Statues come tumbling down. Updated. More monuments. Final updatte

FINAL UPDATE: So many Confederate monuments, place names and other tthings are disappearing or being toppled or otherise gotten rid of ttthat tthere is no way I can keep up with it. I am spending the whole day collecting documentation for my archives on stuff being taken down and will be working into this evening to get everything filed away.

There might have been a Confederate statue  that  wasn't spray painted, perhaps  in some remote area, but it seems that most got a lot of spray paint.

Some statues have come down.

Here the United Daughters of the Confederacy removed this statue which was at a prominent public place.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/us/confederate-statue-alexandria-trnd/index.html

They might put it up on private property, but it doesn't have any real power as a private statue as opposed to a statue on public property. When it is on public property it is basically endorsed by the government. On private property it can still do work as a private shrine, so it isn't completely powerless.

On private property the cost of the maintainancce and keeping the statue  falls on private individuals. This isn't just the statue itself and the pedestal. A path to the statue and gates and lawns and bushes have to be maintained. Trash has to be picked up. Governments with Confederate statues expend money on them in doing these functions.

It does happen that private groups raise funds for statues on public property such as restoration, but the fact that the statue  is on public property gives the statue status making it easier to raise funds.

The neo-Confederates are aging and how much  money they will have to maintain statues in the future.

In Birmingham, Alabama another statue wass removed last night or the night before.

https://www.al.com/news/2020/06/watch-live-birmingham-taking-down-confederate-monument.html

The State of Alabama is stating they will sue Birmingham. It will be interesting how this works out.

https://www.wvtm13.com/article/alabama-attorney-general-files-lawsuit-against-city-of-birmingham-after-removal-of-confederate-monument/32746959

The Republican Party will be identified with the Confederacy.

Another story about both statues.

https://apnews.com/810a6cb13ce6cdbde5b534661c5f2da6

I think that if the Democrats get elected, they won't be giving a free pass to Confederate monuments and symbols.

Recently the New York Times had an article about military bases named after Confederates.

They really couldn't care less up until 2015. Now they want the names changed. The centrist Democrats and neoliberals have decided that being anti-Confederate is part of a winning strategy.

Updated 6/3/2020

Athens, Georgia

https://www.redandblack.com/athensnews/mayor-orders-county-to-look-into-removing-confederate-monument-downtown-commissioners-speak-on-sunday-protest/article_1db335a0-a5a9-11ea-845e-bf003e49571c.html

Bentonville, Arkansas

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/jun/01/confederate-monument-bentonville-square-be-moved/

Birmingham, Alabama

https://www.today.com/video/birmingham-mayor-discusses-decision-to-remove-confederate-monument-84290629554

Robert E. Lee statue taken down at Lee High School in Montgomery Alabama.

https://www.wsfa.com/2020/06/01/robert-e-lee-statue-taken-down-lee-high-school

Richmond, Virginia

https://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/northam-to-order-removal-of-richmonds-robert-e-lee-statue/article_311a23b3-fb8c-5d87-a0cb-ca564241b29a.html

The Democrats are the party of James Buchanan

The Democrats are the party of James Buchanan.

The Republican Party was explained to be the party of Jefferson Davis explicitly by former Republican Mississippi U.S. Senator Trent Lott and also less directly by former Republican Texas U.S. Senator Phil Gramm in interviews in Southern Partisan.  Southern Partisan declared the Republican Party to be a Confederate party with its T-shirt.

However, when it comes to fighting against Confederate monuments and flags the Democrats have proven to be the party of James Buchanan. They hope to shake loose a few electoral votes in the next election by avoiding the topic.

In Louisiana the Republicans were fairly active in supporting the Confederacy. Former Republican Louisiana Gov. and one-time presidential candidate Jindal spoke out against removing the Confederate monuments. The Louisiana Republican House Reps voted for a bill to block removing Confederate monuments.  In other states Republicans are active in finding ways of blocking the removal of Confederate monuments.

