Political correctness — and rank political advantage — is running amok once again.
Folks here have opined on the propriety of taking down the statue of General Robert E. Lee in Lee Park, Charlottesville — and reasonable people have the right to be reasonably concerned. Far from the reprehensible statue of segregationist Harry Flood Byrd in the middle of Capitol Square, the nationwide effort to destroy monuments to Confederate veterans misleads history.
We don’t do that in Virginia.
Yet you have to chuckle just a bit when native Minnesotans take up the cause of native Virginians. If it were only that, Stewart’s effort would be appreciated immensely — even laudable.
Instead, the effort to defend history was merely turned into a shiv, and irresponsibly placed in the back of Ed Gillespie for little more than political gain.
Contrast this on the other hand, with Denver Riggleman’s statement:
Instead of tearing down a statue of Robert E. Lee, which will cost residents over $300,000, why are they not looking to spend that money erecting a monument to Maggie L. Walker, a Virginian, an African American, and first female president of a bank in the United States?
Not only are they standing in conflict with a number of Virginia’s laws, but they are spitting in the face of veterans of every conflict — no reminder of any sacrifice by any veteran of any conflict should be torn down by the liberal thought police.
See that? That’s how a conservative responds to political correctness.
Ed Gillespie’s position on this issue was equally rock-solid. The Jeffersoniads reached out for a quote, and here’s what we were told:
I oppose removing the Lee Statue. I oppose removing historical statues generally speaking as well. But if Charlottesville City Council members want to spend $300,000 in taxpayer money removing statues instead of funding schools or paying police officers, they can explain that to their voters.
Wanna blow your cash? Go do it, says Gillespie… best of luck explaining that to the folks you’re depriving for a political feel-good moment.
Gillespie isn’t wrong. Estimates regarding the legal challenges alone are running upwards of $1 million, with the cost of moving the statue from Lee Park heading towards $750,000 — only to run into Virginia state law prohibiting the removal and destruction of Confederate monuments.
So every conservative candidate for governor is equally pouring disdain on this, right? That’s a good thing — carry on and save the statue, yes?
Not the Stewart campaign. What do the betas over at Corey Stewart’s digital team decide to do? Not only do they create something out of whole cloth that doesn’t even resemble the truth, they even edit the WaPo headline.
From the Stewart “CRT” list:
The actual Washington Post headline, in case you were wondering, is “Protesters mob provocative Va. governor candidate as he defends Confederate statue.”
In other words? Some clown at the Stewart campaign edited the headline — as in, Gillespie never said anything even close to this.
Note that the Washington Post didn’t run Gillespie’s full comment. Instead, and judging by the line-for-line quote the Gillespie campaign gave me, it looks like they mischaracterized it entirely in order to create some distance between Stewart and Gillespie.
Of course, we expect that from the media. What we don’t expect — especially on issues of common ground (like partial birth abortion?) that all conservatives share, is for a fellow Republican to do misinform and intentionally mislead for rank political gain on an issue that matters so very deeply to Virginians.
For the media to do that is expected and typical. For Stewart and his boosters to do so? That is outright shameful.
Way to go, #CrimeRateCorey.