Freshman Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) launched a tirade against the Republican-led Secure the Border Act — H.R. 2 — and claimed that if the House Republicans acted to secure the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/border-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S.-Mexico</a> border, they should also be in favor of scrapping the Statue of Liberty.
Frost held up his own bill — which would remove the iconic statue from New York&#8217;s harbor — telling Republican lawmakers that he had &#8220;taken the liberty of drafting it&#8221; and suggesting that they could pass it alongside the &#8220;bigoted&#8221; H.R. 2.
WATCH:
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Freshman Democrat Rep. Max Frost: Republicans might as well take down the Statue of Liberty if they&#39;re going to demand a secure border! 🤔 <a href="https://t.co/6yAHno9n7l">pic.twitter.com/6yAHno9n7l</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1747728002530648426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;My colleagues from the other side of the aisle, let’s be honest with immigrants who deserve better than what you’re offering them. Don’t welcome immigrants if you plan to reject them. If you keep pushing your bigoted H.R. 2 bill, then also pass this bill. I’ve taken the liberty of drafting it for you,&#8221; Frost announced, waving the paper at them. &#8220;It removes the Statue of Liberty, our largest symbol that tells people to come here.&#8221;
&#8220;This is who you are, removing the fabric of America,&#8221; he accused his colleagues. &#8220;So, I want to know which Republican, who supports and voted for H.R.2, will introduce this bill. If you’re gonna support H.R.2 and these bigoted measures, the least you can do is not be a damn liar.&#8221;
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) responded to Frost&#8217;s tirade, saying, &#8220;This is the kind of serious policy debate we’ve come to expect from @DebbieforFL’s top surrogate. Excited to hear where Debbie stands on this debate. For the record, I’m pro-border security and anti-taking down the Statue of Liberty.&#8221;
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This is the kind of serious policy debate we’ve come to expect from <a href="https://twitter.com/DebbieforFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DebbieforFL</a>’s top surrogate. 
Excited to hear where Debbie stands on this debate 🧐🧐
For the record, I’m pro-border security and anti-taking down the Statue of Liberty. <a href="https://t.co/b9EaYqqsx2">https://t.co/b9EaYqqsx2</a>
&mdash; Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottforFlorida/status/1747793027706302912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;There’s only one party in this country that wants to tear down statues, and it’s not Republicans,&#8221; Mark Hemingway added.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
There’s only one party in this country that wants to tear down statues, and it’s not Republicans. <a href="https://t.co/zBTKqxHPKg">https://t.co/zBTKqxHPKg</a>
&mdash; Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) <a href="https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1747752460188254270?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Despite Frost&#8217;s speech, 14 members of his own party <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/14-house-democrats-vote-to-denounce-biden-admins-open-borders-policies">voted with Republicans</a> on House Resolution 957, &#8220;Denouncing the Biden administration&#8217;s open-borders policies, condemning the national security and public safety crisis along the southwest border, and urging President Biden to end his administration&#8217;s open-borders policies.&#8221;

Congressional Integrity Project Accuses MAGA Republicans Of Prioritizing An Impeachment Of President Biden Over Other Issues At A Press Event At The United States Capitol

Democrat Rep: U.S. Must Scrap Statue Of Liberty If Border Is Secured

Border

Border Crisis

Democrat

Illegal Immigration

Politics

Statue of Liberty

Statues

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/national-park-service">National Park Service</a> announced that it is reversing course on removing a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/statues">statue</a> of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a> founder William Penn from a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/history">historical</a> park due to massive backlash against the decision. 
The organization announced on Friday that it would remove both the statue and a replica of Penn&#8217;s home from Welcome Park, a recreation area within Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.
Per the original <a href="https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/news/park-seeks-input-on-the-rehabilitation-of-welcome-park.htm">announcement</a>, the NPS was seeking “to rehabilitate Welcome Park to provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors.”
The stated replacement for Penn’s statue and home included an homage to American Indians.
“The proposed rehabilitation of Welcome Park includes expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia and was developed in consultation with representatives of the indigenous nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Shawnee Tribe, and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma,” the update said.
The NPS invited public comment on the change, which led them to scrap the plans altogether following public outrage.
&#8220;The preliminary draft proposal, which was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review, is being retracted. No changes to the William Penn statue are planned,&#8221; an updated NPS statement <a href="https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/news/park-withdraws-review-of-welcome-park-rehabilitation-proposal.htm?fbclid=IwAR3lDfWxt1cL8janQW5Koe_dPuRoPB-EzlAS5uekAF5nUOeoDP5428Z6Cac">said</a>.
Critics of the plan, including politicians, expressed their opinions online. 
State Representative Martina White (R-PA) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/repmartinawhite/posts/pfbid02ttMHiahZLeQoV65fBozbc7CkcTpzestfjrpwXDs6Hy4yjT4F2J4c7WQ28q6gGJc3l?amp%3B__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R">wrote</a> on Facebook, “I hope they will find a way to incorporate the statue into the renovations,” while inviting constituents to share their opinions with the NPS on the proposed changes.
A lot of the backlash came via X.
“It started with Confederate statues. Now they&#8217;ve arrived at William Penn,” entrepreneur Michael Seifert <a href="https://twitter.com/realmichaelseif/status/1744410326353821871">wrote</a> in one popular post. “It doesn&#8217;t matter that he supported religious freedom, opposed slavery, and treated Native Americans with respect. It was always about replacing the history of the United States.”
Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro seemed to agree with the NPS’s course reversal, <a href="https://twitter.com/GovernorShapiro/status/1744502454048178194">writing</a> in an X post, “My team has been in contact with the Biden Administration throughout the day to correct this decision. I’m pleased Welcome Park will remain the rightful home of this William Penn statue — right here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Penn founded.”
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“Yay!” X owner Elon Musk commented, while another commenter <a href="https://twitter.com/RecoverRepub/status/1744508800973828547">thought</a> “the only reason why this decision was stopped is because the public got wind of it and became rightfully outraged.”
“Make no mistake: the Biden Administration tried to tear down a statue of William Penn as part of its toxic obsession with &#8216;equity.&#8217;  They only stopped because they got caught,” Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomCottonAR/status/1744738325645447195">wrote</a> of the controversy.
William Penn was an influential Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonial era. The deeply religious Englishman was an advocate of democracy and religious freedom and was well-known for making fair and lasting treaties with native tribes as he helped establish the commonwealth.

William Penn statue

Statue Of PA Founder William Penn Won’t Be Removed From Public Park Following Backlash

Statue Of PA Founder William Penn Won't Be Removed From Public Park Following Backlash

History

National Park Service

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

Social Issues

U.S.

