Cummings First African-American Rep To Lie In State At Capitol

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Huge loss for Baltimore,Washington DC and The United States Of America.A giant in our midst now gone but not forgotten,I have no doubt the people giving their condolences and sharing their thoughts will remind us of a time when our presidents had eloquence in their speech which is so surely lacking today,President Obama and President Clinton both have that natural eloquence and no doubt will be moving in their condolences.Hillary will also be deft.

RIP Congressman Cummings,Your job is now done.

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I can’t help but think of the contrast between Congressman Cummings’ poise, dignity, and character versus the stunt Republican congressman pulled yesterday. I hope they have a chance to reflect as the Congressman is honored for his lifetime of service and integrity.

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Is this a trick question?

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Rest in Power Congressman Cummings

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I hope the orange menace doesn’t make an appearance.

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Not a chance.

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Why the fuck is there still a bust of Jefferson Davis there? That’s crazy.

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Oops, I see now you asked the same question as me. I don’t get that either. There’s no reason Jefferson Davis should have a place of honor there, at all. He fomented a Civil War ffs.

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The statue of Jefferson Davis was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by the state of Mississippi in 1931.
Davis served the nation in many positions before being appointed president of the Confederate States during the Civil War, including Secretary of War, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a member of the U.S. Senate.

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JD was Secretary of War in the Buchanan administration.
My only guess. late: (Thanks @thunderclapnewman I forgot about the House & Senate)

Though I think the JD statue should be removed from the rotunda in Frankfort, KY, JD was born in KY. It’s a ghostly statue compared to the ones of Lincoln (also born in KY) and the others. It’s really expensive to move that statue so no matter how many times its removal is demanded (about every year or two), it’s gets lost in that argument from the state and something else soon comes up to send it down the memory hole until the next time.

I’d post a pic of it with funny poster sign on it from a protest a few years ago, but not on this thread and soil the beautiful remarks to a giant of a man in Elijah Cummings.

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He also was imprisoned following the Civil War for treason. Who cares what he did before he turned traitor. There are lots of politicians that serve in various positions of public service before they do something irredeemable and awful. We don’t honor them, nor should we.

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He was arrested and imprisoned—but he was never tried or convicted and was released after two years.

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History is a complex thing. They should teach more of it in schools.

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True but was also unable to run for senate afterwards because the label of rebel/traitor was still applied to him according to the 14th amendment.

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Yes, he was indicted but Andrew Johnson pardoned him (among other traitors) and the government essentially dropped the charges against him.

None of which explains why he should (still) be honored at tax-payers’ expense.

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While Davis’ was, like many Southerners of the period, more loyal to his state than to the US (a not uncommon set of principles in both North and South) which led to his “presidency,” his place in US history is still there, and his positions in the US government cannot be erased because of the Civil War.

We cannot learn from history if we try to erase it or elide the parts we don’t like.

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I’m well aware of that. He was still the putative President of the Confederacy…and in an illegitimate position that waged war against the Union for the purpose of maintaining their holdings on human chattel…which btw the South lost. It has been and still is America’s original sin and yet a bust of the President of the Confederacy is still in Statuary Hall? You could explain it to me all day and I still wouldn’t find it acceptable.

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Well…I hate when people make me do this… he wasn’t a traitor when he was Sec. of War or a congressman or a Senator.

But let’s move on to celebrating the memory of Elijah Cummings.

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Amen brother.

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It’s not a bust, actually. It’s a near-life-size statue.
It’s not in statuary hall because he was president of the Confederacy.
It’s there because he was a Senator, a member of the House, and a cabinet officer.

For good or ill, he’s part of US history—some of it good, some of it most definitely not.

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