One reason they are succeeding is that there really isn't much of an opposition by the Democratic Party. There are some Democratic elected officials fighting, but it is largely elected African American Democrats.

The policy of the Democratic Party seems to be that African Americans if they don't like the lack of action of the Democrats have no place to go.

This policy of not engaging on the issue of Confederate monuments is not confined to just centrist Democrats. It ranges across the liberal/left as well as centrist Democrats. Some of it is that among liberals and leftists there are many who  have the delusional thinking having an attachment to the Confederacy is not incompatible with being progressive. They are banal white nationalists. Other Democrats don't want to get in a fight with them.

A lot of it is calculation by the Democrats to get those extra white nationalist votes.

They will avoid engaging the issue by arguing that it is a matter of priorities or some other rationalization. The fact of the matter is that they don't want to face the issue.

Yes, there have been occasions, such as in 2015, where the Democrats did engage the issue, but we will not go forward getting rid of the monuments if the only time the Democrats act is right after a massacre.

I think a start is that unless a candidate has a position against Confederate monuments and symbols you don't support that candidate. Certainly you don't campaign for that candidate or donate money. It might result in a bad candidate being elected, but if we give in to this tactic of Democrats where they point out how scary the opponent is so that you vote for their flawed candidate the tactic will continue and there will be no progress in getting rid of Confederate monuments.

Also, to find out if a candidate has a position, you need to ask, and if they don't, ask that they take a position. If the issue starts coming up in candidate forums, I think that others hearing your question will start thinking about it as well and perhaps start asking the question themselves.

Another thing is that tables or lists need to be maintained on local candidates where they  stand. We need to divide the candidates into Pro-Confederate, anti-Confederate, and dough faces. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doughface

Refusal to respond to a questionnaire should be understood as supporting the statue quo and if the status quo has Confederate monuments you know how that candidate stands.

In some localities monuments aren't coming down without a sustained effort and an effort where Democrats will realize that they will be held accountable. It will mean writing letters, asking candidates to take a stand, appearing at public events. It won't take a lot of effort. A team of five with a few hours a week devoted to the effort could affect a real change in the political climate.

Perhaps the "Washington Post" needs a clean break with the Confederacy

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/05/15/republicans-need-a-clean-break-with-the-confederacy/?utm_term=.7d30a0b266ad

The above is a link to an article titled, "Republicans need a clean break with the Confederacy," by Ed Rogers, who we are told is a "veteran of the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush White Houses."

Well I think it would be good if all political parties make a clean break with the Confederacy. Given that former Mississippi U.S. Senator Trent Lott has in a speech to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and in Southern Partisan magazine has also explained that the Republican Party is the party of Jefferson Davis Roger's hopes of a clean break by the Republican Party with the Confederacy is not likely to happen.

However, before the Washington Post lectures others perhaps they can start advocating that the Democratic Party make a clean break with the Confederacy. For example they can decided that future Democratic presidents, unlike Obama, not send a wreath to the Arlington Confederate monument, and apologize for being advocates that Obama should send a wreath to the Arlington Confederate monument.

They might also ask Bill Clinton to retract his three letters of congratulations to the United Daughters of the Confederacy. I wrote Bill Clinton in 2015 and asked him to retract them and did not get a reply.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2008/03/bill-clinton-betrays-carol-moseley.html#.WRpexmgrKiM


http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2015/06/black-commentator-reruns-article-on.html#.WRpfRmgrKiM


I don't think this will happen though. The Washington Post is looking for a way to twist the Republicans and I don't think they are really that serious about Republicans or Democrats or themselves giving up the Confederacy.

On the other hand the Washington Post is the press agency of the centrist Democrats so they are setting the new policy for the Democratic Party that they are not the party of the Confederacy, in as much as it is useful.

I don't think they will ask Donald Trump to not send a wreath to the Arlington Confederate monument which I think will show how serious the Washington Post is on this.

Certainly the Washington Post won't advocate the Arlington Confederate monument to be removed.