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/missouri" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Missouri</a> county named for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/andrew-jackson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andrew Jackson</a> will remove two statues of the former president despite county residents previously voting to keep the monuments up. 
City officials in Jackson County, Missouri, will remove statues of Jackson outside courthouses in Independence and Kansas City after the Jackson County Legislature <a href="https://fox4kc.com/news/jackson-county-to-remove-andrew-jackson-statues-outside-courthouses/">voted</a> 7-1 to remove the statues. The vote came after the county legislature had previously decided to let residents vote on the fate of the statues in a ballot initiative in November 2020. 
At the ballot initiative, voters in the county voted to keep the statues, with over 72% of county residents <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Jackson_County,_Missouri,_Question_2,_Removal_of_Andrew_Jackson_Statutes_(November_2020)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voting against</a> a proposal to remove the statues of Jackson, who was president from 1829-1837. 
“I remain committed in my belief that the statues of a man who owned slaves, caused thousands of Native Americans to die and never stepped foot in our County should be removed from our public facilities,” <a href="https://fox4kc.com/politics/your-local-election-headquarters/jackson-county-residents-vote-to-keep-andrew-jackson-statues-outside-courthouses/">said</a> County Executive Frank White after the November vote. 
The statues of Jackson, who is credited with orchestrating the American victory at the Battle of New Orleans against the British during the War of 1812, were in front of the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City and the Historic Truman Courthouse in Independence. 
According to the Jackson County Historical Society, the county was <a href="https://www.jchs.org/history-of-jackson-county#:~:text=Jackson%20County%20was%20organized%20on,minuscule%20settlement%20near%20a%20spring." target="_blank" rel="noopener">organized</a> on December 15, 1826 and named for Jackson, who had been a U.S. senator for Tennessee and was nationally known thanks to the Battle of New Orleans. 
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In 2021, the county added a plaque to the statue that referenced Martin Luther King Jr.
 “This statue of Jackson reminds us we are on a path that, in the immortal words of Martin Luther King Jr., bends towards justice. In turn, we must acknowledge past injustices to help us create a greater nation built upon humane policies to light our way and the way of humanity everywhere,” the plaque <a href="https://fox4kc.com/news/jackson-county-to-remove-andrew-jackson-statues-outside-courthouses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read</a>. 
Last month, Legislator Manny Abarca introduced a <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-06-12/jackson-county-legislator-wants-andrew-jackson-statues-removed-from-kansas-city-area-courthouses#:~:text=%22It%20is%20in%20the%20moral,groups%20or%20proponents%20of%20slavery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> taking aim at Jackson over his ties to slavery and the Trail of Tears. 
&#8220;It is in the moral interest of Jackson County to immediately create separation from these moments in our nation’s history through the removal of statues or monuments associated with them so as to not accidentally bestow honor on individuals who were engaged in the genocide of indigenous groups or proponents of slavery,&#8221; the resolution said. 
The statues have been a target of vandalism in recent years, with some labeling the former president as a racist. After the county legislature’s vote, they will be removed and stored by the city.

