June 28, 2020

This morning at 5:54, a man erected a large cross on the empty plinth where the "Forward!" statue had stood until protesters tore it down last week.

We happened to be driving by:

IMG_7187

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The shirt says "We want more" (front) and "SOULutions" (BACK).

I'd gotten out of the car to take the second picture, and as I was getting back, a black man walked up to me and began, "I'm from Minnesota...." I said "Sorry" and got in the car. The man went up to the guy who was putting up the cross (and the woman who was there with him).

I couldn't hear the conversation, but the man with the cross listened, handed the man what I assume was money, continued to talk to him while gesturing at the cross. The black man had his hands clasped behind his back and his head bowed — listening, possibly praying. We watched from the car for a while.

At some point, the man who'd put up the cross handed his large camera to the black man and posed with the woman in front of the cross. Can you get a picture of us?

62 comments:

Dave Begley said...

That Cross will be removed - by the State - by noon. Separation of Church and State, doncha know?

Sebastian said...

Christianity is the real bulwark against prog destruction, I say as a non-Christian.

Whether it can hold is another matter.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Men in shorts.

jnseward said...

The way, the life, and the truth.

Narayanan said...

Dave Begley said...
That Cross will be removed - by the State - by noon. Separation of Church and State, doncha know?
-----------===========
will there be live action photography by Professora? - performative act of upholding the Constitution by all parties involved

wildswan said...

They'll tear the Cross down but it was put up again and it always will be.

Bob Boyd said...

No small number of people, who went to the very best schools, believe tearing down the Forward statue is important progress and this guy putting up a cross on the empty pedestal is an outrage.

MayBee said...

Was the Man from Minnesota wearing a mask?

I like a person whose instinct it is to build up.

Narayanan said...

Dave Begley said...
That Cross will be removed - by the State - by noon. Separation of Church and State, doncha know?
-------------===========
would Cross drawn on one of the Murals? have longer life expectancy ? with a Jesus not so white ?

stevew said...

Most people are just nice and thoughtful and helpful. In my experience. I'm still struggling to understand the sort of person that behaves like that woman screaming at the older black men about the statue. About a statue. Mental illness is the only sensible explanation that occurs, so far.

rhhardin said...

Forward died for your sins.

Jeff Brokaw said...

A Christian trying to help and promoting peace and grace in a non-confrontational way. There’s a shocker.

Maybe BLM should think WWJD a bit more.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

America!

Ken B said...

“Sorry” as in, I just don’t want to engage, or as in “wow, what a misfortune for you to come from a state where Democrats vote to endanger your life by defunding police”?

The cross guy will get hated on, but there is at least some chance he’s trying for reconciliation isn’t there?

The cross won’t (and shouldn’t) stay, but what will happen? Will the protesters *burn* the cross? Think about that for a moment.

tcrosse said...

The foundry is working on statues of George Floyd, in various poses and several sizes. Coming soon to an empty plinth near you.

Big Mike said...

Anybody know what “12 Fuck Em” is about?

Temujin said...

Funny. As a Jew I feel very strongly positive about that cross being erected up there. For my own reasons, in my own wacky perception, I see that cross as a symbol of peace, but also representing the 'old way'. A return to a foundation that built Western Civilization.

Of course, it will not stand. You cannot erect a cross on gummint property and the Woke mobs will not abide a different religion being shown on their turf. They are all crusaders for their own religion(s) and their quest it to make it the State religion.

cacimbo said...

Soulutions website adamantly states they are not religious.Reading their babble, I learn they believe capitalism is bad and everyone needs to push a "progressive" political agenda starting at the local level.Based on that - the cross installer could also have been one of the statue destroyers.

BarrySanders20 said...

Now the BLM woke mob who is not at all Antifa because they are unorganized and do not exist can light that cross on fire and dance around in their masks and black costumes. That’ll show the Man!

cf said...

God Bless Men who are constructive and know how to build.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Watching Maddow and reading huffpo and CNN creates the kind of brain-dead anger that leads to Antifa fascism.

Michael said...

The opposite of vandalism and naked fury. It took effort to build the cross, haul it and lift it and secure it. How many rioters could construct that cross? None? One?

Bob Boyd said...

Anybody know what “12 Fuck Em” is about?

It means 'Fuck The Police.'

Dan said...

Anybody know what “12 Fuck Em” is about?
Big Mike, 12 is a reference to police.

Michael said...

tcross
“The foundry is working on statues of George Floyd, in various poses and several sizes. Coming soon to an empty plinth near you.“
Except there is not a single SJW “sculptor” skilled enough to form a replica of a human figure. Now slap down some twisted steel and label it The Death of Floyd and your bit of “art” will be on the cover of Art Today and resting in front of the Museum of Natural History over there on CPW.

Biff said...

