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Saturday, September 30, 2017

Cherokee Nation Debates Its Confederate Statue: How To Re-Dedicate Monuments Meaningfully

Cherokee Nation historian Catherine Gray discusses the Stand Watie monument at the Cherokee Nation Courthouse in Tahlequah, Okla. (Jacob McCleland/KGOU)

Dear A,


Here is an unexpected view of "confederate statues" broadcast earlier today on NPR's "Here And Now."

Cherokee Nation Debates Its Confederate Statue


WBUR's discussion Cherokee Confederate Statue focuses the need to establish "statue gardens" in museums and cemeteries where "the meaning" of statues can be contextualized with full input from "both sides." 

At the get-go, I encourage people to display any-and-all revered symbols, even those that espouse hatred, on their own private property. (My Dad was fond of citing a quotation attributed to Voltaire: "I may disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.") 

Although statues that inflame people's "confederate sentiments" may "require" removal to statue gardens, imagine how our historical "conversation" would be transformed if every American statue (and other historic memorials) were labeled with a web address so that interested parties (using cellphone or computer) would be able to post their view of what a given statue/memorial represents historically, emotionally, culturally and in any other way contributors deem important.



Here are some "nuts and bolts" of how "popular history" would work.


Engraved pedestal information will be limited to "name and date."


All those posting a view or explanation about a historic monument will identify themselves as "right," "left" or "center" to enable the creation of three "directories" that can orient citizens' database search. 

Using cellphones or computers, individuals can vote for the online "view or explanation" that appeals to them most.

Every "monument webpage" will display a running tally of how many votes each "view" has received, and all posts will be listed in order of "voter popularity".


The Top Ten "view/explanations" in each category - "left, right, center" - will be arranged on the "bottomless" webpage in three columns corresponding to the author's self-described political oriention.


Notably, it will be possible to search each column by keyword.

Although many details can only be worked out over time, people may vote once (a year?) from any given device.

All posts containing vulgarity will be deleted, or perhaps relocated in a NSFW "bin."

It is not necessary for participants to identify themselves although they are welcome to list their names.


Finally, I would add a fourth category-column dedicated to professional historians who teach (or previously taught) history at a legally-established college or university.

Creation of this fourth category will provoke heated discussion since many citizens believe that "fake news" has so polluted "the mainstream press" and "the halls of Academia" that professional historians do not deserve a separate category. 


Although we human beings are "subjects" who, to some extent, view "objects" subjectively, it is essential that we pay special attention to professional historians just as we pay special attention to academically-trained physicians, nurses engineers and architects.


As Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's "The Vietnam War" demonstrates, it is possible through long study of "opposing views" to marshal data, facts and information so that "the distilled view" of long, even-handed study is more meaningful and more truthful than "making things up" or pretending that "my opinion is just as good as your knowledge." 

NPR: Ken Burns And Lynn Novick Discuss "The Vietnam War"



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Here, in these "United" States, we are undergoing a linchpin epistemological crisis.



Tryanny's Best Kept Secret: It's ALL About Epistemology
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/12/tyrannys-best-kept-secret-its-all-about.html


We find ourselves in dire straits because too many Americans believe that "alternative facts," 
"out-of-the-blue opinions," and "whole-cloth fabrication" are as meaningful as views developed through sustained application of intellectual rigor.



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If anti-intellectualism prevails -- and it must be noted that contempt for the so-called "intellectual elites" got the upper hand in last November's election -- "the center will not hold and things will fall apart."


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I should have been aware from the moment Trump appointed Steve Bannon as "Chief White House Strategist" that "the center not holding and things falling apart" was a central aspiration of the Trump administration, guided by the arrogant, indeed hubristic, belief that fundamental social and political change can only be worked when the existing order is destroyed. 


In that destruction -- and in that destruction alone -- do Bannon and Trump see any real possibility of reversing the inexorable march of "the liberal world order," thus enabling re-construction of something "new" from the exploded materials of the putrescently decadent "old." 


To this deliberately destructive end, even chaos is considered a blessing.