Effort to remove Confederate monument in Shreveport, Louisiana. It is starting.

It has already begun. I thought the process whereby other cities would take down Confederate monument would really start moving along after the 4th monument in New Orleans went down, but it is happening already.

I discussed how a movement against Confederate monuments everywhere would start with the success of monument removal in New Orleans, but I thought it wouldn't really take off until the 4th monument was removed. This is my blog posting stating this.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-revolution-against-confederate.html#.WRcScWgrKiM

The following is about the debate to remove a Confederate monument in Shreveport.

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2017/05/shreveport_monument_debate.html

Not only is the process underway, but the columnist writing this essay is showing how all the excuses and rationalizations for the Confederate monuments are rubbish and that the Confederate monuments are about white supremacy.

This is a column in the major daily newspaper for New Orleans. Not a paper with a limited readership. Members of the establishment will take note.

Other cities are also thinking about removing monuments.

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/should-west-palm-beach-take-down-its-confederate-statue-too/EYbiHyF6na5uSxPdRgWdsI/

However, there is one road block that is coming up. State lawmakers are trying to remove control of Confederate monuments form the cities and other municipalities.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/12/us/confederate-monument-state-bills/

The success of this effort I think is largely due to the fact that the Democratic Party isn't speaking up. Trent Lott explained in a Southern Partisan interview that the Republican Party was for those who have the values of Jefferson Davis. The discussion was about him expressing the same idea in a speech to the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The problem is that the Democratic Party has been the party of James Buchanan in resisting the Republican Party's support of the Confederacy.

However, I plan to compile a table of every vote for Confederate monuments by state legislators.

Also, I don't think the Republican Party is going to want to be identified with the Confederacy in the future. I think that some of these bills were passed with the understanding that Confederate monument removal would not go so far. The issue wouldn't be pressed so strongly. The bills were passed in the situation as it was, which was very different from how it will be. I think Republicans are going to reconsider this legislation.

There can be marches to state capitols demanding bills be repealed. Local legislators can submit bills asking for their monument to be exempted. Cities can send petitions to state legislatures year after year asking for the bill to be repealed or the monument to be exempted.

Year after year the Republicans can be hammered as being the party of the Confederacy. I think with the defeat of Sheri Few and she only getting 5% of the vote in the Republican primary the GOP in many states will see large liabilities and little advantage, few benefits in the defense of the Confederacy. It could be a long struggle which would not just embarrass the Republican Party nationally, but destroy their credibility.

One big obstacle are residual yellow dog Democrats and a white members of the liberal/left in the former Confederate states which like to think they are all this and that but in reality are banal white nationalists.

http://www.templeofdemocracy.com/breaking-the-white-nation.html

One thing about the removal of the Confederate monuments it is revealing who is who in New Orleans.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/05/confederate_monuments_bizarre.html

In the above link the article reports that the Mayor of New Orleans specifically criticized Frank Stewart, a local rich guy who supported the monuments.

I said that fighting neo-Confederacy would surface who was really who in a society. Frank Stewart's reputation has been taken down along with the two monuments that have been taken down.

Republicans, Democrats, and the Confederacy. Republicans have a problem and the Democrats know it.

The Republicans have a problem regarding the Confederacy and the Democrats know it and are demonstrating that they are quite willing to exploit the situation.

The Republicans don't want to be associated with the Confederacy, but they don't want to be seen as anti-Confederate either.

When Obama is picketed by Confederate flag waving protesters, Oklahoma Republican congressional representatives masw sure that the public knew that they didn't approve of this.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/07/16/protesters-wave-confederate-flags-during-obama-visit/

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/248256-oklahoma-republicans-confederate-flags-at-obama-visit-disrespectful

Earlier there were Confederate protesters when Obama visited Tennessee.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2015/07/01/confederate-flag-supporters-protest-obama-visit/29565393/

Republican Gov. Nikki Haley and Republican state legislators took down the Confederate flag from the capitol grounds in South Carolina hoping to put the issue behind them.

