The Desecrators and the Democrats
Cowards like J.B. Pritzker embolden and enable the violent Left
On Columbus Day in Chicago, a group of radicals defaced an iconic statue of Abraham Lincoln, in his namesake park on the city’s north side. The vandals smeared the statue with blood-red paint and marred the memorial with graffiti of left-wing phrases such as “dethrone the colonizers” and “land back!” In an email the anonymous group blamed Lincoln for his approval of the execution of 38 Sioux fighters who went to war against the United States in the 1862 US-Dakota War.
Yes, you read that correctly. The Great Emancipator of America does not measure up on the woke scales of “tolerance.”
Even though Abraham Lincoln prosecuted a brutal and bloody war to free the slaves and gave his very life for the equality of men, Honest Abe is just another dead white male oppressor to the raging mob of nihilists.
The putrid cause of these malcontents might not carry political relevance if they were actually universally opposed by respectable leaders and stewards of the law. But tragically, the increasingly radical Democrat Party provides cover and safe harbor to these American Taliban, who seek to erase history and ravage the monuments pointing to our shared national heritage.
For example, when asked about the destruction of a Columbus statue that her very own father had unveiled decades ago in the city of Baltimore, Nancy Pelosi chose explicitly to not condemn the vandals. Instead she, demurred “people will do what they do.” What? These political heirs to the Khmer Rouge tore down a revered public statue of great significance to local Italians and threw it into Baltimore Harbor. But the chief legislative officer in America, Speaker Pelosi, shrugs nonchalantly at such anarchist crime?
In Chicago, the stage was set for this Lincoln defilement by a similar attack on the Columbus statue in the Windy City, where proud Chicago Italians dedicated a magnificent sculpture almost a century ago. When it was attacked by an enraged leftist mob in 2020, rather than defend the work of art and punish the miscreants, Mayor Lori Lightfoot had the statue removed by city workers in the dead of night. It has remained hidden, out of public sight ever since. Lightfoot apparently agrees with the mob -- but would rather forgo the optics of the unruly tear down, preferring to send Streets and Sanitation workers to do it surgically, under the cover of darkness.
In fact, Lightfoot launched a commission to study removing other allegedly bigoted monuments, and that laughable panel targeted artwork reflecting a total of four presidents, including George Washington and, yes, Abraham Lincoln.
As such, perhaps the lamentable attack this week upon Honest Abe was somewhat predictable. Once emboldened and given at least tacit approval from authorities, the mob only grows greedier in the lust to delete history and pretend that it is “year zero.” Regarding that implicit approval, note that neither Lightfoot nor Governor J.B. Pritzker has taken any action or issued any statement regarding this debasement of Lincoln.
The backstory to this particular statue makes the violation even worse than other such attacks. The “Standing Lincoln” statue was sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and considered at the time of its unveiling in 1887 to be the finest portrait statue in all of America. Ten thousand Chicagoans attended the public inauguration for the memorial that was funded by lumber baron Eli Bates. In fact, the statue was so revered that a replica statue was erected in Parliament Square in London, where it still stands.
Now, nearly a century and a half later, dilettante leftists dare to damage this sacred work of civic art that is dedicated to the hero of American emancipation. Notably, on the very day that this sacrilege unfolded, Governor J.B. Pritzker skipped the Columbus Day parade in Chicago. In a direct snub to Chicago’s vibrant Italian community, Pritzker prioritized wokeness and political correctness over respect and leadership. Even worse, he simply ignores this Lincoln assault, even though this crime unfolded mere blocks away from his private Gold Coast mansion.
Thugs like these spoiled radicals only respect force, and unless they face the wrath of authorities and the harsh consequences of the law, their antics will only escalate. Moreover, history teaches us that such nihilists will not be sated with trophies of bronze or granite. If unchecked, their bloodlust will move on from mere statues of humans to the actual living, breathing bodies of their political enemies. Time for cowards like J.B. Pritzker to stand up, denounce these cretinous acts, and severely punish these vandals.
The Democrats need to stop coddling the desecrators.