WTF? When did California switch their statue in Statuary Hall to Reagan?

[arcadian]

2009 it says, but I don't remember any press over this. Who did they bump? It wasn't Serra. Fuckers.

http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/reagan.cfm

[Kutjara]

1. It says in the article you linked:

"The statue of President Reagan replaced a statue of Thomas Starr King, which the State of California had donated in 1931."

King was a far better representative of the state than old Ronnie Raygun, but the Cult of St. Ronnie would not be denied. According to Wikipedia:

"The resolution was authored by State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, and only State Senator Debra Bowen voted against it. The vote came up at the end of the day when everyone was ready to conclude the session. As Senator Bowen said, “I truly had 40 seconds to get my thoughts together on this. I was trying to explain who Thomas Starr King was, but there just wasn’t time. With more time and some actual discussion the outcome might have been different. I was really offended by the way it happened. It was so politicized.”"

More on Thomas Star King:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Starr_King

[arcadian]

2. I didn't read it.

It started going on about his film career.

[yorgatron]

3. Thomas Starr King has a Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thomas-Starr-King/87983304677?ref=search&sid=1647486694.1821954073..1&v=wall

[BunkerHill24]

4. Lets donate money to the next Governor of CA, Jerry Brown.....

He's facing Rethugs' money...money coming from out off state....much more money than he has raised to date.

So, please, lets support him. Support him, if you can, he's highly qualified, and he's desperately in need in California.

[lib2DaBone]

5. When I look at that statue.. all I see are the ropes that pulled down Sadaam Hussein...

Throw a rope over Ronnie and pull that Senile Piece of Crap down...

[Canuckistanian]

7. Like this?

[Zomby Woof]

6. It was in the news here in L.A.

Makes me vomit. :puke:

[onenote]

8. it happened in june 2009. here's a thread from DU about it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=5796641

[omega minimo]

9. here are two threads on it. my main one is not showing in search

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=6487147

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=5780854

[omega minimo]

10. .

"There’s plenty of blame to go around these days. But the prime villains behind the mess we’re in were Reagan and his circle of advisers — men who forgot the lessons of America’s last great financial crisis, and condemned the rest of us to repeat it."

LTTE on Removal of Starr King Statue from Capitol Statuary Hall
An insult to California history
A great wrong has been committed by our very own state representatives, both conservative and liberal. Thomas Starr King was removed from the National Statuary Hall to smiles, cheers and celebration.
The diminutive Unitarian abolitionist with the big voice who worked himself to an early grave to sway the allegiance of California and all its newfound wealth from the Confederacy to the Union, sealing the fate of the slave states - this great man we have removed from the memory of our nation.
California is usually an afterthought in Civil War history, but this man, the minister of the First Unitarian Church right there on Geary and Franklin, was instrumental in the outcome and also started what would become the American Red Cross.

Another win for the Gipper?
Re "Reagan returns, larger than life, to U.S. Capitol" (Capitol & California, June 4): On this morning's newscast, I saw the unveiling of a statue of Ronald Reagan in Statuary Hall in our nation's Capitol. The likeness replaces the image of Thomas Starr King.
King was a Unitarian preacher from San Francisco. He traveled the state preaching against slavery, poverty and oppression. He is widely credited with influencing California's decision to side with the Union during the Civil War.
Reagan is credited with decimating California's mental health care system. This led directly to a permanent homeless population. While in the White House, he oversaw a deregulation frenzy that led to the savings-and-loan scandals. The whole drugs-for-money-for-guns scheme happened on his watch.
His administration is also notable for its response to the rise of HIV/AIDS. Not only did he do nothing to get in front of what every health official in the world was freaking out about, he could not even bring himself to acknowledge it.
Myth of Reagan
It would be wonderful if California Republican lawmakers would celebrate the dedication of the new Ronald Reagan statue in the U.S. Capitol by following the real Reagan instead of the mythical Reagan.
Although worshiped as an anti-tax crusader these days, he raised taxes numerous times. In 1967, as governor of California, Reagan signed the largest tax increase in California's history to that point, one that would be worth $6 billion in today's dollars. He realized that cuts alone wouldn't solve California's budget problems, so he worked with the legislature to pass a tax package. As president, Reagan signed several tax increases, including one to help shore up the Social Security system and another that closed corporate tax loopholes.