Kansas City Cityscapes And City Views

County Named For Andrew Jackson To Remove Monuments To Former President

American History

Andrew Jackson

Missouri

monuments

It used to be that when someone made a statement, then made another statement that implied something completely different, we had a name for that. We called it a contradiction. And it wasn&#8217;t considered a good thing. Not too long ago, contradictions could end political careers in this country. When Tim Murphy said publicly that he was pro-life, but then privately told a woman to kill her baby, he had to resign from Congress. Al Franken met the same fate, after he bought into the #MeToo hysteria, then fell into its crosshairs himself.
But a lot&#8217;s changed in the few years since Tim Murphy and Al Franken were forced out of Congress. All of a sudden, contradictions are everywhere, particularly in the political world. The only way to ensure world peace is to fund a war, foreign policy experts tell us. We&#8217;re a sanctuary city or state, but we don&#8217;t want any more illegal migrants, say Gavin Newsom and Eric Adams. Men can turn into women, gender studies professors shriek. Euthanasia is healthcare, the Canadian government insists. All of these statements are contradictions, but you&#8217;re hearing them all the time now.
In revolutionary periods, this is nothing new. Mao even wrote an essay entitled &#8220;On Contradiction&#8221; a century ago. Mao understood well that contradiction drives social change. Maybe the most important contradiction that revolutionaries must embrace, Mao argued, is the relationship between construction and destruction. On their face, these two concepts are polar opposites. Tearing something down means ruining it. Building something means creating it. If you want to build something new, you lay a foundation and get to work. You don&#8217;t wreck what you have. That&#8217;s how the bourgeoisie saw it. 
But Mao didn&#8217;t see it that way. A half-century ago, Mao famously explained, &#8220;There is no construction without destruction.&#8221; In other words, there&#8217;s a logical relationship between the two concepts. Creating a new society — one totally unlike whatever came before — requires wrecking the old society. Creating new symbols requires wrecking the old symbols. 
Mao&#8217;s teachings led to, of course, tens of millions of deaths, the destruction of historic artifacts, and mass starvation. The last thing you would ever want our political leaders in this country to do is follow his ideology and try to emulate it. But that&#8217;s exactly what&#8217;s happening. This weekend in Albany, the capital of New York state, we saw maybe the clearest example in recent history of both construction and destruction happening simultaneously. Under the cover of darkness, at 5:30 in the morning, the city removed a statue of Revolutionary War hero and U.S. senator Philip Schuyler. And at the very moment that workers took Schuyler&#8217;s statue away, the so-called &#8220;progress Pride flag&#8221; was waving in the background, for the first time in Albany&#8217;s history. Here&#8217;s what it looked like.
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One of the defining images of our era
City Hall removes Revolutionary War hero General Philip Schuyler
Pride flags wave in the background <a href="https://t.co/0hkhl4bHL8">pic.twitter.com/0hkhl4bHL8</a>
&mdash; End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1667755085936447488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
Notice the multiple Pride flags flying proudly as the statue is hoisted away, including the brand-new nonbinary/BIPOC/trans flag. 
Now, if that seems like a carefully engineered juxtaposition, it is. It&#8217;s choreographed to deliver a very clear message. Mao&#8217;s disciples in the New York state government know that if they want their new flag to have any kind of legitimacy, then Philip Schulyer&#8217;s statue can&#8217;t remain. You can&#8217;t have construction without destruction. If you want a revolution, you can&#8217;t introduce a new idol without erasing the one that came before. So that&#8217;s exactly what the local government did, as explicitly as they possibly could have done it.
If you&#8217;re not trying to engineer a revolution — if you&#8217;re just an average person living in New York, with reasonable political views — then none of this really makes sense. What was wrong with that statue, exactly? As far as we can tell, no one ever bothered to ask a significant number of New Yorkers that question. No one ever ran a poll on this, at least not one that we could find. There was certainly no statewide referendum on whether people actually wanted Philip Schuyler&#8217;s statue removed. 
A few bureaucrats in New York just decided to do it a few years ago, and this weekend, they cut through the red tape and did it.
A local news station did conduct a man-on-the-street-style interview with a couple of residents to get their perspective. None of them could explain why this statue was being removed, even the people who said they supported removing it couldn’t explain why:
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w3.mp.lura.live/player/prod/v3/anvload.html?key=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%3D" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Yes, a century-old historic artifact memorializing a Revolutionary War hero was not only taken down, it was taken down at the behest of a group of teenagers. The primary reason, as we heard in the clip, is that the absence of the statue will make city hall more &#8220;welcoming.&#8221; But welcome for who? If the standard is that any &#8220;unwelcoming&#8221; statue needs to go, then why exactly can&#8217;t we destroy the monument of George Floyd that sits outside city hall in Newark?
&#8220;But George Floyd didn&#8217;t own slaves,&#8221; you might say. That&#8217;s true. All George Floyd ever did was break into a woman&#8217;s home with five other people and hold a gun to her chest. And then, after getting out of prison, all George Floyd did was take enough opioids and meth to kill a horse, before trying to rob a store and fighting with several police officers. 
Despite all that, you&#8217;re not allowed to even criticize the George Floyd statue. You&#8217;ll lose your job if you do. Under the new rules, George Floyd&#8217;s statue is &#8220;welcoming.&#8221; The Revolutionary War general is &#8220;unwelcoming.&#8221; Understood? Probably not, but then you aren’t supposed to understand. Part of the point behind these arbitrary decisions is that they make no logical or moral sense. You are meant to go along with it whether you understand or not. We might ask “why?” but The Powers That Be will treat us like we’re children and they&#8217;re our impatient parents: “Because I said so,” they respond.
It&#8217;s all so contrived. Philip Schuyler is an iconic figure of the revolutionary era. He&#8217;s one of the reasons this country exists today. Multiple towns and forts are named after him in New York. And curiously, no one had a problem with him until very recently. Ten years ago, in an article, the Albany Times Union described Schuyler this way: 
<blockquote>&#8220;Philip Schuyler was a leading American statesman and a key general in the American Revolution who served at the pivotal Battle of Saratoga. He was named a representative to the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia and an adviser to Gen. George Washington, who stayed at Schuyler&#8217;s mansion in Albany.&#8221;</blockquote>
The Times Union went on to describe Schuyler as:
<blockquote>&#8220;instrumental in the victory of the American colonists at the Battle of Saratoga in the fall of 1777, a turning point of the Revolutionary War. Residents of Albany, fearful that their city might be occupied by British soldiers, instead celebrated an unexpected victory at Saratoga. It was the first major win for the colonists and the residents of Albany rang church bells, fired cannons, roasted an ox and gathered around a large bonfire. Schuyler returned to the city of his birth as a hero.&#8221;</blockquote>
You can read that whole article. It&#8217;s still on the Times Union&#8217;s website, from 2013. There&#8217;s not a single mention of slavery or slaves in the entire piece. Guess how the Times Union describes Schuyler now? Here&#8217;s a recent article from the paper, from this year. 
<blockquote>&#8220;While noted as a politician and Revolutionary War hero, Schuyler enslaved over a dozen people at his Saratoga and Albany homes.&#8221; </blockquote>
The Times Union of 2023 goes on to cite — and this is not a joke — a report by five high schoolers who say that Schuyler is a bad man, and his statue has to be removed. That&#8217;s the report you heard referenced in that news clip, as well.
Here&#8217;s how the Times Union describes the findings of these high school students:
<blockquote>&#8220;The report, titled, &#8216;What To Do with Phil? — A 2022 Report from the Young Abolitionist Leadership Institute,&#8217; was created by five Albany High School students who met between October 2021 and June with two adult facilitators. While the report notes Schuyler&#8217;s accomplishments as a Revolutionary War general and politician, his legacy is still marked by owning human beings, it says.&#8221; </blockquote>
This is also the report that the Albany government relied on to justify removing the statue.
Facile does not begin to describe this. In the 18th century, no one had the same attitudes towards slavery that we do now — even the people who opposed it. Which relatively few people did back then. It’s not surprising that a bunch of dumb, arrogant kids would lack the proper historical perspective and think themselves qualified to pass moral judgments on historical figures who lived 250 years ago. But that’s where adults are supposed to step in. The problem is that there aren’t very many adults left in this country.
What&#8217;s really going on here is that Schuyler — like Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt, and all the other historical figures who&#8217;ve had their monuments destroyed — is a hero of a different nation. One that the city of Albany considers to be a foreign enemy. And they know they have to erase him if they want their revolution to succeed.
The Biden administration understands this as well. Look at this grotesque display currently hanging at the White House:
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Today, the People&#39;s House – your house – sends a clear message to the country and to the world.
America is a nation of pride. <a href="https://t.co/ZZS9oTpDww">pic.twitter.com/ZZS9oTpDww</a>
&mdash; President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1667715777145847808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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That’s a Pride flag hanging on the White House, in between two American flags. There are similar displays all over the country, at 30 Rock and so on, but putting this flag at the White House, just like the flag at Albany City Hall, has particular implications. Most conservatives are saying that it&#8217;s horrific and evil for the White House to not only fly the Pride flag but to give it a place of primacy in between the two American flags. It is, of course, both of those things, but what they don&#8217;t understand is that the White House is also properly representing its own nation, which is not our nation. We are two nations in one. There is the old United States that conservatives still cling to and cherish, and there&#8217;s a new country with its own flag, its own traditions, its own heroes and foundational myths.
That&#8217;s the nation that the Biden regime, the media, academia, Hollywood all speak to and represent. Why do you think the city of New York took down Teddy Roosevelt&#8217;s statue? Liberals used to love him. He was one of the greatest presidents this country ever had. He broke up the big monopolies. He was well-read. He saved the middle class. He established national parks. He was an explorer and a pioneer. They took down Teddy Roosevelt&#8217;s statue in New York for a specific reason — which was to replace it. Instead of Teddy Roosevelt, New York recently put up a horned statue of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
That&#8217;s now happening, at scale. The nation we had before is being replaced. It&#8217;s not just the demographics that are changing. The activists who are leading this revolution, like all totalitarians, understand that to take full control, they need to erase our shared history. They&#8217;re executing their plan right in front of us, as obviously as they possibly can. While conservatives are debating the proper positioning of the American flag in relation to the Pride flag at the White House, the government is going out in the middle of the night and destroying the symbols they don&#8217;t like. They&#8217;re not asking your opinion on it. They&#8217;re just doing it. 
With that in mind, it&#8217;s not hard to wonder: What else will they take away before you even realize it? A lot more than statues. Soon the government may be able to kidnap your children if you don&#8217;t subscribe to the cult of gender ideology. That&#8217;s an actual bill in California right now. They’ll label you a child abuser and likely put you in prison for wrong-think, so the state can raise your child. That&#8217;s the ultimate goal of this push for &#8220;inclusion,&#8221; which of course is fundamentally about excluding anyone with traditional views (and in particular religious views). The totalitarians running the government, like all totalitarians throughout history, are obsessed with using their power to make future generations subservient to their rule. That&#8217;s the reason they&#8217;re sponsoring &#8220;Pride parades&#8221; that expose children to deviant sexual fetishes. That&#8217;s the reason they&#8217;re destroying and replacing everything they can.
It took the single deadliest famine in world history to stop Mao. What will it take to stop the revolution that&#8217;s taking place right now in this country? The longer this goes on — the longer sane people stay quiet and watch as all this happens — the more likely it is that, unfortunately, we&#8217;re going to find out.

