Two Republicans senators have surrendered to the leftist rioters and vandals who have moved from wrecking the statues of long-dead Confederates to wrecking the statues of longer-dead Catholic trailblazers, most notably, Christopher Columbus.
As one city after another bows to the false narrative that Columbus was a racist oppressor, Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and James Lankford of Oklahoma say the federal holiday honoring the Italian explorer should be scrapped.
Yesterday, the pair offered an amendment to a bill, sponsored by Texas Republican John Cornyn and Democrat Edward Markey of Massachusetts, that would make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Although Juneteenth, June 19, is the day in 1865 a Union general general declared an end to slavery in Texas, for a few Americans it has become a general observance of slavery’s end after the War Between the States.
Johnson and Lankford say the taxpayers can’t afford another federal holiday. If Juneteenth is to be recognized, then Columbus Day must go.
Surrender to the Mob
In his prepared statement on the amendment, Lankford wrote that “Juneteenth is a day in our history that redefined the meaning of freedom and equality in America.”
Throughout our history, we have strived to become a more perfect union and Juneteenth was a huge step in attaining that goal. We should celebrate these strides on the federal level while remaining cognizant of the impact the existing 10 federal holidays have on federal services and local businesses. We can reduce these impacts by replacing Columbus Day as a federal holiday with Juneteenth, America’s second independence day. I’m hopeful the Senate will support this amendment to celebrate this significant day in our nation’s history.
Said Johnson:
In response to a bipartisan effort to give federal workers another day of paid leave by designating Juneteenth a federal holiday, we have offered a counterproposal that does not put us further in debt. We support celebrating emancipation with a federal holiday, but believe we should eliminate a current holiday in exchange. We chose Columbus Day as a holiday that is lightly celebrated, and least disruptive to Americans’ schedules.
Why Lankford and Johnson didn’t propose dumping Labor Day, or better yet, Martin Luther King Day, one can only guess.
Fox talker Tucker Carlson called the move another GOP surrender to the Red revolutionaries vandalizing cities and statues of Dead White Males.
“They want to delete it from the national calendar,” Carlson fumed in his nightly broadcast. “They’re hoping to quietly eliminate Columbus Day and then move on to the next item on the rioters’ list of demands.”
Not so, said Johnson. “My sole motivation for offering this amendment to the Juneteenth bill is to prevent giving federal workers another paid holiday and incurring the additional cost,” he tweeted. “It is not deprecating Christopher Columbus’ achievements or expressing any value judgement regarding his place in history. I do not support efforts to erase America’s rich history — not the good, the bad, or the ugly.”
The senators note that only 21 states recognize Columbus Day as a paid holiday. Maybe, but just three states so recognize Juneteenth. Virginia soon will.
Not So Fast
That leaves it up to other Republicans such as Cornyn to jettison the idea.
Cornyn said “it would be ‘problematic’ to cut Columbus Day,” The Hill reported.
Cornyn said swapping in Juneteenth and cutting out Columbus Day “dilutes the message we’re trying to send, which is one of being respectful and honoring and remembering our history.”
“I think that’s problematic,” he said of the Johnson counteroffer. “We’re working through all those things right now we just don’t have an answer right this second.”
Others are skeptical as well.
“I look forward to donating to any Republican who primaries Ron Johnson or James Lankford,” tweeted Michael Knowles, a fellow at the Claremont Institute. “Do whatever you want with Juneteenth, but not at the expense of Columbus Day!”
Italian-American Maria Bartiromo didn’t like it either. “Madness,” tweeted the brunette bombshell of business journalism. “Madness. Why not just create a separate holiday?”
Indeed, the excuse that another day off for the federal bureaucracy is too burdensome to the federal budget — annual deficit, $2.8 trillion — does seem to stretch the truth.
But again, why not celebate Juneteenth instead of what is now Labor Day, or better yet, substitute it for King’s holiday, given the recent revelation that he aided and abetted rape — and Americans are now supposed to reckon with sins of the past?
Photo: Rowr / iStock / Getty Images Plus
