Lesko, Biggs, and Gosar think Statues and Busts of Known Traitors and Racists Should Remain at the Nation’s Capital

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Apparently, Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and 117 of their Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives have no problem with keeping the statues and busts of national traitors and confirmed racists displayed in the halls of the Nation’s Capital as long as their Know-Nothing Fringe base is happy.

Perhaps what is more perplexing is the statues and busts of these figures like former Chief Justice Roger Taney, the one who wrote the majority opinion of the Dred Scott Case that said blacks could not be United State citizens or have rights, was not taken down years ago.

As reported by AZ Central, the United States House of Representatives, in a 285 to 120 vote, moved to replace all the statues and busts of Confederate and Racists figures.

All of Arizona’s Democratic House Congressional Delegation voted for the measure along with lone Republican David Schweikert.

The three other Republicans, along with the majority of their increasingly fringe caucus, voted against it.

In explaining her vote to remove the statues and busts, Arizona Congressional District Two Representative Ann Kirkpatrick said:

“Today’s vote is a no-brainer, there is no room for celebrating or honoring bigotry and hatred inside our temple of democracy. The hallowed halls of the United States Capitol must reflect our highest ideals as a nation: freedom, justice, and equality. That is why, today, I voted to take this important step to right the wrongs of history by removing monuments to white supremacists and leaders of the Confederacy from the Capitol. I am also proud to support the replacement of the bust of the racist Chief Justice Roger Taney with a bust of civil rights hero Justice Thurgood Marshall.”

Michael Muscato, the 2020 Democratic House Nominee for Arizona CD Eight and candidate again in 2022 commented:

“So the Confederates in Congress voted to keep honoring loser Confederates.
Shocker. Their own personal histories speak volumes about their lack of regard for this nation’s past. I bet they even refer to their party as the party of Lincoln… Probably would have called him a radical liberal too.”

Unfortunately, Congressional District Five’s Andy Biggs had a more warped explanation for his vote against the measure, stating:

“This is being done to try to erase history. You will not be successful at erasing history by removing monuments and statues. If we fail to remember history, we will be doomed to repeat it. That is something that has me concerned.”

Mr. Biggs is wrong.

The only people trying to whitewash history are the Republicans with their continual attacks on the accurate teaching of United States History.

No one is going to forget the treasonous actions of the Confederates or the unwise and racist acts committed against Blacks, Native Americans, and other minorities throughout the last 400 years.

Taking away the statues of these individuals will not cause people to forget them.

They will never be forgotten.

They serve as the perpetual symbols and educational tools of what not to do.

 

 

 

 

1 thought on “Lesko, Biggs, and Gosar think Statues and Busts of Known Traitors and Racists Should Remain at the Nation’s Capital”

  1. The Neo-Confederate white Christian Nationalists in the Sedition Caucus are representative of the views of the GQP crazy base. Mediaite reports, “Whopping 70 PERCENT of Republicans OPPOSE Congress Taking Down Confederate Statues in U.S. Capitol”, https://www.mediaite.com/news/whopping-70-percent-of-republicans-oppose-congress-taking-down-confederate-statues-in-u-s-capitol/

    [I]f 120 Republicans [in Congress] sounds like a lot, an even greater percentage of Republican voters oppose removing those statues. A YouGov poll conducted on July 1 asked respondents “The House voted to remove statues honoring Confederate leaders, as well as statues that symbolize ‘slavery, sedition and segregation’ from public display at the United States Capitol. Do you support or oppose this decision?”

    Among all respondents, 55 percent support the vote, including 40 percent who “strongly support” the removal of the statues and busts.

    But among Republicans, 70 percent say they oppose the decision, including 56 percent who “strongly oppose” and 14 percent who “somewhat oppose.”

    Support for the decision is consistent, within a few points of the overall resullt, across all other categories, including gender, age, region, and income. Republicans are the only group polled who oppose the decision, and they do so overwhelmingly.

    The “Lost Cause” revisionist history of the Confederacy has morphed into the “Lost Cause” revisionist history of the Trump seditious insurrection on January 6. “Donald Trump and the new Lost Cause”, https://www.salon.com/2021/06/19/donald-trump-and-the-new-lost-cause/ ; “How Trumpism Is Becoming America’s New “Lost Cause””, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/21/trump-civil-war-reconstruction-biden-lost-cause-461161 ; “Are We Witnessing the Emergence of a New ‘Lost Cause’?”, https://www.thenation.com/article/society/capitol-riot-reconstruction-history/ ; “The religion of Trump’s Lost Cause”, https://religionnews.com/2021/03/05/the-religion-of-trumps-lost-cause/

    There are lots more articles like this on this topic.

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