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| blog.google |
It is a very lovely afternoon and The Blogger Candidate Forum thought he might pop in for a quick chat about a monument garden proposed by Mr. Donald Trump over the Fourth of July Weekend. Speaking of the president, he announced that the White House plans to "lean on the governors" to re-open the schools for the fall semester. The Candidate Forum can say without contradiction that the parents and students are quite anxious to go back to school. However, the White House has offered nothing in the way of proposals on how to re-open the schools safely. Typical. Second not that anyone was paying attention, Delaware and New Jersey held their primaries yesterday. To exactly no one's surprise both Mr. Trump and VPOTUS Joe Biden (D-DE) picked up more delegates to further cement their nominations. Speaking of elections, have you registered to vote? If you have registered, thanks and do not forget to cast your ballot by November 3, 2020. If you have not, stop reading, go to usa.gov, click on the link to your state's secretary of state to register, then come back to read the post. Finally, keep your eyes on Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth (D). Senator Duckworth is being vetted as a potential running for the Gentleman from Delaware. Over the past few weeks, she has impressed the Biden campaign with her credentials as a former veteran and politician. Now then, shall we talk about a proposed monument garden?
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| The president in front of Mount Rushmore South Dakota nbcnews.com |
The Fourth of July is typically a time to celebrate the founding of the United States of America, call for unity, enjoy hot dogs and fireworks. This year, the holiday had a muted feel because of the COVID virus. That did not stop the president and his diehard supporters from gathering at the foot of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota, no face coverings or social distancing, to listen to a speech about a "culture war" being waged by the left-wing, intended to re-write American history. The Candidate Forum is not here to debate the matter, instead wants to spend the time an executive order, he announced, to create a "National Garden of American Heroes" (washingtonpost.com; July 4, 2020; date accessed July 8, 2020) dedicated to American heroes. The order reads,
...Since the time of our founding, Americans have raised monuments to our greatest citizens. In 1784, the legislature of Virginia commissioned the earliest statue of George Washington, a "monument of affection and gratitude" to a man who "unit[ed] to the the endowment[s] of the Hero the virtues of the Patriot and gave the to the world "an immortal Example of true Glory..."
These statues are silent teachers in solid form of stone and metal. They preserve the memory of our American story...
To destroy a monument is to desecrate our common inheritance...
These statues are not ours alone, to be discarded at the whim of those inflamed by fashionable political passions; they belong to generations that have before us and to generations yet unborn...(whitehouse.gov; July 3, 2020; date accessed July 8, 2020)
The executive order goes on to establish a task force to study proposals and commission works; as well as list a random assortment of heroes to be commemorated in a garden to be completed by July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
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| Some of the proposed heroes dailymail.co.uk |
The executive order lists which American heroes would memorialized, including: the late President Ronald Reagan, abolitionist Harriet Tubman, civil right icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., explorer Davy Crockett, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, baseball legend and Dodger great Jackie Robinson. The Candidate Forum has no problem with Harriet Tubman or Jackie Robinson. They deserve to memorialized. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in major league baseball and Harriet Tubman helped ferry enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad. However, you have to wonder why and how the Trump administration came up with the list that includes evangelical leader Billy Graham, 19-century politician Henry Clay and First Lady Dolly Madison?
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| "Garden of American Heroes" yahoo.com |
The choices vary from odd to probably inappropriate (washingtonpost.com; July 4, 2020)
Karen Cox, a history professor at the University of North Carolina, added,
It's just so random. It's like they threw a bunch of stuff on the wall and just went with whatever stuck... Nothing about this suggests it's thoughtful (Ibid)
That is definitely a good way to describe a monument petting zoo. Even more disturbing than the greatest hits rendering of American history, is the political motivation. Prof Cox added,
It doesn't address the reality on the ground, the real debate and turmoil going on in this country...(Ibid)
A reference to the anger and ongoing protests about institutional racism. Mr. Grossman described it as
...a pretty naked attempt to seize on a cultural conflict to distract from other issues (Ibid)
There was no consultation with historians or communities about who should and should not be honored. The Trump administration just chose whoever sounded good. The executive order give the task force "60 days to submit a report detailing locations and options for building the new garden monument" (Ibid). Truthfully, there is not a rush to build the garden. In fact the only rush is the General Election on November 3, 2020. How would a National Garden of American Heroes Work?
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| A socially distant town hall meeting with the president The Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. politico.com |
The executive order, which was issued in response to the destruction and dismantling of memorials around the U.S., calls for a 10-year prison term who damage federal monuments and threatens to withhold funding from cities that fail to protect the statues (politico.com; July 4, 2020; date accessed July 8, 2020).
In recent weeks, the president has been adamant about his opposition to the destruction or removal of statues of historical figures connected to slavery, colonialism, or racist policies. You might remember the president infamously blaming "both sides" for the deadly violence committed by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, following plans to remove the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee (Ibid). The order may spark further conflict in Congress, which would likely decide whether to approve funding for the garden.
Carl Tobias, the Williams Professor of Law at the University of Richmond, told politico.com,
To the extent that Congress even wants to engage is likely to be extremely contentious (Ibid)
Meaning, the president would need congressional support if he wants to get an appropriations bill passed to fund his folly. Members of Congress have had their own debates over Confederate statues scattered around the Capitol building. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has called for their removal and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said "the statue placements were up to the states,..." (Ibid).
Perhaps the president is trying to re-write American history to make it align with his limited understanding of the subject.
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| Toppled statue of Josef Stalin nytimes.com |
The New Yorker columnist Masha Gessen wrote,
In Moscow, when a hard-line coup fail in August, 1991, bringing down the Soviet state, monuments to a variety of Soviet leaders,... to Stalin himself, were toppled--...hauled to what was then an empty lot opposite Gorky Park (newyorker.com; July 6, 2020; date accessed July 8, 2020).
The president wants to leap over a process that took Russia twenty years to complete and go straight to the monument theme park. The executive order, which was signed on June 26th, painted the protesters opposed to Confederate and other monuments "as a violent mob of Marxists intent on destroying American history" (Ibid). The list of heroes reflects a Trumpian rendering of history. As you read the list, you will find glaring omissions of Indigenous people, Asian-Americans, Americans who contributed to the arts, humanities, and science. What you do find is the token African American and woman heroes sprinkled in a list that reflects the president's idea of American greatness. Representations of the presidency omit Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. The twentieth century is represented by an astronaut, generals, a solider, and the inventors of the airplane. The Trumpian understanding of history is "skeletal, heroic history with a lot of shooting, a lot of flying, and very little government" (Ibid).
More than likely, Mr. Trump will not see his National Garden of American Heroes built. In terms of priorities, a monument garden does not rank quite as high as the more pressing issues: healthcare, education, infrastructure, national security, criminal justice reform. Given that the president's campaign has yet to release any detail about a proposed second term agenda , you have to wonder why a monument petting zoo is more important. It is a little bit of a rhetorical question because the president is a man so dedicated to his self-image and creating a monument garden fashion in his rendering of American history is just another image enhancing project that takes top priority.
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