Yeah. It's kind of amazing that Baltimore, with its many problems, can take down these repugnant statues while more prosperous cities sit around and dither and prevaricate.

Probably? But how does one measure how much power a symbol "deserves"? Let's flip it around. Why does the South "need" this symbol honoring the dead? I mean, I don't even know where my great-grandparents' graves are. People in the South have some emotional need for monuments to people who died like 150 years ago?

Oh they care about the memorials. Because those monuments are like permanent burning crosses afixed on every minority's lawn. They'd have to be insane to give up such effective tools for fear and oppression.

Germany's monuments to the dead are in the cemeteries. Where they belong. Respectful to their humanity and no respect at all given to their cause.

Once they decided to commit treason, I'm not entertaining some stupid, "They were Americans too!" argument.

The city should pay for a giant statue of Sherman, sitting on them.

I have no issue with cemeteries. But monuments in town? No.

Nope. I think this is a red-blooded American racist.

Exactly. Which makes a lot of sense. Killing theoretical people would almost have to be psychologically easier than killing someone face to face.

I know! An old disqus account has been resurrected (I really can't figure out how or why - one might be my old Avclub account?). Both are me. A dying gasp before Kinja kills them both?

Thanks - and thinking about what YOU said, I do understand a little. Part of what they desperately want is attention so giving it to them is, in a sense, playing into their hands. But I just think that remaining silent is not morally defensible - not when they are threatening people and have now shown the ability to…

Not very many fascists have been killed with ears of corn either but that doesn't make farming "unreal." Are you trying to argue that political art is valueless? If so, why do authoritarians hate it so much? Sending dissident writers to prison camps and making certain music illegal?

But Woody Guthrie is totally fine?

There once was a union maid, she never was afraid…

Yeah. The good old days when musicians didn't write political songs. When was that again?

Oh - sorry, it was the first time I'd seen it so I was searching for internal redundancy. Makes sense.

1. It was a different La Raza than the advocacy group.
2. If that was the reason, then Trump could have said that instead of citing his Mexican heritage. The thing you're trying to claim wasn't the reason.

Well and also, when it was really being pushed in the 40s and 50s, it was in the military/active duty context - where stuff like hygiene was probably much more challenging. Times have changed.

It was heavily pushed by the medical community for a long time. Most people still see it as medically necessary.

So lucky! NB is a little out of the way for me, but whenever I visit, I'm bowled over by how beautiful it is. I felt that Lynch really got it too - how the woods full of tall trees can be beautifully mysterious or darkly scary by turns.