A host of historic artifacts, including firearms linked to two presidents, are being sold this weekend, giving bidders the rare opportunity to own the gun of a former president.
The Illinois-based Rock Island Auction Company (RIA) is auctioning off a trove of historic guns, swords, and other items this weekend, including a factory-engraved Smith &amp; Wesson Model No. 3 single-action <a href="https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/84" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revolver</a> that belonged to former President Theodore Roosevelt.
“Any time you can have a Teddy Roosevelt item, he’s such a man of his times, it’s very exciting,” Joel Kolander, interactive production manager for RIA, told The Daily Wire. “I’ve been working for Rock Island Auction Company for ten years, I can count on one hand the amount of presidential-tied items that we have had.”
The revolver, which could go for up to $1.4 million or more, was shipped to Roosevelt just before he left the U.S. in 1898 to fight in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt did not end up using the gun during the war, instead carrying one that had been salvaged from the USS Maine. The Maine had exploded under mysterious circumstances, precipitating the war with Spain.
“It’s [in] remarkable condition,” Kolander said, “It’s almost fortunate that this revolver did not go off to war because there’s no way that it would have survived in the condition that it did.” The gun, which has been held in a private collection, was factory engraved by the Youngs, a family known at the time for their skill at engraving.
<div id="attachment_475288" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-475288" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-475288" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/image1-300x227.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="227" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/image1-300x227.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/image1.jpeg 320w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Photo Courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Company.</div>
The auction company sold a gold hunting knife belonging to Roosevelt in 2016 for over $400,000. Kolander said one reason Roosevelt is still so popular is because he embodies American values like rugged individualism.
“For us as Americans or anyone who appreciates some of those traditional American values, Teddy Roosevelt is absolutely someone that’s going to appeal to them,” he said.
Another presidential-linked item at the auction is a <a href="https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/1242" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Burnside Carbine</a> that former President Abraham Lincoln presented in 1862 to John J. Crittenden, an influential Kentucky statesman who worked to keep Kentucky in the Union during the Civil War.
The gun, which had been kept by the descendants of Crittenden until 1992, is expected to go for between $100,000 and $300,000.
Other items available at the auction <a href="https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/1265" target="_blank" rel="noopener">include</a> the battle and dress swords of Brigadier General John W. M. Appleton, who was one of the white officers leading the 54th Massachusetts, the second African-American regiment during the Civil War. A <a href="https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/1238/general-sickles-excelsior-brigade-sword" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sword</a> belonging to Medal of Honor recipient and Gettysburg hero General Dan Sickles, expected to go for between $30,000 and $50,000, can also be purchased.

Digitally restored vector artwork of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders at the top of the hill which they captured, Battle of San Juan. Circa 1898.

Rare Opportunity: President And Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt’s Revolver Goes Up For Auction

Rare Opportunity: President And Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt's Revolver Goes Up For Auction

American History

General

Guns

Theodore Roosevelt

U.S.

