"Bob is impressive because they is an excellent doctor." If that ruffles your feathers, watch this brief presentation by John E. McIntyre. And while you are at it, check out this fascinating Khan Academy video detailing the history of "you."
At National Review, Arthur Herman gives his best reasons why the public Confederate statues should remain in publicly owned spaces. I do believe that Herman put the best foot forward of the "Keep the Statues" crowd.
I disagree with him. These statues belong, if anywhere, in the Jim Crow wing of a history museum. Herman received strong pushback in the comments to his article, many of these comments echoing my beliefs. Here are some samples of the comments critical of Herman's defense of the statues:
"The timeless virtues of slavery. Symbols of Southern history of slavery."
"Most of those statues were NOT erected in the days after the Civil War. Nor were they erected in the days since the 1970s, when Jim Crow was over."
"They were put up as part of the wave of "Lost Cause" historical revisionism that swept the South in the first half of the 20th century. The purpose was to try to redeem *the cause for which the South had fought*."
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"I don't have a problem honoring the ordinary enlisted men--the privates and sergeants--who fought bravely on both sides of the Civil War. But the Confederate leadership--and this includes Lee--should not be honored because the cause they fought for was *to break up the United States*." Most of those statues were NOT erected in the days after the Civil War. Nor were they erected in the days since the 1970s, when Jim Crow was over. They were put up as part of the wave of "Lost Cause" historical revisionism that swept the South in the first half of the 20th century. The purpose was to try to redeem *the cause for which the South had fought*."
"Thomas Jefferson is NOT honored because he had slaves. He is honored because he wrote the Declaration of Independence, which asserted the equality of all humanity before God. Tear down his memorial and you would be tearing down the Declaration of Independence too."
The Bechdel Test, applied to some of the highest grossing films. The results are categorized by whether the film was written or co-written by women. To pass the test, #1 - Film has at least two women in it. #2 - Who talk to each other, about and #3 - Something besides a man. Yep, it's a pretty low bar. This study shows that when women are more involved as writers, the female characters are more active and interactive.
On a recent show, Bill Maher asked what we would think if Obama had said the things Trump has actually said, verbatim? Then he put comedian Reggie Brown to work:
Now the that Chelsea Manning has finally been released from U.S. custody, Glenn Greenwald takes this opportunity to recount her heroism:
Though Manning was largely scorned and rejected in most mainstream Washington circles, she did everything one wants a whistleblower to do: tried to ensure that the public learns of concealed corruption and criminality, with the intent of fostering debate and empowering the citizenry with knowledge that should never have been concealed from them. And she did it all knowing that she was risking prison to do so, but followed the dictates of her conscience rather than her self-interest. BUT AS COURAGEOUS as that original whistleblowing was, Manning’s heroism has only multiplied since then, become more multifaceted and consequential. As a result, she has inspired countless people around the world. At this point, one could almost say that her 2010 leaking to WikiLeaks has faded into the background when assessing her true impact as a human being. Her bravery and sense of conviction wasn’t a one-time outburst: It was the sustained basis for her last seven years of imprisonment that she somehow filled with purpose, dignity, and inspiration.