator, three members of the NAACP, and three "public defenders" -- have actually been charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1000.

Charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1000 have been laid against:
State Senator Louise Lucas
James Boyd, Portsmouth NAACP representative
Louie Gibbs, Portsmouth NAACP representative
LaKesha Hicks, Portsmouth NAACP representative
LaKeesha S. "Klu" Atkinson, Portsmouth School Board member
Kimberly Wimbish
Dana Worthington
Amira Bethea

Those charged only with injury to a monument in excess of $1000 are:
Brenda Spry, public defender
Alexandra Stephens, public defender
Meredith Cramer, public defender
Brandon Woodard
Hanah Renae Rivera
Raymond J Brothers

No charges have been laid against Chris Green, the father of two on whom General Lee's statue got its revenge. According to his GoFundMe page, although he cannot walk or talk, Mr Green (who is actually Black) can drink liquids and "is able to feed himself semi-solid foods and is able to drink from a cup independently. Chris is showing emotion by smiling and laughing when appropriate."

As for Senator Lucas, WAVY-TV reported shortly after the "peaceful protest" that a campaign had been launched to effect her recall. Since then, the Virginian-Pilot reports, she has filed a defamation suit against Tim Anderson, who started the campaign, who (she said) falsely accused her of inciting a riot, a felony, and of telling police to stand down while people defaced the monument. How the criminal charges will affect the civil proceeding remains to be seen.

Poetic justice in Portsmouth VA

In the wake of the George Floyd Memorial Riots, the antifa iconoclasts and loonie lefties are at it again, all across America -- and in the UK and Canada too -- trying to haul down statues of President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee, and assorted other 19th-century white men, all of whom were racists, dontcha know.

In the capital of the Confederacy, Virginia Governorand Panderer-in-Chief Ralph Northam promised to remove the statue of General Lee, but was prevented from following through by a temporary injunction halting the removal for ten days, so a lawsuit challenging his authority so to do can be decided. The suit was filed by the descendant of a family that deeded the land on which the monument sits.

Meanwhile, just down the I-64 in Portsmouoth, "protesters" beheaded four statues on a Confederate monument last Wednesday evening, after the monument was defaced with spray paint. A "protester" told reporters that an apparent "demonstrator" was badly injured after one of the toppled statues fell on his head.

Demonstrators began spray painting the monument after Portsmouth NAACP* president James Boyd and the local organization's vice president, Louie Gibbs, were briefly taken into custody and charged with trespassing, according to the Virginian-Pilot. Their legal moouthpiece -- not "Rev" Al Sharpton -- told the newspaper that both NAACP leaders were released on a summons about 30 minutes later.

So far, the statue has not been charged with any crimes or misdemeanors, but Gov Northam has pledged justice for all the "protesters". Sounds to me like one of them has already received poetic justice!

*Footnote: Someone told me, many years ago in the Heart of Dixie, that "NAACP" stood for five critters commonly found in the South, the second one being "Alligators". Wish I could remember what the other four were.

What next? No more "fighting Irish"?

We live in a time of unparalleled iconoclasm. First it was statues that offended or "triggered" snowflakes and SJWs. Now it's mascots, logos and even team names. See "'Racist' logos, 'racist' mascots, 'racist' names - Where will it end?", WWW 20/1/18.

The great "racist" mascot controversy, occasioned by the Cleveland Indians pussified owner's decision to get rid of Chief Wahoo, is far from over. In the first of these posts, I warned that the PC police wouldn't stop at banning "racist" visual depictions of Native Americans. Historic team names -- Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, Atlanta Braves and Chicago Blackhawks -- will have to go. And why stop with Indians? What about other "marginalized people"?

Like who (I hear you ask)? Well, how about the poor, down-trodden Irish? You know, people like the Kennedys. Haven't they been offended by the stereotype of Irish men as a bunch of combative drunks? You know... the Fighting Irish... which also happens to be the name of the Notre Dame football team. The team has a mascot/logo too, an angry leprechaun whose name I'm waiting for Poor Len to tell me.

As surely as day follows night, during a debate over Chief Wahoo on ESPN's First Take today, co-host Max Kellerman called on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to follow the lead of the Cleveland team and get rid of their "pernicious" mascot (whatever his name is) because a minority in the Irish community group are offended by it. "[M]any Irish Americans are not offended, but many are," Mr Kellerman said. And should [the mascot] also change? The answer is unequivocally yes! ... Pernicious, negative stereotypes of marginalized people that offend even some among them should be changed. It's not that hard."

So Mr Kellerman thinks. As someone with about a pint of Irish in his blood, I'm warning him and all the other PC pussies that oi'll fight ivry man-jack o' yez if ye try to mess with our beloved mascot, whoever he is. Bejaysus it makes me blood boil! Why, oi'll..." Oh... wait... Well, stereotypes usually have some basis in fact, don't they. I say, take your political correctness and stick it!