Gerontocracy (noun) : rule by elders: specifically, a form of social organization in which a group of old men or a council of elders dominates or exercises control.
Two-hundred forty-five years.
Two-hundred forty-five years ago the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia during the Second Continental Congress. Two-hundred forty-five years also happens to be the cumulative ages of the current Speaker of the House (Nancy Pelosi), House majority leader (Steny Hoyer) and majority whip (Jim Clyburn).
All three of them, of course, have declared they are running for re-election no matter how calamitous the midterm elections turn out to be for their own party.
The Senate is now the oldest it has been in all of American history. Last year, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/06/02/senate-age-term-limits/">noted,</a> “Twenty-three members of the Senate are in their 70’s; only one is under 40. According to the Congressional Research Service, the average age of senators at the beginning of this year was 64.3 years—the oldest in history.”
My senator, Dianne Feinstein, turns 89 next month and has been the subject of <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/dianne-feinstein-senate-17079487.php">a whisper campaign</a> questioning her mental capacity to continue in the job. Charles Grassley, of Iowa, has been a senator for over four decades.
Elderly senators are not a new phenomenon, of course—Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948 and, 53 years later, was not only still in office, but was actually third in line to the presidency as President Pro Tempore. Robert Byrd, of West Virginia, required <a href="https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20100628/NEWS/306289979/sen-robert-byrd-of-west-virginia-dead-at-92">two canes to walk</a> and, towards the end of his career, needed a wheelchair to travel around the capital.  
Joe Biden will be 82 years old at the end of his current term of office. He has already <a href="https://thehill.com/news/administration/3272281-biden-has-told-obama-hes-running-again/">told President Obama</a> he plans on running again in 2024. If Bernie Sanders had won the nomination and general election in 2020, he would have been 83 at the end of his first term. If Donald Trump pulls a Grover Cleveland and becomes the second non-consecutive two-term president in American history, he would be 82 at the end of his second term. 
In the past seventeen years, three sitting members of the Supreme Court have died while still serving. In the aftermath of a stroke, William O. Douglas’s health was so imperiled his fellow justices decided he would no longer write opinions and even said they would <a href="https://wamu.org/story/19/01/23/from-cover-ups-to-secret-plots-the-murky-history-of-supreme-justices-health/">refuse to count his vote</a> if he was part of a 5-4 majority. At 80 and suffering from thyroid cancer, William Rehnquist unequivocally <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/politics/rehnquist-denies-rumor-of-retirement.html">announced</a>, “I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement. I am not about to announce my retirement.” John Paul Stevens was 90 when he finally decided to retire. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 87 when she passed away, almost certainly attempting to serve until a Democrat president could replace her.    
Yes, we have an age problem in our nation’s capital. 
Essays bemoaning the advanced age of the United States Congress and Judiciary are all the rage these days—<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/03/gerontocracy-is-hurting-american-democracy.html">New York Magazine</a>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/supreme-court-retirement-age/616458/">The Atlantic</a>, and The Washington Post have all published them recently. But it isn’t just the Senate. 
 It’s clear we have a holistic age problem in our system of government and it is present at the commanding heights of all three branches of government.  
Don’t get me wrong. I have a deep and profound reverence for our elders, especially in the realm of political discourse. I’d much rather have the Pelosi-Hoyer-Clyburn trifecta running things in the House than “The Squad.” Henry Clay came out of retirement to help craft the Compromise of 1850 and avoid a premature Civil War. President Reagan was one of the most significant presidents of the 20th century and was also the oldest in history at the time. 
Older representatives and senators tend to be humbler in their capacities, more generous towards their colleagues, and aware of the arduous but necessary task of coalition-building through brokering consensus. They are not engulfed by the braggadocio and balderdash required to make a splash on social media or cable news. I am even beginning to much prefer an elderly Jerry Brown to a spry Gavin Newsom. 
Still. 
In order for our institutions to function properly, they must be populated by public servants who are unencumbered by the ailments of advancing age. The essential problem with a gerontocracy is that, in the winter of life, a four or six or life term can translate into a public servant possessing far different capacities at the end of a term than at the beginning. It is not ageist to worry about President Biden’s capacity two years into the future. It is not ageist to believe, like <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/supreme-court-retirement-age/616458/">Canada, Britain and Australia do,</a> that judges should not be allowed to continue in their jobs in perpetuity, regardless of their mental or physical state.   
The Founders were certainly concerned with age, but not old age, perhaps because they had achieved so much as young men. Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence at thirty-three. Madison wrote the Virginia Plan when he was merely thirty-six years old and his collaborator on The Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, was a buoyant thirty years of age at the Philadelphia convention. Teddy Roosevelt ascended to the presidency at the age of forty-two.  In Federalist Paper 62, Madison argued that minimum age requirements would provide for a “stability of character.” 
So, why were maximum age limits not discussed in Philadelphia? 
Obviously, people didn’t live as long as they live today. It simply wasn’t an option for leaders to serve in office decades beyond the peak of their vitality. 
But here is the real constitutional conundrum: notions of leadership and public virtue were wholly different during the genesis of the American republic. Overt political ambition was considered gauche and public service was supposed to be a temporary activity, not a way of life or career. Even those who clamored for power had to camouflage their ultimate aspirations in a veneer of oblique indifference. Madison had to beg Washington to chair the Constitutional Convention. Jefferson stepped back and let Madison take part in the party machinations that would eventually deliver TJ the presidency in 1800. Active campaigning was a prima facie disqualification for higher office. 
Not so today. 
No one pretends anymore. As much as normal people wonder why Pelosi, Feinstein, and Grassley don’t decide to spend more time with their grandchildren or take more Viking cruises, the modern reality is their thirst for political power often outweighs their capacity to effectively exercise it. Older congressmen and senators become far too reliant on staff to carry out their responsibilities. Supreme Court justices lean on their clerks. And in the case of President Biden, youthful and more progressive advisors clearly have many hands on the wheel of policymaking at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.   
There is a clear—admittedly undemocratic—solution at our disposal: amend the Constitution to set mandatory retirement ages for all three branches. What those ages should be and if they should differ from branch to branch is up for debate. Career politicians and lifetime appointees require an additional check on their power; a 28th amendment would be a logical and just measure to find a middle ground between pursuing a noble life of public service and endlessly indulging venal quests for power and position.          
Jeremy S. Adams is the author of the recently-released Amazon best-selling book Hollowed Out: A Warning About America&#8217;s Next Generation. He has taught American civics for 24 years in Bakersfield, California and was the 2014 California Teacher of the Year (DAR). You can follow him on Twitter @JeremyAdams6.

