Maryland's governor requests statue be removed from State House grounds, hopefully before a mob does it

Brett T. | 3:58 PM on August 15, 2017

A quick look through Twitchy’s archives shows that the drive to take down Confederate statues and rename schools and state buildings has been picking up steam for quite a while. Remember back in 2015, when a woman climbed the flagpole in front of the South Carolina State House and pulled down the flag … after Gov. Nikki Haley had already called for it to be taken down and placed in a museum?

Activists have decided that things need to move more quickly; hence, the mob who toppled a Confederate monument in Durham, N.C., Monday night, reportedly to a chant of “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!” Unless you have a statue of Lenin on your grounds, they might come to your city next.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan made it clear through a statement Tuesday that a statue of former Chief Justice Roger B. Taney on the State House grounds doesn’t sit right with him anymore, and he’s requesting that it be taken down … presumably during daylight by authorized workers.

Governor Larry Hogan requests removal of Confederate statue on Maryland State House grounds. pic.twitter.com/kh64xzWFeI

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) August 15, 2017

Hogan kicked off his request with a big wet squish, reminding constituents that his administration’s guiding principle has always been to assume a “middle temperament.” To be honest, the nation could use more of that right now, but it would only be right for those who slammed President Trump for not going far enough to criticize Hogan for making such an equivocal statement.

NEW: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan calls for statue of Roger Taney, author of Dred Scott decision, to be removed https://t.co/lPglSOFo4L pic.twitter.com/HHxBiyYIA0

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) August 15, 2017

BREAKING: Hogan supports removing Annapolis confederate statue: https://t.co/B0Kv1t5MB3

— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) August 15, 2017

Not that we’re big Roger B. Taney fans, but isn’t it curious how removing the statue became the right thing to do on Tuesday, Aug. 15? The mob proved its power in Durham, and white supremacists with tiki torches make it clear over the weekend that their club is the least cool thing going these days. Plus, a petition has been circulating.

Times have changed. This was two years ago …

VIDEO: Larry Hogan 2 years ago defended Taney statue, called removal "political correctness gone amok." #mdpolitics https://t.co/x9e0OUctdn

— Jared Leopold (@jaredleopold) August 15, 2017

… and this, reportedly, was Monday night:

Gov. Larry Hogan's communications office released the following statement this evening on the Taney statue outside State House #MDpolitics: pic.twitter.com/UcwpLLaeJP

— AJ Metcalf (@AJwatchMD) August 14, 2017

https://twitter.com/EbonGoode/status/897537354105327616

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