Opinion polls show that Democrats see the Confederate flag as racist, but Republicans don't.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/184040/democrats-views-confederate-flag-increasingly-negative.aspx

In fact the supporters of the Confederate flags are largely Republicans and certainly are likely to vote in primaries.  The Republicans though have considerations besides winning primaries. They need to consider winning general elections, they need younger voters, and they can't risk being identified with the Confederacy. They have to consider their brand going into the future.

So the Republicans might agree to the flag coming down on the South Carolina capitol grounds, but they otherwise don't want to be either anti-Confederate or pro-Confederate. The whole issue could cause serious damage to their electoral prospects now and in the future.

The Democrats obviously sense this. President Barack Obama praises the Confederate flag coming down in South Carolina knowing full well that many Republicans are reflexively against what he is for.  Obama speaks against the Confederate flag during a speech in Kenya.

Obama previously hasn't had a lot to say about the Confederate flag when running for the presidency in 2008 and 2012, but know it remains to be seen how often he will bring it up. I think it will be very likely that Obama will find one way or another to bring up the Confederacy.

When Obama is traveling in the United States again, we can almost certainly expect that there will be anti-Obama protesters flying Confederate flags.

Obama's speaking against the Confederate flag and protesters with Confederate flags will likely make the Confederacy and flying Confederate flags at anti-Obama protests irresistible to many elements of the Republican Party base who will have no care at all about embarrassing the Republican Party.

The Democrats in congress recently have suddenly discovered the Confederacy as an issue and amended legislation to forbid Confederate flags from the U.S. government cemeteries.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/gop-house-confederate-flag-cemeteries-119892.html

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/house-gop-takes-step-back-on-confederate-flags-119889.html

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/confederate-flags-cemeteries-house-spending-bills-119958.html

However, some Republicans complained and the Republican House leadership pulled the bill. They aren't re-introducing it since they don't want to have to deal with the issue. They can't agree to the anti-Confederate measures, but they can't reject them either.

The U.S. House sessions were quite raucous. Shouting and booing.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/the-confederate-flag-brings-down-a-bill-in-congress/398123/


http://www.rollcall.com/news/republicans_to_vote_on_allowing_display_of_confederate_flag-242722-1.html?pos=hftxt

The bills are still not back on the House floor. I suspect the Democrats will be right on the issue if the Republicans try to get some legislation passed.

Now the Republican plan to put the Confederate flag behind them is coming undone even further. Bobby Jindal has decided to become the defender of the Confederacy. He is against the city of New Orleans getting rid of their Confederate monuments.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/bobby_jindal_confederate_statu.html

If Jindal can gain just a few percentage points he will be in the top ten tier of the Republican presidential candidates and will be allowed in the main debates.

This will put a lot of pressure on other Republican Presidential candidates to defend the Confederacy. Maybe those not in the top ten can get into the top ten. Maybe those who are barely in the top ten will want to secure their position.

As Obama condemns the Confederate flag, as anti-Obama protesters fly the Confederate flag and as the Democrats seek to inject the issue into politics the issue of the Confederate flag might very well get interjected into the American presidential elections. It seems it is starting with Bobby Jindal who has little to lose in the polls.

Breaking News: Neo-Confederate tries to win Anne Arundel County Democratic Party Committee seat. UPDATE:

I just was informed about this web page

http://www.betsybury.com/

If you go down the page you find out that Pastor David Whitney of the neo-Confederate Institute on the Constitution (IOTC) is running against her.

The IOTC web is http://www.theamericanview.com/

The web address is somewhat laughable since it really is the Confederate View.

Pastor Whitney is running for a Democratic Central Committee seat. The reason why this is a matter of concern is that people are generally fairly unaware of this office, the turn out can be very low, and it would be possible for a small group to win if the public was not alerted to the problem.

This article in the American Review of American Studies at the Univ. of Toronto gives a good idea of the religious beliefs of the neo-Confederate movement.

http://www.templeofdemocracy.com/ConfederateChristianNationalism.pdf

Worked today and got back and started to look into this further.

