I don’t care what you stood for. If you’ve got a statue, it’s coming down

'Forward' statue (Image via Twitter)

The title of this post is not a quote, but I think it effectively sums up the sentiment of the Left on Day 31 of their campaign to destroy after standing display of public art in America.

It didn’t start off that way. Initially the desecration was limited to figures linked to the Confederacy, but soon the marauders ran out of accessible statues to destroy. So they turned their attention to “borderline” figures. Ulysses Grant is an example. Sure, Grant led the Union Army in its defeat of the Confederate army, but he  once briefly owned a slave that he had been given.

When these were all used up, they turned to the “good guys.” Guys like Matthias Baldwin, who was an abolitionist and endowed a school for black children in Philadelphia.

Now the “peaceful protesters” have vented their rage on a very puzzling target. Wisconsin ABC affiliate WKOW has the story:



Demonstrators had been marching around downtown Madison, frustrated after the arrest of a protester earlier in the day.


But that’s not all. The “Forward” statue has a history of its own that normally would make the Left proud. From the Wisconsin Historical Society:

In 1895 sculptress Jean Pond Miner received an unusual honor for a woman of her day: her seven-foot tall allegorical statue “Forward” was given a prominent position at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Miner completed her statue in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, fulfilling a commission to create art representative of her native state. “Forward” is an allegory of devotion and progress, qualities Miner felt Wisconsin embodied.

Maybe supporters of the mayhem will find some rationalization for the act. They might note, for example, that Jean Pond Miner was not a woman of color, so her achievement doesn’t count. (RELATED: Cuomo: Statues coming down is a ‘healthy expression’)

I’m sure they’ll come up with something.

Ben Bowles

Ben Bowles