Matt Walsh 5

Why Creating A New Society Requires Wrecking The Old Society

American Revolution

Communist China

Matt Walsh

New York

Readers Pass

A state court building in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York City</a> unveiled a new art project that is not going over well online.
The sculpture, entitled &#8220;NOW,&#8221; was installed on the roof of the Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State, First Department on Madison Avenue last week as part of an art exhibit from artist Shahzia Sikander. The statue is meant to represent the legacy of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but New Yorkers and other viewers on Twitter noticed that the statue is both unsightly and unsettling.
Corporate consultant Andrew Beck shared pictures of the art installation in a Twitter thread. &#8220;A new statue atop a New York City courthouse,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;The artist says it’s part of an &#8216;urgent and necessary cultural reckoning underway as New York reconsiders traditional representations of power in public spaces and recasts civic structures to better reflect 21st-century social mores.’”
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A new statue atop a New York City courthouse. The artist says it’s part of an “urgent and necessary cultural reckoning underway as New York reconsiders traditional representations of power in public spaces and recasts civic structures to better reflect 21st-century social mores.” <a href="https://t.co/4IFRj7hCsf">pic.twitter.com/4IFRj7hCsf</a>
— Andrew Beck (@AndrewBeckUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewBeckUSA/status/1618248543537606656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
The roof of the court building is lined with statues of famous lawgivers from history and legend. The statue is situated on the corner of the building, with brazen metal standing out against the weathered stone statues next to it. It depicts a woman with hair braided into long spirals like ram&#8217;s horns, and a web of tentacle-like protrusions at each arm, wearing a lace apron like the one Ginsburg wore over her robe, and standing on a pink lotus flower.
A profile for the statue written by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/arts/design/discrimination-sculpture-madison-park-sikander-women.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> said that the statue is the first female figure placed on the court building. “She [the statue] is a fierce woman and a form of resistance in a space that has historically been dominated by patriarchal representation,” Sikander told The New York Times. Sikander said she entitled the piece &#8220;NOW&#8221; because it is needed in the current year when abortion rights are being challenged in the wake of the Supreme Court returning abortion law to the states in Dobbs v. Jackson Women&#8217;s Health Organization.
Sikander has another piece with similar designs placed in the area. That statue, an 18-foot tall recreation of the same figure, but with a metal cage symbolizing a hoop skirt, is entitled &#8220;Witness&#8221; and is placed in Madison Square Park across from the court building. The two statues together are entitled, &#8220;Havah…to breathe, air, life.&#8221;
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“Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” Never fading words by Coretta Scott King. Inspired and humbled that Havah..to breathe, air, life’ ‘NOW’ &amp; ‘Witness’ are open on MLK day Jan16, 2023 ✊🏽❤️⚖️ <a href="https://twitter.com/MadSqParkNYC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MadSqParkNYC</a> <a href="https://t.co/TSpDl5C4TH">pic.twitter.com/TSpDl5C4TH</a>
— Shahzia Sikander (@shahziasikander) <a href="https://twitter.com/shahziasikander/status/1615129164465729536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2023</a></blockquote>
But Twitter users immediately pointed out that besides being visually unpleasant, the sculpture idolizes abortion and has pagan or even demonic motifs.
&#8220;They turned abortion into a pagan idol to worship and put it on a courthouse,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/BillyGribbin/status/1618289675122388992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618289675122388992%7Ctwgr%5E30efe78ae6474befa57361f37ae990cc0100fe42%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FBillyGribbin2Fstatus2F1618289675122388992widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Billy Gribbin</a>, communications director for Republican Georgia Congressman Rich McCormick, wrote on Twitter.
&#8220;The New York Courthouse has added this aesthetic atrocity to its sculptures of great lawmakers,&#8221; Daily Wire podcast host <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewklavan/status/1618335013480828930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618335013480828930%7Ctwgr%5E77b5ab54309b7133ba8f47f37b91ec38f0e65aa4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fandrewklavan2Fstatus2F1618335013480828930widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andrew Klavan</a> wrote. &#8220;It is meant to honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg&#8217;s pro-abortion stance by depicting a woman with demonic goat-horns who has clearly lost the power to reproduce. Or something.&#8221;
&#8220;The next Republican mayor of New York should not only remove but publicly destroy this monstrosity,&#8221; Daily Wire host <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1618358045003874306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618358045003874306%7Ctwgr%5E3a37c265f9e10933f3eb042594bc830d02ba9df4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fmichaeljknowles2Fstatus2F1618358045003874306widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Knowles</a> added.
&#8220;New York has put an androgynous baphomet with tentacles digging into its own torso on top of the courthouse in order to ‘better reflect 21st century social mores.’” writer <a href="https://twitter.com/NoJesuitTricks/status/1618330987339059200?s=20&amp;t=K550eA55xVco3ZOA2HVw_w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brandon Meeks</a> said. &#8220;Sounds about right.&#8221;
&#8220;[T]he ugliness is the point,&#8221; New Founding and American Firebrand digital director <a href="https://twitter.com/loganclarkhall/status/1618290699845373953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618290699845373953%7Ctwgr%5Ec9a4b5813dfee00c9d3ccbaa2ab44f549fce81dc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Floganclarkhall2Fstatus2F1618290699845373953widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Logan Hall</a> added.
&#8220;What a visual desecration of the landscape,&#8221; America First Legal Foundation founder <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenM/status/1618290002139701248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618290002139701248%7Ctwgr%5Ea05c992adddc6075e77e9266e6cb27f1b7edc6db%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FStephenM2Fstatus2F1618290002139701248widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephen Miller</a> tweeted.
&#8220;WOW the baphomet/Aries symbolism is… a lot,&#8221; one Twitter user chimed in. &#8220;Especially given the opposite or sister sign Libra represents the scales of balance or ‘arms’ of Justice.&#8221;

NYC Court Sculpture

‘They Turned Abortion Into A Pagan Idol’: New York Courthouse Installs Statue Symbolizing Abortion And RBG

New York Courthouse Installs Statue Symbolizing Abortion And Ruth Bader Ginsburg, And Social Media Has Thoughts

New York City

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Twitter

The Embrace Statue

After The MLK Debacle, Here Are The Top 10 Statue Fails

Martin Luther King Jr.

