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Saving Our Story
Cultural barbarians have hijacked the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of American History. Thankfully, President Trump and congressional Republicans are fighting back, trying to save our history from the cultural barbarians.
Dr. Anthea Hartig, director of the National Museum of American History, testified on Capitol Hill yesterday about her “extreme makeover” of America’s history. She insisted that her staff “does not take sides in America’s political debates.” Republicans should charge her with perjury!
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) pointed to several museum displays that clearly took sides. Referring to one exhibit that featured drag queens, Mace asked Dr. Hartig if men could become women. The “doctor” dodged the question, saying it “wasn’t relevant.”
Mace pressed again, asking Hartig, “What is a woman?” Again, Hartig refused to answer.
So, Mace moved on to another display that claims there are dozens of genders and a child’s gender is not always “revealed” at birth. Mace asked Hartig when her gender was “revealed” to her, and again, Hartig refused to answer.
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) asked Hartig to explain why the Smithsonian suggested that Mickey Mouse was “racist.” After stumbling for a response, she declared, “It’s not for me to determine what’s problematic” but instead “what’s accurate.”
That’s certainly ideal when it comes to history, but apparently that’s a problem, too. As Rep. Gill noted, the museum has been promoting a “toolkit” that defines “objectivity” as “a defining characteristic of white supremacy culture.” The toolkit also defines “politeness” as a “characteristic of white supremacy culture.”
Democrats on the committee could have said, “I don’t like the White House getting involved, but museums shouldn’t be comparing politeness and objectivity to white supremacy. That’s not a message Black people need to hear.” But no, they were completely unhinged.
Their reaction was like that of a patient who almost punches the dentist when he hits a nerve. By exposing this ideological extremism, President Trump has hit a nerve, and the Democrats are screaming like they are having a root canal procedure.
Restoring Common Sense
The Left, over the decades, has captured every cultural and educational institution. All we’re trying to do is restore these institutions to their original purposes. But rolling this ideological nonsense back will be difficult because the media are totally on the Left’s side.
The Left is screaming about censorship and accusing President Trump of trying to take these institutions over, which is what the Left already did. That’s the most important point to keep in mind. The Left has hijacked the Smithsonian and is trying to convince you that there are dozens of genders, Mickey Mouse is racist, politeness is white supremacy and America is evil.
Yesterday’s hearing on the Smithsonian’s ideological extremism made the front page of today’s Washington Post. That tells you how seriously the Left takes the issue of controlling education and historical narratives so it can control people’s minds.
In her opening statement, Dr. Hartig noted that Thomas Jefferson’s desk was prominently displayed, along with a statue of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s top hat. What?
Showing Jefferson’s desk isn’t promoting America; it’s what he wrote at the desk—the Declaration of Independence which we just celebrated—that the museum should be explaining. But the Smithsonian can’t talk about it without savaging the Declaration and Thomas Jefferson.
The truth of the second paragraph that all men are created equal not only sparked a revolution here, it also sparked revolutions all over the world. The idea that we are made in the image of God and that our rights come from God, not government, was a revolutionary thought in 1776. No other nation based its creation on that truth.
Yet, the Left attacks the Declaration of Independence because “there was slavery.” Yes, there was. Sadly, there was slavery all over the world. It was not unique to America.
But what was unique to America was the aspirational nature of the Declaration of Independence. The aspirations it pursued are things that have made the world a much better place, including ending the scourge of slavery. That is something to celebrate, not denigrate.
Anybody in the academic or museum world who doesn’t understand that and is at war with the Declaration of Independence because it did not immediately end slavery cannot be trusted to have a rational conversation. They are living in an insane asylum with no comprehension of reality and the way progress happens in the world.
Revisionist History
Here’s the dirty little secret: Leftists know they’re making an asinine argument when they condemn the Declaration of Independence because of the existence of slavery at the time. If the Declaration had said that slavery was banned, half the states wouldn’t have joined the Revolution, and God only knows how things would have turned out then.
But that’s not what they’re really upset about. Like all tyrants, they’re upset about the idea that our rights come from God. They won’t accept that. It’s a huge roadblock that stops everything they want to do. So, they have to destroy it.
Of course, they can’t destroy the Declaration itself. But they can destroy its aspirational meaning by promoting a revisionist view of history that our country really didn’t begin with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 but in 1619 when slaves first arrived.
Then they can say, “America was founded on slavery and genocide. It was evil from the beginning and is evil today. It must be fundamentally transformed.”
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