Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

The Kraken Cannot Be Appeased

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney informed City Council today that he would use his emergency powers to remove multiple monuments in the city, including Confederate statues. Failure to remove the monuments, it seems, presents a threat to public safety.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge, and protestors attempt to take down Confederate statues themselves, or confront others who are doing so, the risk grows for serious illness, injury, or death,” the mayor said. “We have an urgent need to protect the public.”

Interesting: The statues are the threat to the public, not the crowds breaking the law by defying curfews, and not the mobs, too impatient to work through the judicial process, taking the law into their own hands by tearing the statues down.

Stoney also argued that immediate removal will expedite “the healing process” in the city.

To borrow a line from “Clash of the Titans,” the Kraken has been released. The Kraken is running amok. The Kraken is not interested in healing. The Kraken is not in the mood for compromise. The Kraken will move from Civil War statues to monuments to slaveholders like George Washington, and then to those who hold views now deemed racist… which includes just about any white Virginian who lived before 1960.

— JAB

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35 responses to “The Kraken Cannot Be Appeased”

  1. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Well.. so much for living up to the riley.ewen post. 😉

    Maybe, he’ll comment on this one…

    1. James A. Bacon Avatar
      James A. Bacon

      Larry, do you doubt me? Do you doubt that the mob will move on to statues of slave-holding founding fathers next?

      1. Nancy_Naive Avatar
        Nancy_Naive

        Removing, or changing — another possibility– is the right of the living.

        Why, even within this century, a Virginia AG made changes to the state seal, and a federal AG modified “The Spirit of Justice”.

        Where was the outrage?

  2. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Well I don’t know but the post is certainly not in the riley.ewen style. Right? 😉

  3. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    I’m not in favor of removing TJ or Washington or other slave holders who also significant leaders and not part of the confederacy but it’s clear there are some who would.

    I note the Lewis & Clark memorial in Cville has had controversy even before now and the one of Roosevelt in New York seems to now be a target.

    I visited the site of the Battle of Little Big Horn this summer – and there has been a long-running controversy there over statues and markers in the fields where Custers men died – but none until recently where the Native Americans died.

    Some of these issues have been simmering for some time and some of us have been not really tuned in to it.

    Controversy Over Memorial to Winners at Little Bighorn

    https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/24/us/controversy-over-memorial-to-winners-at-little-bighorn.html

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      “I’m not in favor of removing TJ or Washington or other slave holders…”

      Why not? What if “an entire race” demands it?

      1. Nancy_Naive Avatar
        Nancy_Naive

        Then we should reason together. These monuments that are falling now are because society dictated their existence over objections until now.

        Well, one month ago, reason prevailed.

        1. WayneS Avatar
          WayneS

          I suspect you are merely trying to be inflammatory, but if mobs destroying public and private property really is your definition of “reason prevail[ing]” then there is no reason to try to “reason together” with you because you are thoroughly lacking in reason.

        2. Nancy_Naive Avatar
          Nancy_Naive

          Make that the “reason for reason”prevailed.

          1. WayneS Avatar
            WayneS

            Okay.

      2. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        well, if an entire race feels that way and you’re not of that race and you don’t feel that way, you might have to do more thinking about your own position and dilemma.

        It helps a lot if you truly search for what is right and just and are willing to admit you might be wrong – my 2 cents.

        we humans will kill each other over race… or culture… the world over and here in the US.

        1. WayneS Avatar
          WayneS

          So you ARE in favor of removing TJ and Washington statues from public places?

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            how do you get that? I’ve searched hard – but I still don’t know.
            due diligence is good but it’s not always satisfying.

            your mileage might well vary..

            I think – in general – anytime you do a memorial in a public square to someone – it can be problematical… if not everyone is on board with it.

            and it’s crystal clear if a memorial is done for someone whom others do not agree – that downstream – the tide may turn.

            memorials are not history – they are snapshot opinions that may or may not stand the test of time.

            “History” is way different from memorials because the body of knowledge about anything but especially so people, is a bundle of good, bad and ugly… and memorials are selective “good” history.

  4. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead V

    Cancel Culturalist cannot be appeased. A copy of the Emancipation Memorial in Boston is slated for removal. Only federal law is protecting the original monument in Washington DC. I wonder if Frederick Douglass would think on what is happening today? This speech by Douglass dedicated the Emancipation Memorial. It is rather long winded but nonetheless eloquent, carefully considered, and honest.
    The best lines of the speech are here. It fully illustrates the genius of Uncle Abe.
    “I have said that President Lincoln was a white man, and shared the prejudices common to his countrymen towards the colored race. Looking back to his times and to the condition of his country, we are compelled to admit that this unfriendly feeling on his part may be safely set down as one element of his wonderful success in organizing the loyal American people for the tremendous conflict before them, and bringing them safely through that conflict. His great mission was to accomplish two things: first, to save his country from dismemberment and ruin; and, second, to free his country from the great crime of slavery. To do one or the other, or both, he must have the earnest sympathy and the powerful cooperation of his loyal fellow-countrymen. Without this primary and essential condition to success his efforts must have been vain and utterly fruitless. Had he put the abolition of slavery before the salvation of the Union, he would have inevitably driven from him a powerful class of the American people and rendered resistance to rebellion impossible. Viewed from the genuine abolition ground, Mr. Lincoln seemed tardy, cold, dull, and indifferent; but measuring him by the sentiment of his country, a sentiment he was bound as a statesman to consult, he was swift, zealous, radical, and determined.”
    The full text is worthy of attention.
    https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/4402

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      Frederick Douglass is one of my favorite U.S. historical figures. I wish I could have met him.

