Pelosi Requests Four Former House Speakers’ Portraits Removed

Fox News reports:

Pelosi said she discovered the four portraits as she was taking inventory in the Capitol of Confederate statues, which she is also trying to remove but can't do unilaterally.

"Tomorrow, Juneteenth, the clerk will oversee the removal of those Confederate speakers from the House," Pelosi announced at a press conference at the Capitol. "There's no room in the hallowed halls of this democracy, this temple of democracy, to memorialize people who embody violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy."

Pelosi sent a letter to the House Clerk Cheryl Johnson requesting the removal of four previous House Speakers to honor Juneteenth, which is observed June 19 and commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States.

“To appropriately observe Juneteenth this year, I write today to request the immediate removal of the portraits in the U.S. Capitol of four previous Speakers who served in the Confederacy: Robert Hunter of Virginia (1839-1841), Howell Cobb of Georgia (1849-1851), James Orr of South Carolina (1857-1859), and Charles Crisp of Georgia (1891-1895)," Pelosi wrote to the Johnson.

"The portraits of these men are symbols that set back our nation’s work to confront and combat bigotry," she added.

The action is the latest effort by Pelosi to rid the Capitol of relics that celebrate Confederate icons. Her pursuit started during her first speakership when she successfully moved a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee down to the crypt.

Of course, none of this is suprising or even new for the Democrats. 

Back in 2017, Democratic Senator Corey Booker was leading the charge to remove all Confederate monuments from the Capitol.

Over in the Senate, Senate Democrats attempted on Thursday to pass a bill by unanimous consent to remove Confederate statues from Capitol, but the effort was blocked by a GOP objection.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, tried to pass their bill by unanimous consent to remove Confederate statues from the US Capitol. Booker said the statues represent "hurt" and "pain" and don't belong in the Capitol. Schumer said they honor men who are traitors and fought against the US to advance slavery.

Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, objected to their request arguing that the current law allows states to decide who they want to honor in the Statuary Hall collection and therefore it's up the states to decide to replace them not Congress. He noted that several states already have removed Confederate statues and others are moving to remove them. Blunt also said he supports changing the names of military bases named for Confederates and said that is up to the Congress to decide, not the states where the bases are located.

While Nancy and friends continue to erase history and ignore the slippery slope with which they operate on, the rest of us can look to the past for guidance.