World

A family member of Coretta Scott King, the wife of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., despises a new monument unveiled late last week in Boston to honor him.
The 22-foot tall bronze statue, dubbed “The Embrace,” was meant to capture a hug Dr. King shared with his wife after he won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monument-honoring-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-coretta-scott-king-unveiled-boston-the-embrace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-reader-unique-id="4">reported</a>.
It cost $10 million and was designed by Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group, the report said, and is located in Freedom Plaza of the Boston Common.
“The mainstream media … was reporting on it like it was all beautiful, ’cause they were told they had to say that,” Seneca Scott, Coretta’s cousin, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/15/woke-mlk-penis-statue-insults-black-community-coretta-scott-king-kin/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=NYPTwitter">told</a> the New York Post. “But then when it came out, a little boy pointed out — ‘That’s a penis!’ and everyone was like, ‘Yo, that’s a big old d***, man.&#8221;
“If you had showed that statute (sic) to anyone in the hood, they’d have been like, ‘No, absolutely not,’&#8221; he continued, according to the Post. “Ten million dollars were wasted to create a masturbatory metal homage to my legendary family members — one of the all-time greatest American families.”
Seneca Scott blamed &#8220;woke&#8221; activists.
“The woke algorithm is just broke, I don’t know what else to tell you,&#8221; he said. “If you went through all of that and that’s what you came up with, something’s wrong.&#8221;
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BREAKING: The bronze sculpture called “The Embrace” honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King has just been unveiled on the Boston Common <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7news?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7news</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLKWeekend?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MLKWeekend</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLKDay2023?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MLKDay2023</a> <a href="https://t.co/IckphP15FL">pic.twitter.com/IckphP15FL</a>
&mdash; Amaka Ubaka (@AmakaUbakaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmakaUbakaTV/status/1614002232180998145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Imari Paris Jeffries, executive director of Embrace Boston, the group responsible for overseeing the installation of the statue, said that he cried when he first saw it.
“And someone said to me, before I saw it for the first time, ‘Imagine when you see it, you’re going to cry,’” Jeffries said. “And I said, ‘I’ve seen monuments before. I’m not going to cry when I see a monument.’ And I actually did.”
“And despite the fact that we’re in the middle of the city, it is a quiet place. And so it’s a place of both contemplation and joy simultaneously,” he said. “And so I think it’s one of America’s most miraculous pieces of public art.”
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mlks-the-embrace-statue-unveiled-in-boston-and-people-have-thoughts-hideous-and-depressing">MLK&#8217;s &#8216;The Embrace&#8217; Statue Unveiled In Boston And People Have Thoughts: &#8216;Hideous And Depressing&#8217;</a>

$10M ‘Wasted’: Family Of Coretta Scott King Has Crude Comparison For MLK Statue

Family Of Coretta Scott King Has Crude Comparison For MLK Statue

Boston

General

Massachusetts

In the wake of her sister’s death earlier this week and subsequent <a href="https://twitter.com/DiamondandSilk/status/1612636233196355586">mocking</a> by leftists of a GiveSendGo page devoted to preserving her sister’s legacy, Silk of the former team Diamond and Silk delivered a ringing response, citing leftists’ deification of George Floyd.
“On Sunday, January 8, 2023, the World just lost a True Angel and Warrior Patriot for Freedom, Love, and Humanity!” the GiveSendGo <a href="https://www.givesendgo.com/DiamondandSilk">page</a> written by Herneitha Rochelle Hardaway Richardson, aka Silk, stated. “Diamond blazed a trail, founded on her passion and love for the entire race of humanity. The memory of her passing should forever remain in our hearts. In this time of grief, please respect the privacy of Diamond’s family but remember and celebrate the gift that she gave us all!”
“Preserving Diamond&#8217;s Legacy is the only objective,” Silk continued. “I will NOT stand idly by and let all that she worked hard to achieve, be in vain. This is a spiritual warfare and as I continue to fight here on earth, she will begin to fight in spirit because WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE.”
Noting criticism of the GiveSendGo page, Silk declared, “Did any of you sick, racist liberals b**** about George Floyd family receiving millions in donations? Stop b****ing about the thousands raised for my biological sister. As her oldest sister, Preserving her Legacy is my objective. Hell, maybe I&#8217;ll look into getting a HUGE statue.”
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Did any of you sick, racist liberals bitch about George Floyd family recieving millions in donations?
Stop bitching about the thousands raised for my biological sister.
As her oldest sister, Preserving her Legacy is my objective. Hell, maybe I&#39;ll look into getting a HUGE statue <a href="https://t.co/Dte1ku0W0p">https://t.co/Dte1ku0W0p</a> <a href="https://t.co/ldYwHA8ZQi">pic.twitter.com/ldYwHA8ZQi</a>
&mdash; Diamond and Silk® (@DiamondandSilk) <a href="https://twitter.com/DiamondandSilk/status/1613513938041290752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Speaking at CPAC 2020, Diamond asserted, “And another thing to the Democrats: Black people don’t need reparations; they need liberation from the Democrat plantation.”
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<a href="https://twitter.com/DiamondandSilk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DiamondandSilk</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CPAC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CPAC</a> 2020 <a href="https://t.co/sdTTRaWt0n">pic.twitter.com/sdTTRaWt0n</a>
&mdash; CPAC (@CPAC) <a href="https://twitter.com/CPAC/status/1612840490017202177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
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At another juncture, Diamond compared Trump to Joe Biden, stating, “You name one black man that ever wanted to be Joe Biden. &#8230; All black men wanted to be like Donald Trump!”
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THE classic Diamond moment of all time produced for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TrumpforPresident?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TrumpforPresident</a> She was one-of-a-kind!!
&quot;Name one black man who wanted to be like Joe Biden &#8230; all black men wanted to be like Donald Trump!&quot; Priceless!! 😂🤣😂🤣<a href="https://twitter.com/DiamondandSilk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DiamondandSilk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LaraLeaTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LaraLeaTrump</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DonaldJTrumpJr</a> <a href="https://t.co/dkk3YmVvZh">pic.twitter.com/dkk3YmVvZh</a>
&mdash; Mark Serrano (@MarkVSerrano) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkVSerrano/status/1612858122313371653?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
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As far back as 2015, <a href="https://twitter.com/JackieDuVall8/status/1612651182324858881">appearing</a> with former President Donald Trump, Diamond told the crowd. “First of all, I’m glad that the media can see us and all.”
“I want everybody to know that we stand behind Donald J. Trump,” she called. “We support Donald J. Trump. We endorse Donald J. Trump. The silent majority has spoken, baby.”
A 700-pound statue of George Floyd rests outside Newark, New Jersey’s city hall; a sculpture of Floyd was displayed in Union Square in New York City.

