Monuments

Late last week, the New York Times once again floated the idea that President Trump could become the fifth head on Mount Rushmore, to the right of Abraham Lincoln (that’s for sure). He’d be like the fifth Beatle, but yuge. While it’s true that Trump has brought peace to Africa and the Middle East in the last week, and has done an excellent job lining the Oval Office with gold filigree, maybe we should hold off on carving his visage into a mountainside until we see the final fate of the Big, Beautiful Bill. For Trump’s a jolly good fellow, and what nobody can also deny is that there’s available rock space in South Dakota. The President likes nothing more than a good real-estate deal on undeveloped land. But let’s hold off on clearing headspace for the Donald just yet.

The news that the University of Notre Dame, responding to complaints by some students, would ‘shroud’ its 12 134-year-old murals depicting Christopher Columbus was disappointing. It was not surprising, however, to anyone who has been paying attention to the widespread attack on America’s past wherever social justice warriors congregate. Notre Dame may not be particularly friendly to its Catholic heritage, but its president, the Rev. John Jenkins, turned jesuitical when queried about the censorship. He said, apparently without irony, that his decision to cover the murals was not intended to conceal anything, but rather to tell ‘the full story’ of Columbus’s activities.