Adams – It’s Time to End the DC Geriatracy

It’s Time to End the D.C. Gerontocracy

Dianne Feinstein

Joe Biden

Politics

Readers Pass

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Supreme Court

The Squad

U.S. Senate

In life, even an assassin’s bullet couldn’t stop a Bull Moose. In death, all it took was a dose of cancel culture.
At 2:00 AM on January 19, the statue of Teddy Roosevelt that stood for 80 years outside of New York’s Museum of Natural History – a monument not only to the man himself, but to his supreme confidence in the innate goodness of the American people – was wrapped in a sheet and carted off to North Dakota. Protests that his image “glorified colonialism” had claimed another victim.
Ironically, the now-empty pedestal is a short distance from the spot where angry New Yorkers once toppled the equestrian statue of King George III, an act for which George Washington threatened to hang anyone who touched another statue or memorial.
Earlier this year the House of Representatives voted to remove from America’s veterans’ hospitals and cemeteries the creedal words of Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address: “Let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/abraham-lincoln/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/abraham-lincoln/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643473753867000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0lRpbS_IMRv9QhhrXJmETR">him</a> who shall have borne the battle, and for <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/abraham-lincoln/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/abraham-lincoln/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643473753867000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0lRpbS_IMRv9QhhrXJmETR">his</a> widow, and <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/abraham-lincoln/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/abraham-lincoln/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643473753867000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0lRpbS_IMRv9QhhrXJmETR">his </a>orphan.” 
If Honest Abe is on the chopping block, then the very idea of America is under siege. The late British philosopher Roger Scruton described this as the “culture of repudiation”. The prevailing liberal clerisy is beset by the fanatical loathing of everything that is America—the deconstruction of all aspects of our political, spiritual, and cultural inheritance.
As millions of parents discovered during the epidemic, the dogmatic cultural relativism of that clerisy is deliberately destroying the capacity of Americans to judge what is truly uplifting about our society and why over one million Americans died trying to preserve it.
The culture of repudiation has given us, as Daniel Mahoney, a professor emeritus at Assumption College, calls it “coercive and moralistic political correctness that rejects objectivity, truth and tradition.” Hence Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt are tossed aside as irredeemable oppressors, not men of good conscious confronting the exigencies of their times&#8211;men who created an imperfect but spiritually and morally sublime Republic. Failure to recognize and celebrate their achievements is to acquiesce in the suicide of America and the West.
The United States is the last station on a western continuum running from ancient Jerusalem through Athens and Rome to London. This is the continuum that gave the world its understanding of liberty and human dignity. America is the expression of 3,000 years of historical and religious memory. The emphasis is on memory, what G.K. Chesterton described as the “democracy of the dead” that “refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.”
Let us leave with thoughts with one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, himself half-American by birth — Sir Winston Churchill. His epic, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, written in the midst of the Cold War, concludes with this:
“And this is not the end. Another phase looms before us, in which alliance will once more be tested and in which its formidable virtues may be to preserve Peace and Freedom. The future is unknowable, but the past should give us hope.”
&#8220;The United States remains the world’s last best hope. As Andrew Roberts states in his addendum to Churchill’s masterpiece, if another power or powers should replace us, “the human race will come to mourn the passing of this most decent, honest, generous, fair minded and self-sacrificing imperium.” The President of the United States and his allies should think about that.
A former secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Robert L. Wilkie is a visiting fellow in the The Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense.

