As If Things Aren't Stupid Enough...Hold My Beer! UPDATED

So as if things aren't stupid enough, well, as they say "hold my beer". Even in New York City, the center of diversity and civility [Stop laughing!!!], we have jumped on the "Let's Destroy Historical Monuments To Make Us Feel Better" train. If you have been paying attention for the last week (or months or years) or so, you will know that Robert E. Lee, is now the most hated figure in the US.

It has gotten so stupid that ESPN removed a sport commentator from a college football game broadcast because his name was Robert Lee so as not to cause offense.

This is the ESPN Robert Lee they removed:

Well, like many other place in the US, Mayor DeBlasio announced a few days ago that there would be a 90 day "review" of which statues in New York City should possibly be removed because they may be offensive now that we are just so much more enlightened. [Also, our mayoral election is in November, so he has to pander] Some suggested Ulysses S. Grant because as General of the Union Army, he issued an order removing all Jews from Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. [The good news is that maybe that age old question of "who is buried in Grant's tomb" will finally be answered!] And, of course, there is the ubiquitous cry to remove the stain of that great Italian icon Christopher Columbus. As a matter of fact, most of New York's greatest statued men in our fair city are up for destruction because we have come to understand in hindsight that they were not perfect. I know, hard to believe, isn't it?

Here a link to a story published by the New York Post of a list of statues of some of New York's greatest who could potential meet the chopping block - Chopping Block List

And yes, even in New York City, there are also a few places where even Robert E. Lee, the son of Revolutionary War General and Virginia Governor Henry "Harry Lighthorse" Lee, has been honored. In the last week, West Point Military Academy where Lee graduated at the top of his class, has requested at the behest of NY Sen. Kristen Gillibrand and NY Rep. Sean Patrick Mahoney [UPDATED] to remove his name from all of the halls and barracks that bore his name. And St. John’s Episcopal Church in Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, removed a plaque from a tree in the churchyard commemmorating Lee's service when stationed as a military engineer from 1842 to 1847. The sad part is most likely no one actually knew any of these commemorations were there.

All of this stupidity is because studying history has become in and of itself a trigger for some "-ist" or another. Too many just do not understand that humans are complicated and complex. Great people have done bad things and bad people have done great things. Therefore historical events and people get complicated when viewed through the lense of a modern eye. It is important to remember that we can only judge these people from a lens focused clearly within their individual historical context and circumstances and never from our own modern context or circumstances. No person could possibly be perfect enough to survive that level of scrutiny. We cannot change history, we can only learn from it, but destroying all signs of our history does not erase it either.

This isn't new. This particular idea of destruction has happened over and over throughout human history, though most wouldn't know it because it would trigger their triggers. But, if we learn nothing else, it must be that we must study history and learn from it, otherwise it has a nasty way of repeating itself over and over and over.