President Trump Holds Keep America Great Rally

‘Hell, Maybe I’ll Look Into Getting A Huge Statue’: Silk Cites George Floyd, Mocks Leftists Slamming Her After Sister’s Death

Silk Cites George Floyd, Mocks Leftists Slamming Her After Sister's Death

Diamond and Silk

George Floyd

The city of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Richmond</a>, Virginia, has dug up the remains of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/american-civil-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Confederate General A.P. Hill</a> as it continues to purge Confederate symbols and monuments from public spaces. 
The remains of Hill, which had been buried under a monument to the general, were located on Tuesday after two days of digging. The casket of Hill, who was reportedly buried standing up, was <a href="https://twitter.com/SchneiderG/status/1602707919958675456">rotted</a> away when workers finally found the remains using an excavator. 
According to local reporter Riley Wyant, the remains of Hill were blocked from public view using a tarp before they were transferred into a body bag and wheeled away on a stretcher. The remains were transferred to the general&#8217;s relatives, including John Hill, the general’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-richmond-6c847bb2e6e52a7048d44d2aacc2ef85" target="_blank" rel="noopener">closest</a> indirect descendent. 
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UPDATE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UPDATE</a> as of Noon 🚨 Crews have uncovered A.P. Hill’s remains. They are using a tarp, trucks, and cars to shield them from the public. <a href="https://twitter.com/NBC12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBC12</a> <a href="https://t.co/oTayQQZQnu">pic.twitter.com/oTayQQZQnu</a>
&mdash; Riley Wyant (@rileywyantTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/rileywyantTV/status/1602710458691162113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The city had brought in an excavator to search for Hill’s remains, which <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/richmonds-last-confederate-monument-removed-2227847" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had</a> been buried at an intersection of the city for over 130 years. On top of the grave was a statue of the Confederate soldier. The statue, which was removed via crane on Monday, was the last city-owned Confederate monument to be removed from Richmond.
The removal of the statue and remains comes after a legal battle between the city and descendants of Hill, which was complicated by the monument’s usage as a headstone. The move was hailed by Democratic Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, but decried by Hill&#8217;s relatives. 
“Over two years ago, Richmond was home to more Confederate statues than any city in the United States. Collectively, we have closed that chapter,” Stoney <a href="https://twitter.com/LevarStoney/status/1602351556879421441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>. “We now continue the work of being a more inclusive and welcoming place where ALL belong.”
<div id="attachment_476328" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-476328" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-476328" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245573995-300x200.jpg" alt="RICHMOND, VA - DEC 12: Workers remove the statue of Confederate General A.P. Hill from its pedestal in Richmond, Virginia on December 12, 2022. Hill's remains are buried under the memorial and will be relocated." width="300" height="200" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1245573995-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1245573995-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1245573995-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1245573995.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />(Photo by Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post via Getty Images)</div>
John Hill said he was disappointed to see the statue removed. “It’s been devastating because that is my family name up there, that’s our headstone so we don’t want the city to have possession of it and destroy it,” he <a href="https://www.nbc29.com/2022/12/12/watch-ap-hill-statue-removed-richmond/">said</a>, according to NBC 29. “We wanted his remains to be moved with the headstone so they didn’t have to be disturbed.”
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John Hill, AP Hill’s descendant, and other relatives are here watching the removal. He was fighting the removal of the statue in Richmond court. He said today was a “tough” day and he wanted to ensure the remains are treated fairly. <a href="https://t.co/PqKQuND00G">pic.twitter.com/PqKQuND00G</a>
&mdash; Brendan King CBS 6 (@ImBrendanKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImBrendanKing/status/1602308805534126082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The relative also said the Virginian opposed slavery. “All of his census documents show he never owned a slave and he did not believe in slavery,” he said. Following the war, Hill&#8217;s wife Kitty <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-8Cai6KHXJ0C&amp;pg=PA22&amp;lpg=PA22&amp;dq=shame,+shame+upon+you+all,+good+citizens.+Virginia+must+crawl+unless+you+vindicate+good+order+or+discipline+and+hang+every+son+of+a+bitch+connected+with+this+outrage%22+ap+hill&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=yBKbqIH-De&amp;sig=ACfU3U3PjBP_4S37ni6bwsV6ROVOtl9yUQ&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwje-pzb2fb7AhUSg4kEHb6MCykQ6AF6BAgXEAM#v=onepage&amp;q=shame%2C%20shame%20upon%20you%20all%2C%20good%20citizens.%20Virginia%20must%20crawl%20unless%20you%20vindicate%20good%20order%20or%20discipline%20and%20hang%20every%20son%20of%20a%20bitch%20connected%20with%20this%20outrage%22%20ap%20hill&amp;f=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> that Hill had not supported slavery. 
Hill’s remains are expected to be moved to a Culpeper cemetery, nearby to where the Confederate general grew up. The monument itself has been moved to storage while Hill’s descendants and the city fight for control. The city wants to give it to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia while Hill’s family hopes to place it at a battlefield where he fought. 
Born in Culpeper, Virginia, in 1825, Ambrose Powell Hill <a href="https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-civil-war/ambrose-p-hill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attended</a> West Point in the 1840s, where he was roommates with future Union Major General George McClellan, who would be a commander of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. The future enemies would become friends during school, and Hill was even in McClellan’s wedding. 
Before the Civil War, Hill wrote in the 1850s of his disgust at the lynching of a black man in his hometown who had been accused of murder. “Shame, shame upon all you, good citizens,” he said at the time <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-8Cai6KHXJ0C&amp;pg=PA22&amp;lpg=PA22&amp;dq=shame,+shame+upon+you+all,+good+citizens.+Virginia+must+crawl+unless+you+vindicate+good+order+or+discipline+and+hang+every+son+of+a+bitch+connected+with+this+outrage%22+ap+hill&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=yBKbqIH-De&amp;sig=ACfU3U3PjBP_4S37ni6bwsV6ROVOtl9yUQ&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwje-pzb2fb7AhUSg4kEHb6MCykQ6AF6BAgXEAM#v=onepage&amp;q=shame%2C%20shame%20upon%20you%20all%2C%20good%20citizens.%20Virginia%20must%20crawl%20unless%20you%20vindicate%20good%20order%20or%20discipline%20and%20hang%20every%20son%20of%20a%20bitch%20connected%20with%20this%20outrage%22%20ap%20hill&amp;f=false">according</a> to late Virginia Tech historian James I. Robertson, Jr. “Virginia must crawl unless you vindicate good order or discipline and hang every son of a b**** connected with the outrage.” 
During the war, Hill rose to prominence because of his key contributions at the battles of Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Petersburg. Hill is <a href="https://archive.ph/C34ga" target="_blank" rel="noopener">credited</a> with saving Robert E. Lee&#8217;s army at Antietam when he launched a counterattack in the battle, which saw 22,000 casualties. 
Hill was killed at Petersburg on April 2, 1865, just days before the end of the war, leaving behind his wife and three daughters. 
The removal of the Hill statue and grave follows other prominent monument removals in Richmond, including statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.

