Kin of top Confederates OK with statue removal
IN BRIEF /
A handful of descendants of Confederate leaders like Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Jefferson Davis are siding with those who believe monuments to their ancestors should be moved to other settings, such as museums.
And Robert E. Lee V, an athletic director at The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia, the great-great-grandson of the Confederate general, said the family hates to see the statues be a source of division.
“If taking down the statues helps us not have days like Charlottesville, then we’re all for it,” Lee said. “Take ‘em down tonight.”
Jack Christian, a greatgreat-grandson of Stonewall Jackson, agrees.
“They were constructed to be markers of white supremacy. They were constructed to make black people fearful,” Christian said. “I can only imagine what persons of color who have to walk and drive by those every morning think and feel.”
But Bertram Hayes-Davis, a descendant of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America, thinks “complete removal is wrong,” preferring that the statues be put “in a historic place where the entire story can be explained.”
GOP senators have doubts about Trump
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., warned that if President Donald Trump does not change his behavior, “Our nation is going to go through great peril.”
“The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful,” the senator said in Tennessee.
Corker’s remarks came on a day when at least two other GOP senators — Tim Scott of South Carolina and Dan Sullivan of Alaska — also faulted the president. Scott, the Senate’s only Republican African-American, told Vice News that Trump’s “moral authority is compromised.”
Corker said Trump “has not demonstrated that he understands what has made this nation great and what it is today.” Still, he did not advocate steps Congress should take. Asked about the push by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., to try to impeach Trump, Corker did not endorse the move.
Trump took to Twitter earlier Thursday to criticize Republican Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who have spoken out against him.
Human-rights groups get major donations
Apple is donating $1 million apiece to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League as part of CEO Tim Cook’s pledge to help lead the fight against the hate that fueled the violence in Virginia last weekend.
Cook told Apple employees that he strongly disagrees with Trump’s attempts to draw comparisons between the actions of the white nationalists and protesters opposing them.
White nationalist won’t speak at Michigan State
Michigan State University has denied a request to rent space to a group headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer.
The university said in a statement Thursday that the decision was made “due to significant concerns about public safety.” MSU officials said they support “freedom of expression” but that safety comes first.
Spencer called it “obvious censorship.”
Another White House council is deep-sixed
A White House advisory council on infrastructure Thursday became the latest casualty of the pique of business leaders over Trump’s response to the violence in Charlottesville.
On Thursday, the White House announced that the President’s Council on Infrastructure would not move forward, meeting the same fate as the Manufacturing Council and the Strategy & Policy Forum.