Pastor David Whitney doesn't like the Harlem Shake in an article where some Christian leaders express opposition to Christian students doing the Harlem Shake.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/have-wild-videos-of-christians-doing-the-harlem-shake-crossed-the-line-97713/

With that in mind I offer these www.youtube.com videos of students at Christian institutions doing the Harlem Shake. Horrors! Some of these Christian students seem to be having fun! Oh the ungodliness of it all. ;-).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LvwGiNyXvQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea7seDz6H_E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu6vqDLwRqQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF11jCXvkDs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmSEMz67ybk

Wonders never cease, "Washington Post" Op-Ed argues that Democrats in the South should take a public stand against the Confederate flag

I was just astounded that the Washington Post ran this Op-Ed by Drew Westen at Emory University in Georgia arguing that the Democrats should take a public stand against the Confederate flag. Mudcat Sanders must be having a fit.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-georgia-democrats-should-confront-a-confederate-flag-license-plate/2014/03/21/7b8da8ac-add7-11e3-a49e-76adc9210f19_story.html

Writing about the Republican campaign strategy in the Georgia gubernatorial race:

This year, the strategy has taken the form of a debate about custom license plates — in particular, a Georgia license plate sporting a broad, bold display of the Confederate battle flag. Democrats have traditionally struggled to counter such race-baiting. And Republicans are wasting no time in running Southern pride and prejudice up the flagpole against the two most promising Democrats to run for statewide office in Georgia in a decade: Jason Carter, grandson of President Jimmy Carter and a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination; and Michelle Nunn, daughter of the popular Democratic senator Sam Nunn and a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Westen argues to oppose this strategy the Democrats should:

Too often, Democrats have dealt with racial issues by avoiding them. Research shows that’s the wrong strategy, particularly in the South. Speaking directly about race allows our conscious values — which tend to be intolerant of racial intolerance, even in the heart of Dixie — to override our unconscious prejudices, which control our behavior when we’re not looking, or when other people aren’t, as in the voting booth. The best way to handle this kind of dog-whistle politics is to expose it for what it is.

Westen is right, the strategy of the Democrats had been to avoid the Confederate flag issue as much as possible in the hope of shaking loose a few extra white votes. Mudcat Sanders was a political consultant who argued for this position. In one article I read that his bed had a Confederate battle flag bed spread which is a sort of obvious and idiotic way of making a statement. (If some political operatives use dog whistles then Sanders was using a fog horn.) The Washington Post as a consequence of this policy and as a consequence of being the house publication of the Democratic party has avoided really critically examining the Lost Cause or arguing against the Lost Cause. I suppose also the Graham family that had owned the paper didn't want relatives or people at the club or acquaintances with Confederate ancestors and Lost Cause attitudes complaining either.

So I am so amazed to see this article. On the other hand I think that this change in attitude is confined to the Confederate battle flag and isn't intended to challenge the Lost Cause generally, but still it is a major shift for the Democrats in the South. Also, once you decide the Confederate flag isn't really desirable you are forced to engage the Lost Cause. The Democrats will be slow learners but I think they will learn.

For the Washington Post it certainly is a surprise. This is the third major article in the Post indicating a shift regarding the Lost Cause.

Not too long ago there was this Washington Post blog asking why Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are in the Washington National Cathedral. This was known by a lot of people previously, but it wasn't commented on.I refer to the Post blog in this posting.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2013/12/washington-post-columnist-john-kelly.html#.Uy21TfldWSo

Then there is this Washington Post column by Colbert King likening the Republicans to the Confederacy.I refer to it at this posting.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2013/10/washington-post-columnist-colbert-king.html#.Uy21jfldWSo

I think some Democrats have figured out that there really isn't a reason to vote for them unless they represent a choice for the voters.

Former president Jimmy Carter is somewhat fond of the Confederacy and so it would be interesting to what extent Jason Carter will give up the Lost Cause or how he will frame the argument against the Confederate battle flag.