Readers-Pass—Wilkie—America-Under-Siege–Teddy-Roosevelt-is-Only-the-Latest-Casualty

America Under Siege: Teddy Roosevelt Is Only The Latest Casualty

Cancel Culture

A statue of President Theodore Roosevelt will be relocated from the front of the American Museum of Natural History, where it has stood for more than 80 years.
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation announced in a press release Friday that the statue of the President, Naturalist, and Founder of the National Park Service, will be moved to Roosevelt’s Presidential Library, which is set to open in 2026. 
“The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library … today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the City of New York for the longterm loan and reconsideration of the Equestrian Statue designed by James Earle Fraser, which was commissioned by the Board of Trustees of the New York State Roosevelt Memorial in 1929 and has stood on the steps of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City since 1940,” the statement reads in part. 
The statement then explained that the reason for the relocation was because the statue was “problematic,” and lacked “consent and context.”
“The board of the TR Library believes the Equestrian Statue is problematic in its composition. Moreover, its current location denies passersby consent and context. The agreement with the City allows the TR Library to relocate the statue for storage while considering a display that would enable it to serve as an important tool to study the nation’s past.” 
“With the support of members of the Roosevelt family, the TR Library will establish an Advisory Council composed of representatives of the Indigenous Tribal and Black communities, historians, scholars, and artists to guide the recontextualization of the statue.”
“The Equestrian Statue is problematic in its hierarchical depiction of its subjects and should be removed from New York State’s official memorial to Theodore Roosevelt,&#8221; said Theodore Roosevelt V, the great-grandson of the former president, in the statement. &#8220;Rather than burying a troubling work of art, we ought to learn from it. It is fitting that the statue is being relocated to a place where its composition can be recontextualized to facilitate difficult, complex, and inclusive discussions.&#8221; 
<blockquote>“We are grateful to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library for proposing a fitting new home for the Equestrian Statue,” said Vicki Been, New York City&#8217;s Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development. “This long-term loan would allow an important part of the City’s art collection to be appropriately contextualized, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Library on next steps.”</blockquote>
The museum will handle the statue’s relocation in coordination with the city of New York, the statement said. The city’s Public Design Commission must approve the statue’s relocation and any plans to display the statue. The Commission voted unanimously in June to relocate the statue, amid claims that the statue symbolizes racism and colonialism, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/11/22/natural-history-museums-theodore-roosevelt-statue-headed-to-north-dakota/">New York Post</a>. Museum officials proposed the removal of the statue, which depicts Roosevelt on horseback, with a black man on his left side and a Native American on his right, in 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests and the nationwide movement to remove statues of famous figures over allegations of racism and colonialism.

Theodore Roosevelt Equestrian Statue

‘Problematic’ Theodore Roosevelt Statue To Be Removed From NYC’s Museum Of Natural History

Museum

New York City

Statues

Portland&#8217;s &#8220;Day of Rage&#8221; protests, which rampaged through the city, targeting statues of &#8220;controversial&#8221; historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, began with a group looking to &#8220;decolonize society&#8221; and &#8220;abolish colonial systems&#8221; that promote racism, according to <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/10/latest-call-for-direct-action-escalated-portland-protest-destruction-pushed-for-anonymity.html">Oregon Live</a>.
But despite the group&#8217;s clear call to action on social media, law enforcement &#8212; and Portland mayor Ted Wheeler &#8212; say those who perpetrated Sunday night&#8217;s violence and destruction may be hard to identify and arrest, even those who broke into the Oregon Historical Museum and stole a priceless artifact (the artifact, at least, has since been recovered, though it sustained considerable damage).
Part of the problem is that more than 100 days on from the start of the Portland unrest, law enforcement, and city government still do not have a handle on who is organizing the demonstrations that often turn into violent and destructive riots.
&#8220;After months of demonstrations punctuated by violent clashes or vandalism, many of the city’s most militant protesters remain largely elusive or unknown,&#8221; Oregon Live notes. &#8220;Calls to action by often anonymous organizers spread rapidly among left-wing activists on social media and can come together in a matter of hours.&#8221;
&#8220;Protest organizers using the Twitter account Generational Resistance started promoting an &#8216;Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage&#8217; only the day before,&#8221; the outlet notes, adding that Portland&#8217;s protest community is already primed and the only thing missing, typically, is direction. &#8220;The event generated an immediate interest in activist circles that have demanded an end to systemic racism and police brutality since the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.&#8221;
The group, which seems oddly similar to nearly every other &#8220;anarchist&#8221; or &#8220;anti-fascist&#8221; Portland organization, released a vague mission statement &#8212; “We stand to decolonize ourselves and decolonize society by working to abolish colonial systems rooted in racism and build a community rooted in liberation&#8221; &#8212; and called for the abolition of law enforcement, prisons, and capitalism.
A group of 200 people ultimately gathered to topple both Lincoln and Roosevelt, but they also tried to burn parts of the Oregon Historical Museum before stealing a quilt depicting landmarks in black and indigenous history. Police extinguished the small fires and eventually recovered the quilt several blocks away, largely intact but suffering from rips, tears, and bleeding.
Portland&#8217;s chief of police seemed helpless at a Monday press conference.
&#8220;Police Chief Chuck Lovell said during a morning press conference that the bureau would continue to investigate suspected crimes committed at the South Park Blocks demonstration,&#8221; Oregon Live noted. &#8220;However, when asked, Lovell couldn’t say who the organizers of the event were if or if they had ties to Portland’s Indigenous community. And while the chief said Portland police had known about the protest in advance, they had no idea where demonstrators intended to march or what they planned to do.&#8221;
President Donald Trump tweeted, on Monday, pointing out the Portland government&#8217;s lack of control over the situation and blaming Wheeler for refusing federal assistance in identifying and controlling agitators.
“The Radical Left fools in Portland don’t want any help from real Law Enforcement which we will provide instantaneously. Vote!,&#8221; Trump said, calling the rioters Biden supporters.

