Arlington bans wokeness
(www.americanthinker.com)
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Now let's see Lee Highway restored to, well, Lee Highway!
No joke. Everyone still calls it Lee Hwy. All it does is confuse tourists when they ask a local for directions and the local says "Well, you want to get on Lee Hwy and take that to 66 West....". And then they get lost again looking for Lee Hwy.
Thank God for Google maps, I guess. It's usually the old timers that bother to ask people for directions, anyway, so ,yeah, they get confused fast. 🤷♀️
Shoot, it confuses me! lol
I'm pretty much a lifer in the area, grew up in Falls Church, lived in Arlington a couple years in the 90s.
The other day we were in Arlington driving to a job, I was at an intersection I recognized but was befuddled by the Langston momentarily until I had a duh moment.
I haven't heard much on Youngkin lately, he may be red, but blue NoVA I suspect will be slow.
Not quite the same as "banning wokeness".
Look at APS's response to transgender stuff from the DOE, if you want to see wokeness in Arlington.
PS- I actually live in Arlington, and known that of which I speak.
Wokeness is still a mainstay in Arlington.
This was a federal government thing, not a city thing. Arlington cemetery is federal government land.
Big difference between the two.
Also, 10 million dollars to repair a statue? I'm calling BS on that. Either this is some extremely shitty reporting, or the federal government has lost its goddamn mind. It shouldn't take anywhere near 10 million dollars to repair one statue.
You do realize they aren't talking about the City of Arlington - right? They are being lazy and calling Arlington National Cemetery just Arlington.
Also - the repair of the statue... It will be costly to move it back to ANC because the Biden "administration" took it apart and moved it, so it will have to be moved back, put back together like a jigsaw puzzle, and the plaques the DoD wants will have to be made and installed. The plaques are supposed to give people information on why the statue was placed there so some dumbass never tries to remove it again by saying it is racist.
Then the article is even sillier, because they're suggesting that Arlington National Cemetery somehow has the power to be woke or not, all on its own.
It can't. It's part of the Federal government. So if the federal government is woke, then so is it. Same for the opposite.
So declaring that it has rejected wokeness like its some new, great development is idiotic when we already know that the federal government, of which President Trump is in charge of, has rejected wokeness.
And then it goes and declares that the federal government is making crazy ass decisions like spending 10,000,000 dollars on one statue.
Cutting out waste in federal spending is one of the things the Trump administration is supposed to be doing. I'm not saying don't put the statues back. I'm saying that 10,000,000 per statue is a bloated figure because the federal government is accustomed to paying ridiculous amounts for things. Trump is supposed to be stopping this. There's not a chance in hell that if a private company was in charge of this project that it wouldn't cost a fraction of that amount to restore and replace.
Also, this is one statue. Just one. The liberals had dozens of them removed. So are we going to be spending insane amounts of money like this on each one, as well?
And then of course, as soon as another liberal is in office, they're just going to yank them right back out, so this is all probably just an exercise in futility anyway. 🤷♀️
PS- and how much is a fucking plaque supposed to cost to make and install, if you are bothering to point it out that it's part of the cost. How much of that 10 million do you think the plaque costs?
The base was left in place at Arlington National Cemetery because they said they were worried that removing it would jeopardize nearby graves. Also the monument was there for over 100 years - outside and in the elements. It will be cleaned up and restored. You don't put a monument back after some dumbasses removed it and not clean it up - especially since it may have rusted, corroded, or whatever the particular metal that the original sculptor used 100 years ago.
If you want to be mad at someone for the cost - be mad at the idiots that removed a monument intended to honor and reconcile both sides of the war. You know - bring them together again. Taking that out is just spitting in the faces of American families that lost whole families in that war.
The plaques - what Grok calls the panels - will try to explain why the monument is there, and that it doesn't honor slavery - because the leftists are too stupid or have too much TDS to do the research themselves.
You can be pissed all you want. I don't give a rip about "your feels". I spent 5 years working in that Cemetery as a part time job while I was active duty Air Force stationed at the Pentagon. I needed enough money to live on because the DC area is not cheap at all for a lower-ranking enlisted person with a wife and kid. I loved it, and would go back ant time if I could. If you have never visited there, you should if you get the chance.
The restoration will cost what it costs. Maybe it can be done cheaper - they don't really know since it is still sealed in boxes. I'd suggest CONgress makes a law that monuments on federal property may not be removed unless they are being restored, or whatever any other conditions that are needed to be put into a law to protect them. They are part of our history and shouldn't be taken away (like the loons do with written history).
I asked Grok4 about the restoration. This is what it said (the rest of the text here is from Grok4):
The bronze elements were crated and transported to a secure Department of Defense storage facility in Virginia, while the original granite base and foundation were left in place to avoid disturbing surrounding graves. Environmental assessments and mitigation measures, including protective decking and specialized contractors, were implemented to prevent incidental damage.