Reagan statue to end Starr King's starring role at U.S. Capitol
http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/1903582.html?storylink=lingospot
On Wednesday, Fagan's bronze 7-foot statue of the nation's 40th president will be unveiled at the U.S. Capitol, replacing the likeness of a lesser-known California figure, Thomas Starr King. Nancy Reagan is expected to attend the ceremony, along with Fagan.
It's the end of an era for Starr King, a 19th century San Francisco Unitarian Universalist preacher who has received star billing at the Capitol for 78 years.
Each state is allowed two statues in the Capitol. California had Starr King and Father Junipero Serra, both of whom have been on display since 1931.
Not everyone's pleased that Reagan is being put on a pedestal, particularly the descendants of Starr King, who helped keep California in the Union during the Civil War.
"Unfortunately, people say: 'Who was Thomas Starr King?' " said Ginny King Supple, Starr King's great-great-granddaughter from Los Angeles. "He never got the public recognition after the fact. He was very well-known back in the 1800s and early 1900s. So it is disturbing."
Starr King gave thousands of speeches, stumping up and down the state, railing against slavery, poverty and oppression. Even though the state had banned slavery, many Southerners who had moved to California wanted slaves and threatened to split the state and form their own republic. Starr King corresponded with Abraham Lincoln during his speaking tour.
"More than anything, he kept California from seceding from the Union during the Civil War," said King Supple. "He was a great orator."
Thomas Starr King V, Starr King's great-great-great-grandson, said family members are troubled not so much by the removal of the statue as by what they feel is the hasty way in which it was done.
During the debate, one California legislator said he didn't know who Starr King was, prompting Starr King V to say that the lawmaker would have been better off trying to bolster history education in the schools. He said legislators acted quickly to support the legislation "so as not to appear anti-Reagan."
Reagan Did It
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=452892
For the more one looks into the origins of the current disaster, the clearer it becomes that the key wrong turn — the turn that made crisis inevitable — took place in the early 1980s, during the Reagan years.
Attacks on Reaganomics usually focus on rising inequality and fiscal irresponsibility. Indeed, Reagan ushered in an era in which a small minority grew vastly rich, while working families saw only meager gains. He also broke with longstanding rules of fiscal prudence.
On the latter point: traditionally, the U.S. government ran significant budget deficits only in times of war or economic emergency. Federal debt as a percentage of G.D.P. fell steadily from the end of World War II until 1980. But indebtedness began rising under Reagan; it fell again in the Clinton years, but resumed its rise under the Bush administration, leaving us ill prepared for the emergency now upon us.
The increase in public debt was, however, dwarfed by the rise in private debt, made possible by financial deregulation. The change in America’s financial rules was Reagan’s biggest legacy. And it’s the gift that keeps on taking.
<>
We weren’t always a nation of big debts and low savings: in the 1970s Americans saved almost 10 percent of their income, slightly more than in the 1960s. It was only after the Reagan deregulation that thrift gradually disappeared from the American way of life, culminating in the near-zero savings rate that prevailed on the eve of the great crisis. Household debt was only 60 percent of income when Reagan took office, about the same as it was during the Kennedy administration. By 2007 it was up to 119 percent.
<>
But it was the explosion of debt over the previous quarter-century that made the U.S. economy so vulnerable. Overstretched borrowers were bound to start defaulting in large numbers once the housing bubble burst and unemployment began to rise.
These defaults in turn wreaked havoc with a financial system that — also mainly thanks to Reagan-era deregulation — took on too much risk with too little capital.
There’s plenty of blame to go around these days. But the prime villains behind the mess we’re in were Reagan and his circle of advisers — men who forgot the lessons of America’s last great financial crisis, and condemned the rest of us to repeat it.

[bridgit]

11. Dang what a dumb statue - they mess with my rotunda there *will* be hell to pay...

:grr:




edit pic link