Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) doesn’t have a super solid grasp of foundational American history, it seems — not to mention recent national events.
She pushed a proposal on the House floor this week that would’ve generally blocked the usage of federal funds for the removal of monuments on certain federal lands, describing efforts that have been seen so far against iconography like monuments to Confederate leaders as an attempt to erase history. Firstly, her stance gets oddly close to outright valorizing military figures who fought for causes like slavery, but more broadly, it’s just wrong. Taking down a statue does not in any reasonable universe equate to an attempted erasure of the related history as a whole.
It also remains laughably ridiculous how obsessively that Greene and others characterize political opponents of theirs as “Communists,” which is not remotely realistic.
VoteVets, a progressive advocacy group representing veterans’ interests, had some thoughts on Greene so feverishly defending monuments like a now defunct image of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate leader, that had been displayed in Virginia. “Quick lesson in actual American history for you @RepMTG: Robert E. Lee fought against the United States. He was a traitor. That’s why his statues were taken down. Also, the Civil War is still taught, so history isn’t lost. We just won’t praise traitors anymore,” the organization said on X (the site previously called Twitter).
Greene spoke repeatedly about that Virginia statue, the presence of which was an instigator of infamous far-right riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, some years ago in which a counter-protester was killed. The extreme-right crowds were rallying to defend the statue’s presence, among other aims. President Joe Biden has repeatedly pointed to what happened there and then-President Trump’s infamously faltering, slow response to it as instrumental in his decision to run for the office he now holds. Greene’s proposal, meanwhile, was rejected.
Quick lesson in actual American history for you @RepMTG:
Robert E. Lee fought against the United States. He was a traitor. That’s why his statues were taken down.
Also, the Civil War is still taught, so history isn’t lost. We just won’t praise traitors anymore. https://t.co/iCmWIeKzpx
— VoteVets (@votevets) November 3, 2023