A.P. Hill memorial removed in Richmond

City Digs Up Remains Of Confederate General After Taking Down Statue

American Civil War

Virginia

A court in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pennsylvania</a> ruled Friday that the city of Philadelphia must uncover a statue of Christopher Columbus.
The Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza in South Philadelphia had been enclosed in a plywood box after it was at the center of protests in 2020. But the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled Friday that the box must be taken off, affirming a ruling by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. Instead, the court authorized the construction of a clear structure around the statue.
“As a proud Citizen of Philadelphia, I am delighted that both Judge Patrick of the Court of Common Pleas and the Judges of the Commonwealth Court have boldly reaffirmed that the rule of law still matters,&#8221; George Bochetto, lawyer for the group Friends of Marconi Plaza, said in a statement Friday, via <a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/marconi-plaza-philadelphia-columbus-statue/2986317/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC 10</a>. &#8220;That we are not a society ruled by cancel culture mobs. That all ethnic groups can proudly protect and honor their diverse heritages.&#8221;
Friends of Marconi Plaza, a neighborhood organization recognized by the city as the official private caretakers of the park, sued in 2021 to stop city officials from removing the statue after the Philadelphia Historical and Art Commissions both voted to have it removed in the wake of the 2020 riots, and the city&#8217;s Licensing and Inspection Review Board sided with the city and moved forward with taking the statue down.
The Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County ruled in favor of Friends of Marconi Plaza in 2021, halting the removal of the statue.
The <a href="https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Commonwealth/out/938CD21_12-9-22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commonwealth Court</a> upheld the lower court&#8217;s ruling. In a separate order shared by Fox 29 News reporter Steve Keeley, the court affirmed the lower court’s decision in part, directing the city to remove the plywood enclosure; however, it also reversed the decision in part, authorizing the construction of a clear structure around the statue.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“The order is affirmed insofar as it directs the City of Philadelphia to remove the plywood structure covering the Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza” <a href="https://twitter.com/FOX29philly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FOX29philly</a> <a href="https://t.co/p5XoIfdVUZ">pic.twitter.com/p5XoIfdVUZ</a>
— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeleyFox29/status/1601289721036288000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
A spokesperson for Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the city was &#8220;very disappointed in the Court’s ruling,&#8221; but would comply with the court&#8217;s ruling, including unboxing the statue. &#8220;While we will respect this decision, we will also continue to explore our options for a way forward that allows Philadelphians to celebrate their heritage and culture while respecting the histories and circumstances of everyone’s different backgrounds,&#8221; the spokesman said.
The statue, first erected in 1876 and moved in 1976, was targeted by protesters in the summer of 2020 in the midst of riots over the death of George Floyd, which included tearing down statues of historical figures around the country. But South Philadelphia residents, mainly Italian-Americans, showed up to the park to guard the statue from protesters.
<a href="https://twitter.com/UncleSamsTribe/status/1272991176174567431?s=20&amp;t=tMhH1VUX0-qs19Mjy59QgA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Viral videos</a> from the time showed the neighbors <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeSolis/status/1271959870984650756?s=20&amp;t=Il6TT58q_J50vgN0n8sScQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guarding</a> the statue, armed with bats and other weapons. Kenney responded to the protests by covering the statue with the plywood box. He also tried to have the statue <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/philadelphia-mayor-wants-columbus-statue-removed-cites-public-safety" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taken down</a>.
&#8220;Like many communities across the country, Philadelphia is in the midst of a much-needed reckoning about the legacy of systemic racism and oppression in this country and around the world,&#8221; he said at the time. &#8220;Part of that reckoning requires reexamining what historical figures deserve to be commemorated in our public spaces. In recent weeks, clashes between individuals who support the statue of Christopher Columbus in Marconi Plaza and those who are distressed by its existence have deteriorated—creating a concerning public safety situation that cannot be allowed to continue.&#8221;
In October, City Councilman Mark Squilla, whose district borders the park, requested that the box be painted with the colors of the Italian flag ahead of Columbus Day, <a href="https://www.fox29.com/news/court-rules-box-covering-columbus-statue-in-south-philadelphia-must-be-removed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox 29</a> reported.

Statue of Christopher Columbus in Marconi Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PA Court Rules Philadelphia Must Uncover Christopher Columbus Statue

Pennsylvania Court Rules Christopher Columbus Statue In South Philadelphia Must Be Uncovered