Portland

Portland’s ‘Day Of Rage’ Reveals City’s Lack Of Control Over ‘Anti-Fascist’ Rioters

Abraham Lincoln

Antifa

Counter-protesters gathered outside a statue of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-older-woman-told-to-check-her-privilege-by-protester-who-wants-statue-pulled-down-thats-the-best-you-got-little-boy">Teddy Roosevelt</a> in New York City on Sunday, defending the monument of the 26th president of the United States from protesters advocating its removal.
During the counter-demonstration, Gavin Mario Wax, president of the New York Young Republican Club, gave an impassioned speech about standing up to left-wing activists and protesters who wants to erase our history and destroy our cities. Wax also repeatedly took shots at elected Republicans for their apparent weak response to the left&#8217;s increasingly radical activism.
Immediately following the speech, a chant of &#8220;USA&#8221; broke out, and, later, the counter-protesters sang the national anthem, together.
&#8220;Where are our leaders?&#8221; started Wax. &#8220;They never, ever deliver, I don&#8217;t care what party they are from.&#8221;
&#8220;Where are they for our statues, where are they for our flag, where are they for our police officers? Nowhere. I don&#8217;t care what letter is next to your name, if you&#8217;re not defending this country, you don&#8217;t get my vote and I hope they don&#8217;t get your vote.&#8221;
&#8220;Thank God we do have someone with some (expletive), some chutzpah in the White House who&#8217;s gonna stand up and protect our people, protect our history,&#8221; Wax said of President Donald Trump.
&#8220;The other day, [Trump] passed an executive order that said up to ten years in prison for anyone caught defacing and destroying American monuments,&#8221; the Republican leader said. &#8220;God bless that.&#8221;
&#8220;They pillage our cities, they loot our stores, they destroy our communities, they erase our history,&#8221; Wax said of radical protesters, activists, and rioters. &#8220;Enough is enough. Basta.&#8221;
&#8220;I wish we had the party here, the elected [Republicans] here. Where are they?&#8221; he added, before a chant of &#8220;USA&#8221; broke out.
Later during the demonstration, the counter-protesters sang the national anthem (see below).
An older woman attending the event told Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura that those who want to rid of us &#8220;offensive&#8221; monuments and statues are participating in the erasure of American history.
“What they’re doing is trying to erase history,” the woman said. “Teddy Roosevelt is one of our greatest presidents ever. … It takes my breath away that something as beautiful and as magnificent as that (statue), and Chirlane McCray, the mayor’s wife, deems it unfit.”
“This is not about race anymore, it never really was, this is about taking apart the fabric of America” she continued. “This is all about the fabric of America. They want us to read their narrative; freedom of speech so long as we say what they want us to say. Any kind of freedom at all is all about their narrative, the radical Left’s narrative.”
“We can’t allow that anymore,” added the counter-protester. “This is America. We stand with all races, all colors, all creeds. People came to this country to seek those freedom, and now, from the inside out, they wanna take them away. It’s not gonna work. We won’t allow it.”
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;They pillage our cities, they loot our stores, they destroy our communities. Enough is enough. BASTA&quot; <a href="https://t.co/7vMMUaYCIQ">pic.twitter.com/7vMMUaYCIQ</a>
&mdash; Gavin Mario Wax 🇺🇸 (@GavinWax) <a href="https://twitter.com/GavinWax/status/1277484017407967232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
GOD BLESS AMERICA. Never apologize. Never kneel. Do not be ashamed of our great nation. <a href="https://t.co/WvFdtJeGsW">pic.twitter.com/WvFdtJeGsW</a>
&mdash; Gavin Mario Wax 🇺🇸 (@GavinWax) <a href="https://twitter.com/GavinWax/status/1277489075952508928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-older-woman-told-to-check-her-privilege-by-protester-who-wants-statue-pulled-down-thats-the-best-you-got-little-boy">WATCH: Older Woman Told To Check Her ‘Privilege’ By Protester Who Wants Statue Pulled Down: ‘That’s The Best You Got, Little Boy?’</a>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Counter-Protest In NYC

