More Republican ignorance:

You've probably watched Kevin James fail to tell Chris Matthews what Neville Chamberlain did in 1938. By not answering to 28 queries, James demonstrated his complete ignorance on the topic.

A couple of years ago, something similar happened in California. In Washington D.C. there is the National Statuary Hall Collection, which has two statues of notable persons from each state. For California those two were Thomas Starr King and Fr. Junipero Serra.

But no longer. Thomas Starr King is out.

Who was Thomas Starr King?

[He was] an American Unitarian minister, influential in California politics during the American Civil War.

During the Civil War, he spoke zealously in favor of the Union and was credited by Abraham Lincoln with saving California from becoming a separate republic.

Who is the replacement? Ronald Reagan.

How did that come about?

On August 31, 2006, the California Legislature approved a joint resolution to replace Thomas Starr King’s statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of Ronald Reagan. The resolution was authored by [Republican] State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth ...

In regard to his reason for removing the statue, Hollingsworth told the San Francisco Chronicle, “To be honest with you, I wasn’t sure who Thomas Starr King was, and I think there’s probably a lot of Californians like me.”

Renaming Washington National Airport wasn't enough. Reagan simply doesn't have enough statues and memorials out there. Better toss out someone influential in keeping the Union together with its fight over slavery, and replace it with a governor who became president.

Because, you can't expect a California Republican state Senator to know much about the history of the state he's serving.


posted by Quiddity at 5/17/2008 02:58:00 AM