24 June 2015

Remove these traitors from National Statuary Hall

There is no statue of Benedict Arnold in National Statuary Hall in our nation's Capitol. But there are statues of at least four other traitors:

• Robert E. Lee, the West Point trained general who turned his back on the U.S. Army to lead the Confederate armies. Virginia placed his statue there along with another Virginian, George Washington.


• Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy and another West Pointer whose morals went south. Mississippi placed his statue there, along with James Zachariah George, who signed Mississippi's ordinance of succession.


• Alexander H. Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, and author of the notorious Cornerstone Speech that left no doubt the Confederates fought to preserve slavery.

These men were rebels and traitors, not heroes. They were fortunate not to have been hanged. They fought to preserve slavery. Their statues belong in no public place. We must not forget them and what they did, but they should not be honored, not now, not ever. Get their statues out of our nation’ Capitol forthwith.