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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/princeton-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Princeton University</a> has formed a committee to determine the fate of an on-campus <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/statues" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statue</a> of influential <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/founding-fathers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Founding Father</a> John Witherspoon, who also served as the sixth president of the school.
After complaints from students about Witherspoon, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a mentor to James Madison, the university <a href="https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2022/11/cpuc-committee-on-naming-proposal-john-witherspoon-statue-petition-removal-replacement-plaque" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that it would be looking at proposals to remove the 10-foot-tall <a href="https://www.nj.com/news/2022/11/a-statue-of-a-slave-owner-princeton-could-remove-distraction-from-campus.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bronze cast</a> statue from its current location.
“We believe, first, that the statue pays great honor to Witherspoon, and encourages members of the University community to honor Witherspoon. Second, we believe that paying such honor to someone who participated actively in the enslavement of human beings, and used his scholarly gifts to defend the practice, is today a distraction from the University’s mission,” students <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScOFsk6bIFvhAuWptVMZDWtd8-3pvjlBhA5pU-gk8ToFrbE9A/viewform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in a petition to the university’s naming commission and Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber.
In place of the statue, which was put up in 2001, the students would like a plaque placed instead that includes details about Witherspoon’s “negative” legacy, specifically that he owned two slaves. They argued that his presence on campus was a “distraction” and that the monument to him could be a “jarring” experience because of his racial views.
“Over the next few weeks, the naming committee will be holding listening sessions for faculty, students, staff, and alumni to share their views on the issue,” said Nakia White Barr, the assistant vice president for the president’s office, on November 14.
The petition to take down Witherspoon was launched by students over the summer, but university officials are now <a href="https://namingcommittee.princeton.edu/witherspoon-statue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking</a> it under consideration, promising to conduct “rigorous research.”
While Witherspoon is not as widely known as other founders like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, or Alexander Hamilton, the Presbyterian minister played a large role in leading his home state, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-jersey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Jersey</a>, to support American independence. Adams even once <a href="https://newcriterion.com/issues/2006/6/the-forgotten-founder-john-witherspoon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> him &#8220;as high a Son of Liberty, as any man in America.&#8221;
Witherspoon was <a href="https://www.dsdi1776.com/signer/john-witherspoon/#:~:text=Several%20of%20his%20descendants%20were%20officers%20in%20the%20Confederate%20States%20and%20were%20active%20in%20the%20traitor’s%20cause%20of%20the%20southern%20rebellion." target="_blank" rel="noopener">born</a> in Scotland in 1723 before he moved to New Jersey in 1767 to take the job as president of Princeton, where he taught classes and also served a Presbyterian minister. Before dying in 1794, Witherspoon had established himself as an intellectual, statesman, and had the distinction of being the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.
During his tenure teaching moral philosophy among other subjects at Princeton, Witherspoon <a href="https://nassauchurch.org/about/princetoncemetery/cemetery-bios/cemetery-bio10/">would</a> lecture to many future leaders in the early American republic, including  39 congressmen, 21 senators, 12 governors, nine Cabinet members, and three Supreme Court justices.
Like many of the founders, Witherspoon’s record on slavery <a href="https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/campus-art/objects/45223?lat=40.348682&amp;lon=-74.658511" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was</a> mixed. While he did own two slaves, he also supported and participated in the education of freed slaves. One slave he baptized while in Scotland gained freedom because of the baptism. He also considered slavery “unlawful,” but believed that it would soon die out in New Jersey.
Witherspoon, who had 11 children, married Elizabeth Montgomery in 1748. After Elizabeth died in 1789, Witherspoon married Anne Marshall Dill, who was decades younger than him.
Throughout the 1770s, Witherspoon advocated for American independence and resistance to British rule as both a minister and a two-time delegate to the Continental Congress. In an essay entitled “Thoughts on American Liberty,” Witherspoon wrote that war would be preferable to having “slavery riveted upon us and our posterity.”
In perhaps his most famous sermon given in May 1776, entitled the “Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men,” Witherspoon <a href="https://oll.libertyfund.org/page/1776-witherspoon-dominion-of-providence-over-the-passions-of-men-sermon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">linked</a> “civil liberty” and “true religion.”
“There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage,” he said.
The sermon was widely recognized as inspiring Americans to continue their resistance to the British, providing a religious rationale for the rebellion as well.
“God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable, and that the unjust attempts to destroy the one, may in the issue tend to the support and establishment of both,” he concluded in the sermon, which is considered one of the most influential sermons of the Revolutionary era.
The war also had a personal cost for the Calvinist who had one of his sons killed in 1777 during the battle of Germantown in Pennsylvania, a defeat for George Washington’s Continental Army. 
While representing New Jersey at the Continental Congress, Witherspoon supported American independence and continued his work for Princeton. Following the American victory in 1783, Witherspoon would sign the Articles of Confederation before supporting the ratification of the Constitution in 1789.
He also continued his works as a leader in America’s Presbyterian Church, being a key figure in the denomination’s first General Assembly. Largely due to the influence of colonials like Witherspoon, the American Revolution has sometimes been <a href="https://thefounding.net/the-influence-of-the-bible-on-the-founding-era-the-presbyterian-rebellion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referred</a> to as the “Presbyterian Rebellion.”

Statue of John Witherspoon, Princeton University

Princeton Considering Removing Statue Of Its Former President And Influential Founding Father

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A petition to replace the statue of Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the Ukrainian city of Odessa with a statue of a gay porn star has amassed enough signatures that it must be considered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The <a href="https://petition.president.gov.ua/petition/141740">petition</a>, which was started by Ukrainian activists and posted to the President of Ukraine&#8217;s official website on May 20, garnered more than 26,000 signatures as of Wednesday. It would replace the statue of the late 18th-century ruler with a statue of American porn star Billy Herrington. The petition blasts Catherine the Great as a &#8220;controversial historical figure whose actions caused great damage to Ukrainian statehood and culture,&#8221; and demands that the statue be removed as a rebuke to Russian culture.
&#8220;Catherine II is a controversial historical figure whose actions caused great damage to Ukrainian statehood and culture,&#8221; the petition states. &#8220;The very fact of erecting this monument was a terrible mistake, and every day of its continued existence signals that Odesa is in the zone of Russian cultural influence. It&#8217;s time to change that.&#8221; The petition argues that the statue should be taken down as a renunciation of &#8220;infamous&#8221; Russian heritage and a &#8220;loud statement that Odessa is not some provincial town of the Russian Empire.&#8221; Furthermore, it states, the statue should be replaced as a &#8220;clear signal that Ukraine supports the LGBT community.&#8221;
The petition adds further that erecting the statue of the porn actor would be &#8220;fun and funny,&#8221; and says that &#8220;all students of Odesa universities will be able to drink beer with Billy Herrington after receiving their diploma.&#8221; The petition also claims that &#8220;the figure of Billy Herrington has a great cultural influence on the Internet and the appearance of such a monument will become a very popular tourist attraction.&#8221; The statue would be ripe for &#8220;memes,&#8221; the petition concludes.
The Ukrainian constitution protects the right of citizens to petition the local and national government. <a href="https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/en/254%D0%BA/96-%D0%B2%D1%80#Text">Article 40</a> of the Constitution states:
<blockquote>Everyone shall have the right to file individual or collective petitions, or to personally appeal to government authorities, local government, officials and officers of these authorities that are obliged to consider the petitions and provide a substantiated reply within the term established by law.</blockquote>
According to the <a href="https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/legalizing-same-sex-marriage-to-be-debated-by-ukrainian-government-following-petition.html">Kyiv Post</a>, a Ukrainian English-language newspaper, petitions that acquire 25,000 signatures are automatically sent to the President of Ukraine for consideration. The President must then respond to the issue raised in the petition within 10 days of it reaching his desk.
Catherine II, commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the last empress to rule over Russia and its longest-ruling female ruler, from her coronation in 1762 until her death in 1796. Under her watch, Russia expanded its territory, annexing the Novorossiya region (where Odessa is located), as well as Crimea and parts of western Ukraine. The <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/foreign/zelensky-petition-statue-catherine-great-gay-porn-star-odessa">Washington Examiner</a> reports that the statue in Odessa was built in 1900, to commemorate her founding of the city in 1794. But she has become a controversial figure in recent years, and multiple groups have demanded the statue be removed.
Herrington appeared in a number of gay porn films in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He became the subject of internet memes in the late 2000s when edited videos of his pornographic films, called &#8220;gachimuchi,&#8221; began circulating on video-sharing websites in Japan. He was killed in a car accident in California in 2018.
The petition comes on the heels of another petition asking the country to recognize same-sex marriage in Ukraine. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62134804">BBC</a> reported Tuesday that that petition garnered some 28,000 signatures, sending the petition to Zelensky&#8217;s desk.

Catherine the Great statue Odessa

Ukrainian President Must Consider Petition To Replace Statue Of Empress Catherine The Great In Odessa With Gay Porn Star

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