Facebook Exchange With A Friend About The Planned Destructiveness Of Trump's Administration


Trump's Master Plan

Americans Who Never Learned How To Fact-Check Or Think Scientifically Are Comforted By The Anodyne Falsehood That Opinion Trumps Truth | made w/ Imgflip meme maker
It's Not That The Assholes Are Uninterested In Truth. 
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"Trumpistas Don't Just Lie. They Are Hostile To Truth"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2018/10/lies-lies-lies-lies-compendium-of-pax.html

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Trump Tells The Truth: "I Lie."
https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2019/07/lies-lies-lies-lies-trump-mendacity.html

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http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2019/01/trumps-bullshit.html

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If Mueller Had Been Given Sodium Pentathol, Here's What He Would've Told Us



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Snopes Probes Rep. Omar's Foul Mouth: How Fox News Takes Tiny Truths And Twists Them Into Gargantuan Lies

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2019/07/snopes-foul-mouthed-omar-how-fox-news.html

How Conservatives Use Decontextualized Shards Of Truth To Tell HUGE Lies
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/08/scott-pruitt-how-conservatives-use.html


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VIDEO: Trump Tells More Lies Than Any U.S. Politician. Why Do Patriots And Xtians Believe A Liar?

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/01/video-trump-tells-more-lies-than-any-us.html

Comparing American Politicians' Lie Rates (From Mormon Press)

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2019/08/comparing-american-politicians-lie.html

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Reprise: How Trump "Takes Credit" That's Not His... And The Dimwits Buy It

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People Want To Be Lied To: The Convergent Horror Of Faithful Falsehood And Aggressive Ignorance

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/12/people-want-to-be-lied-to-convergent.html

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"President Trump's Lies, The Definitive List"
New York Times

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The Toronto Star's Complete Tally Of Trump's 337 Lies Since Inauguration (June 26, 2017)

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American Conservatives And Aggressive Ignorance

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Too Ignorant To Keep Democracy Alive

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"Are Republicans Insane?" Best Pax Posts

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Compilation Of Pax Posts On Similarities Between Hitler And Trump



Trump's Comment On Hitler's Mistress, Eva Braun
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/08/trumps-comment-on-hitlers-mistress-eva.html

Hitler And Goebbels' Replacement Of Truth With Falsehood

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Compendium Of Pax Posts Concerning Trump's Habitual Lying
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Ted Cruz Gives Detailed Explanation Of Trump's Pathological Obsession With Continuous Lying


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Fred Owens' Facebook Page, "Fake News" And The Credibility Of The Mainstream Press

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Fake News Central

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Donald Trump: A Man So Obnoxious That Karma May See Him Reincarnated As Himself

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Shit-Slinger Trump Says Obama Wiretapped Trump Tower During Campaign. Obama Is "Bad, Sick"

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The Best Photographic Evidence Of Trump Inaugural Crowd Size: From Stage & From Monument


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"My Gripe With Christianity"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/01/my-gripe-with-christianity.html


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Compendium Of Pax Posts Re: Trump's Non-Stop Ability To Tell One Lie After Another


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Compendium Of Pax Posts On Post-Inaugural Blur Of White House Lies And "Alternative Facts"


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Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics - And Devious Donald


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Millions Of Deplorables Voted For Trump Because He Was The Only Candidate Who Was As Crazy As They Are


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The Borowitz Report: "Trump Blasts Media For Reporting What He Says"


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28 Enormities That Prevent Conscionable People From Hoping Trump Is A Successful President


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Donald's Doozies: A Yuge (And Yugely Incomplete) Compendium Of Trump's "Pants On Fire" Lies


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Married Couple Say Trump Defrauded Them Of $36,000.00 But Will Vote For Him Anyway

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We Redacted Everything That's Not A Verifiably True Statement From Trump's Time Magazine Interview About Truth

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National Park Service Releases Official Photos Of Trump And Obama's Inaugural Crowds

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"Has America Lost Its Mind?" 1A's Brilliant Interview With "Fantasyland's" Kurt Andersen
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/09/has-america-lost-its-mind-1as-brilliant.html

Televangelist Jim Bakker Resurrected: If This Doesn't Scare The Bejesus Out Of You, Repent For Your End Is Near!
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/09/televangelist-jim-bakker-resurrected-if.html

Compendium Of Best Pax Posts On Organized Religion And The Everyday Validation Of Violence

The Christian Doctrine Of Damnation... And The Destruction Of Christ-Spirit

"My Gripe With Christianity"


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