WATCH: Young Republicans Leader Gives Impassioned Speech Outside Teddy Roosevelt Statue, National Anthem Breaks Out

monuments

Racism

The American Museum of Natural History announced that it&#8217;s moving its famed statue of Teddy Roosevelt inside the museum. One Hollywood actor thinks he has the perfect replacement, and it will still be Teddy Roosevelt (sort of).
&#8220;The bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt, on horseback and flanked by a Native American man and an African man, which has presided over the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History in New York since 1940, is coming down,&#8221; museum president Ellen Futter told The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/arts/design/roosevelt-statue-to-be-removed-from-museum-of-natural-history.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes">New York Times</a>.
&#8220;Over the last few weeks, our museum community has been profoundly moved by the ever-widening movement for racial justice that has emerged after the killing of George Floyd,&#8221; Futter said. &#8220;We have watched as the attention of the world and the country has increasingly turned to statues as powerful and hurtful symbols of systemic racism.&#8221;
&#8220;Simply put,&#8221; said Futter, “the time has come to move it.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I love Teddy Roosevelt. The statue in front of the Museum of Natural History is pretty racist. <a href="https://t.co/iJHGcHcIRn">pic.twitter.com/iJHGcHcIRn</a>
&mdash; Sean O&#39;Brien (@revbon22) <a href="https://twitter.com/revbon22/status/1274840716695519237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The eternally aggrieved Times said the statue has &#8220;come to symbolize a painful legacy of colonial expansion and racial discrimination.&#8221;
Enter actor Ben Stiller. He starred in all three of the &#8220;Night At The Museum&#8221; movies along with co-star Robin Williams, who portrayed Roosevelt in the films.
Stiller thinks maybe it&#8217;d be a good idea if the statue honoring the 26th president should be replaced with one of Williams, who committed suicide by hanging himself in 2014 after struggling with Lewy body dementia.
The 54-year-old actor wrote on Twitter: “How about replacing it with a statue of Robin Williams. He deserves one.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
How about replacing it with a statue of Robin Williams. He deserves one.
&mdash; Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) <a href="https://twitter.com/RedHourBen/status/1274827610778931203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Response was swift on social media.
&#8220;Better remove &#8216;A Night At The Museum&#8217; from streaming now too, then. My goodness me. We are in big trouble,&#8221; wrote one person on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Better remove &quot;A Night At The Museum&quot; from streaming now too, then. My goodness me. We are in big trouble. <a href="https://t.co/u3XI4yKT2G">https://t.co/u3XI4yKT2G</a>
&mdash; Matthew Marsden (@matthewdmarsden) <a href="https://twitter.com/matthewdmarsden/status/1274835255472484352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It would be much simpler if the culture jihadists just said that every statue depicting a white man must be taken down. <a href="https://t.co/GzLkJ08ISX">https://t.co/GzLkJ08ISX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CULTUREJIHAD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CULTUREJIHAD</a> <a href="https://t.co/DSk0ET0Gi9">pic.twitter.com/DSk0ET0Gi9</a>
&mdash; toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) <a href="https://twitter.com/toddstarnes/status/1274843108937814016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Pls digitally remove Robin Williams from the Night at the Museum franchise next. Kids shouldn’t think TR is a jovial character. Thx.
&mdash; Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/1274822207303290881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Stiller was the main actor in the 2006  fantasy-comedy film directed by Shawn Levy called &#8220;Night at the Museum,&#8221; playing the night watchman at the American Museum of Natural History, where animals and people in exhibits come to life at night. Two sequels followed, &#8220;Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian&#8221; in 2009, and &#8220;Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb&#8217; in 2014.&#8221; In the movies, Williams &#8212; as Roosevelt &#8212; helps Stiller&#8217;s character understand the secret behind the exhibits and offers sage advice for his life.
Futter noted that the museum is removing the statue for its “hierarchical composition” and not because of Roosevelt himself, whom the museum notes was “a pioneering conservationist.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed with the museum, calling it &#8220;the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue.&#8221;
&#8220;The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior,&#8221; de Blasio said in a statement. &#8220;The City supports the Museum’s request.&#8221;
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Theodore Roosevelt IV, a great-grandson of the former president and museum trustee, told The New York Times he&#8217;s OK with the statue&#8217;s removal.
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<div class="content-list-component yr-content-list-text text" data-rapid-cpos="6" data-rapid-subsec="paragraph" data-rapid-parsed="subsec">
“The composition of the Equestrian Statue does not reflect Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy,” he said in a statement to the newspaper. “It is time to move the statue and move forward.”
</div>
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Night At The Museum Premiere

