Sunday, June 15, 2008
A footnote in US history I did not know
Consider The Rescue, the sculpture at left by Horatio Greenough. The work depicts Daniel Boone wresting a tomahawk from a savage Indian while a helpless mother and child cower in the background. It certainly reinforces a number of stereotypes that seem simplistic and dated now. But this sculpture adorned the East Front entrance of the U.S. Capitol from 1853 to 1958.
After 20 years of protests, the Capitol architect finally removed The Rescue in 1958. I found this story to be of interest because the current administration and its mouthpieces (like Antonin Scalia and Joe Lieberman) continue to threaten dire consequences from the modern day savages if we don't let the brave US government protect us. Scalia just warned that granting detainees access to habeas corpus “will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.”
I am very weary of these blustering pronouncements. What happened to "speak softly and carry a big stick"?
