An interesting photograph for history Disgraceful moment
One telling image from the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 is preying on my mind. It’s a photograph by Saul Loeb of Agence France-Presse. You’ve all seen it — the guy with the large Confederate flag over his shoulder walking past two portraits on the walls behind him.
I know, leave it to a history nerd like me to notice this, but the paintings are of two American statesmen on diametrically opposite sides of the pre-Civil War slavery issue. On the left is South Carolina’s fiery John C. Calhoun, whose nullification views strongly influenced the South’s eventual secession. On the right is Charles Sumner, an abolitionist senator.
On May 22, 1856, South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks nearly killed Sumner, beating him with a cane on the Senate floor after Sumner delivered an anti-slavery speech. And on Jan. 6, this nameless insurrectionist was there, gleefully participating in the mayhem, oblivious to the lessons of history displayed on the walls, and proudly parading an odious symbol of hatred from an awful period in our past. It symbolized to me a national divisiveness we simply cannot seem to move beyond. The image is really an odd and telling juxtaposition of images, if you care about history at all. CHRISTIAN K. DAHL
Ross
The attack we witnessed on Wednesday on our democracy was an act of insurrection and treason caused by Donald Trump and his congressional accomplices.
Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, and others fanned the flames by promoting baseless claims of voter fraud. As the invasion of the Capitol building unfolded, I wondered why Mr. Kelly and his fellow members of the House and Senate who are complicit in this act of domestic terror did not rise up to protect their colleagues and staff members.
Where were they during the attack? Why wouldn’t tough guy Mr. Kelly and his Trump loyalists confront their followers and quell the riot? My guess is that Mr. Kelly was cowered on the floor. That’s our proud representative from District 16. We must never forget who created this disgraceful moment in our nation’s history.
KEN ADAMS
Erie