Hollywood Actor: Replace Theodore Roosevelt Statue With One Of Comedian Robin Williams

Hollywood

New York

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City announced on Sunday that it is going to remove a statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt that has been located on the property for 80 years.
The museum made the call to take down the statue and New York City, which owns the building and property, agreed with the museum&#8217;s decision, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/arts/design/roosevelt-statue-to-be-removed-from-museum-of-natural-history.html">The New York Times</a>. The bronze statue features Roosevelt on horseback and flanked on both sides by an African man and a Native American man.
&#8220;The statue was meant to celebrate Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) as a devoted naturalist and author of works on natural history. Roosevelt’s father was one of the Museum’s founders, and the Museum is proud of its historic association with the Roosevelt family,&#8221; the museum said in a statement. &#8220;At the same time, the statue itself communicates a racial hierarchy that the Museum and members of the public have long found disturbing.&#8221;
The statue&#8217;s removal comes after left-wing activists have destroyed statues across the country in recent days, including statues of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-rioters-burn-american-flag-on-fire-on-top-of-george-washington-statue-tear-it-down">George Washington</a>, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-protesters-tear-down-racist-statue-thomas-jefferson">Thomas Jefferson</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rioters-in-california-tear-down-statue-of-ulysses-s-grant-he-defeated-the-confederacy-devastated-kkk">Ulysses S. Grant</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-rioters-tear-down-statue-of-francis-scott-key-he-wrote-the-star-spangled-banner">Francis Scott Key</a>, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-rioters-in-california-tear-down-religious-statue-of-father-junipero-serra">Junipero Serra</a>.
The museum said that it was going to rename its Hall of Biodiversity after Roosevelt to honor his legacy as a conservationist.
The New York Times added:
<blockquote>[The museum’s president, Ellen V. Futter] also made a point of saying that the museum was only taking issue with the statue itself, not with Roosevelt overall, with whom the institution has a long history.
His father was a founding member of the institution; its charter was signed in his home. Roosevelt’s childhood excavations were among the museum’s first artifacts. The museum was chosen by New York’s state legislature for Roosevelt’s memorial in 1920.
The museum already has several spaces named after Roosevelt, including Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall, the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda and Theodore Roosevelt Park outside.</blockquote>
“It’s very important to note that our request is based on the statue, that is the hierarchical composition that’s depicted in it,” Ms. Futter said. “It is not about Theodore Roosevelt who served as Governor of New York before becoming the 26th president of the United States and was a pioneering conservationist.”
The museum noted in its statement that New York City Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio had created a commission in 2017 to &#8220;evaluate a number of controversial monuments around the city, including the Roosevelt statue, which sits on city-owned land. The City determined that the Roosevelt statue would remain in place but that more information should be provided.&#8221;
The movement to remove statues across the country was recently triggered by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
This report has been updated to include additional information and revised to address a block quote error.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

New York City Architecture And Monuments

New York City Museum Taking Down Statue Of President Theodore Roosevelt

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