As of August 2025, there are no public reports or official statements indicating that the memorial sustained significant damage during removal or while in storage. However, under the current administration's plans to reinstall it by 2027, the monument will undergo a "complete refurbishment" process. This includes:
The total estimated cost for this restoration and reinstallation is $10 million, spread over approximately two years. The high cost is attributed to specialized historical preservation work, materials, labor, and the addition of contextual elements, as is common with government-managed cultural heritage projects.
Dude, you're getting really upset for no reason.
I have no problem with the statue coming back. I would fully welcome it. I would be thrilled if it was back. If they all were. I was ALWAYS against their removal. And unless President Trump does something to stop it, they're just going to get yanked out again when the next liberal president is elected. If an idiot like me can predict that, then surely Trump can. So what has he done to make sure they're not ripped out again? So far the only thing he has done is created Executive Orders about not removing statues or defacing them and about replacing them. Executive Orders last only as long as the President who makes them is in office. So once he leaves office, those Executive Orders are no longer actionable. Surely he should be doing something more to make sure that this isn't a never ending cycle of one party spending our money yanking shit out, just for the next party to spend our money to put it back in, and then when the other party gains power again, they spend our money to yank it out once more, and on and on and on which seems to be a good indication of how things will go until a President stops this idiocy for good. Or do you think liberals WON'T make it a point to yank it right back out as soon as they return to power? But now that I've thought on it more, it seems more likely that the next liberals in office will have these statues destroyed after removal, just so they can't ever be replaced again. Which means we really need something that will lock it in that they can never be removed again. And an Executive Order will not do that.
What I have an issue with here is that we seem to be doing the same ol' same ol' when it comes to government spending.
Yeah, I get that it was the Biden's administration that took them down, and that they are the REASON we now need to spend money to put them back.
But we shouldn't be giving the federal government a blank check to restore these statues. That's what LIBERALS do. Spend tax payers money like it's a never ending resource.
And that's the problem. That mentality. If it were liberals putting up a statue for Obama that cost 10,000,000 and they responded to criticism over the cost with "The statue will cost what it costs.", I sincerely doubt you'd be cool with that.
Yeah, it's VERY common that government-managed projects be horrifically bloated in price. Because the government can't manage money for shit. That's one of the main reasons we elected President Trump, remember? To get all these idiotically bloated government funded and managed projects under control?
Just because the money is being spent for something we agree on doesn't mean we need to be stupid about it and treat tax payers money like it was a never ending resource.
My point is that there is a 100% chance that this restoration and replacement can be done for much cheaper than 10 MILLION DOLLARS.
President Trump is known for being a deal maker. Are you saying he couldn't sit down with the companies doing these renovations and bang out a better deal than that? Really?
It's things like this that just point out the hypocrisy rampant around here.
If this was something the Biden administration was doing, people would be having strokes screaming about government waste and how "cleaning, polishing, minor repairs and a new base and plaque" would cost 10 MILLION DOLLARS, and how government contractors around DC (such as the company doing the repairs, polishing, cleaning, and plaque making) are blood sucking vampires, conning the federal government out of tax payer money.
But because President Trump is the one doing it, all of a sudden you're championing government waste and saying shit like "The restoration will cost what it costs.", like it's all fine and dandy that the government wastes our money, as long as Trump is President. 🙄
Believe what you want to believe. I want the statue put back at ANC where it belongs. I don't know what is normal for historical restorations on statues, paintings, or jewels. I didn't set the price. I think it is high, but I also think that if Hegseth and Trump believe it is too high based on their (probably Trump's) vast experience then someone will intercede and put out more bids. Or - they could call you since you say there is a 100% chance it can be done for much cheaper. Personally, I don't know everything that needs done for a new base, panels, and a historical restoration of the statue itself. I'm sure it is a lot since they have to transport, unpack, reassemble, and restore a 12 foot tall statue and a 20 foot tall base. Is it $10 mil - no idea. I trust Trump and believe he will get involved if he believes we are being overcharged. He did the same on the Israeli embassy and AF1.
I don't care who is putting the statue back (even though it happens to be Trump) - it needs to be back.
I mentioned CONgress needs to make a law (or even enforce the law Trump enforced on the monuments in his first term). I agree - I don't want some other demon taking it out again. I would go further and ask the DOJ to research if there are any charges that can be brought against the parties responsible for removing it in the first place. If so, charge them and fine them. They stole a piece of history from the people of the USA. They need to pay for it, and we need it back.
Honestly I'm surprised the dems didn't want to demolish Arlington House since General Lee lived there.
For anyone that thinks the restoration cost is too high, maybe petition Trump or Hegseth to ask for donations. They could even put another panel up thanking the people that donated.
Still not $10 mil.
I'll believe the headline once Langston goes back to Lee...
And Washington-Lee HS. It's now Washington-Liberty.
10,000,000 refurbishment? Sounds a little steep.