      1. Steve Haner Avatar
        Steve Haner

        Just started the 2018 biography….opens with that statue dedication.

        1. WayneS Avatar
          WayneS

          I must have missed that when it came out. I will get a copy today.

          I think it will be a more appropriate 4th-of-July-weekend read than “Russia Against Napoleon”, which I started earlier this week.

        2. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
          James Wyatt Whitehead V

          A few years back I organized a Black History Month field trip from Briar Woods HS in downtown Brambleton to downtown Anacostia to visit the home of Frederick Douglass. I had never been there and it was a fantastic trip. Black and white students learned so much that day about Mr. Douglass. The home is a nice Victorian mansion with many of Fredericks belongings and furnishings. Run by the NPS. The guide said that the best view of the 4th of July fireworks show was from Mr. Douglass’s front porch. A man most understand as important but they really don’t know why. One fact that caught my attention was when Mr. Douglass remarried after the passing of his first wife. Frederick married outside of his race and his own children turned their backs on him for the rest of his life. We went to a fish house too. Fried croaker sandwich for 5 bucks. Good banana pudding.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            hmmm…

            Frederick Douglass statue damaged; police arrest two

            Rochester police have charged two men with criminal mischief for allegedly damaging a statue of Frederick Douglass early Sunday morning.

            The 6-foot, 7-inch statue, which was at the corner of Alexander and Tracy Streets, is one of 13 statues of Douglass that have been placed around the city during the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Douglass’s birth. All of the statues were created by Rochester artist Olivia Kim. It was apparently severely damaged, and police took it away.”

            December 17, 2018NEWS & OPINION » NEWS

            https://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/rochester/frederick-douglass-statue-damaged-police-arrest-two/Content?oid=9136351

      2. Nancy_Naive Avatar
        Nancy_Naive

        If he’s one of your favorites then you would heed his words on a monument to Lee, and also Lee’s own words on these monuments.

        1. Steve Haner Avatar
          Steve Haner

          I had mentioned Lee’s views way back in ’17, before you came to this conversation.

          1. MAdams Avatar
            MAdams

            “Old Granny” deeply cared for his men though, as any leader does.

          2. Nancy_Naive Avatar
            Nancy_Naive

            Repetition is an educational device that apparently is needed here.

        2. WayneS Avatar
          WayneS

          Not all of my friends are friends of each other.

          1. Nancy_Naive Avatar
            Nancy_Naive

            But, when they agree with each other, it would be foolhardy to disagree.

          2. WayneS Avatar
            WayneS

            NN –

            I doubt Robert E. Lee ever called himself a traitor.

            Or is that not the Frederick Douglass quote to which you were referring?

    2. MAdams Avatar
      MAdams

      It’s an exercise in Presentism, one that will never be quelled.

  5. sbostian Avatar
    sbostian

    James,

    If you substitute the word “mob” for Kraken, perhaps we can make a rough comparison to the French Revolution. Remember that Robespierre was killed by the mob that he cultivated and used to amass power. Mobs have at least a surface similarity to the monster plant in “Little Shop of Horrors”. Once stimulated, the lust for blood can become insatiable.

    I am generally uneasy about iconoclastic movements like the current “statue-cide” frenzy, but think that cities and states should be able to control the statuary on public property so long as it is done in a manner which reflects genuine rule of law. Even if you support changing the content of public memorials, you should feel uneasy about a process which seems motivated by an attempt to mollify the mob, rather than an orderly attempt by government to discern the will of the people.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      One of the aspects of this upheaval that is amazing to me is the involvement of many corporations – weighing in on the “systemic racism” issue.

      https://apnews.com/512fc378827ac66d0fb2eb9986212105

      polls DO show a split with respect to removing statues so the corporations have generally stayed back on that aspect.

      But the involvement of the corporations in the overall issue sorta negates somewhat the “mob taking over” theme.

      Corporations, of course, have altruistic interests… so some could argue they are pandering also………

      1. WayneS Avatar
        WayneS

        I’m surprised to see that you think corporations have altruistic interests.

        1. Steve Haner Avatar
          Steve Haner

          Uh, they almost never do. But the smart ones have fingers in the wind. They may be seeking to appease those who seek their ultimate destruction.

          I thought it very telling that as the statue was coming down, The Mob was over at the Richmond courts building throwing a hissy fit over the idea that somebody might be evicted again now. Any fool who thinks removing the statues will calm this down needs to wake up. The Governor has set aside $50 million to pay back rents, and families can earn up to $70K and still qualify, the RTD reports. It also reports the average owed is $1,200, meaning that money could help up to 40,000 tenants. But still the mob rages….the concept of private property itself is the target.

          1. WayneS Avatar
            WayneS

            Cultural revolutionaries cannot be appeased.

  6. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    ““As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge, and protestors attempt to take down Confederate statues themselves, or confront others who are doing so, the risk grows for serious illness, injury, or death,” the mayor said. “We have an urgent need to protect the public.””

    By that logic, if “protesters” attacked the General Assembly building he would use his emergency powers to have it torn down so no one would get hurt.
    —————————————–
    Hmmm… Interesting…

    😉

  7. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Well, I see the Tut Tut squad is up early this morning.

  8. hemcomm Avatar
    hemcomm

    Impatient? When you keep the lid on the pressure cooker too long, it explodes. Anyone who is surprised by the current state of affairs has been living under a rock.

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