No doubt the cross will come down long before the "12 Fuck Em" will be removed.

Bob Boyd said...

12 is a slang term for law enforcement. Maybe it came from that TV show Adam 12.

Narr said...

That's a brave man, and good for him; as noted, it won't and can't stay long but I like his free expression better than riots and mobs.

Narr
Good Sunday morning!

mikee said...

The old "bus fare" scam! It never gets old. "I'm from (some other place) and need a few dollars to make bus fare home, because (insert sob story).

And Althouse cut it off after the first sentence, which is not bad. The only way to play it better is to back off before the grifter speaks to you.

I prefer to look at the beggar slightly crosseyed and reply, "No, thank you anyway." It allows me a few seconds to escape while they process my non-sequitor of a reply.

Think of the grifters as a girl scout selling cookies, who want about three fifty for a box of Thin Mints, but who are really about 8 stories tall, and a crustacean from the Paleozoic Era. It makes thwarting their scams more fun.

Howard said...

Guten Morgen das Fräulein
Blogger BleachBit-and-Hammers could have easily said...

Watching Hannity and reading Breitbart and Fox News creates the kind of brain-dead anger that leads to Police fascism.

Big Mike said...

Thanks Dan and Bob Boyd.

Original Mike said...

Blogger rhhardin said..."Forward died for your sins."

You are a treasure.

Krumhorn said...

Why was our hostess sorry? What was there to be sorry about? Being white?

- Krumhorn

Temujin said...

"The foundry is working on statues of George Floyd, in various poses and several sizes. Coming soon to an empty plinth near you."

Hopefully they'll do an action shot of him holding a gun to the pregnant stomach of ONE of the women he accosted in his days in Houston. Just before he became an angel.

Fernandinande said...

Christianity is the real bulwark against prog destruction, I say as a non-Christian.

Around here the Christian churches are the woke folk, ludicrously marching around and yelling "George Floyd".

Clyde said...

I think it comes from the old TV show Adam-12. Some call them Five-O as well.

tcrosse said...



The foundry is in China. SJ is SJ, but business is business.

Mark said...

In the end, the Cross will prevail.

Dave Begley said...

George Floyd? Don’t you mean George Kirby? Or is it Floyd George? I’m confused.

Enlighten-NewJersey said...

“...creates the kind of brain-dead anger that leads to Police fascism.” Oddly enough that only happens in cities controlled by Democrats.

Howard said...

That's "One Adam-12, One Adam-12" see the man at Sepulveda and Devonshire witness to a 211 in progress, suspect is a male cauc five-eleven, heavy-set, blond crew cut wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans, assume armed and dangerous last seen heading east on Devonshire

I always say "No Thanks" in an upbeat, positive tone to panhandlers because I do not wish to purchase the indulgences they are offering for sale. "Sorry" sounds passive aggressive.

David Blaska said...

Wisconsin capitol was built in shape of a Greek cross.

Yancey Ward said...

Fifteen FBI agents have been dispatched to Madison to investigate this hate crime.

rcocean said...

Spreading the word. Good for him. As for the black guy. Yes, I'm sure after years in NYC Althouse can spot a panhandler from 1000 yards. I know I can.

Yancey Ward said...

Like Cacimbo above, I also googled "Soulutions". Definitely a left wing religious cult.

Ann Althouse said...

"“Sorry” as in, I just don’t want to engage, or as in “wow, what a misfortune for you to come from a state where Democrats vote to endanger your life by defunding police”? "

"Sorry" as in one more instinctive rebuff of a stranger who approaches me. I am polite but brusque and I give a solid message that no one has access to me. It works. Try it. I lived in NYC for 10 years when I was in my 20s. No one has ever interfered with me. It's bad policy — I believe — for a woman to walk around in the city and be approachable.

Richard Dolan said...

It looks like the cross he put up lasted for less than 5 minutes -- it's not there in the photo you took at 5:59. Better than nothing is a high standard (where have I heard that?), but in this case I think he had something better than nothing. Alas, Breyer might not agree (but Alito would).

Freeman Hunt said...

"Around here the Christian churches are the woke folk"

Same here. Christianity is hard and demands humility. Whole lot of churchgoers trading it in for woke-ism.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

It was a drug deal gone good.

Big Mike said...

Update. Someone online wrote that "12" comes from adding the digits from dialing 9-1-1. There's only one small thing wrong with that. 9+1+1 = 11, not 12.

Must have been written by a Fine Arts major. Or someone whose major ends in the word "Studies."

Big Mike said...

Hopefully they'll do an action shot of [George Floyd] holding a gun to the pregnant stomach of ONE of the women he accosted in his days in Houston. Just before he became an angel.

@Temujin, if Christian theology is right, I would not look for the soul of George Floyd among the angels.

Oso Negro said...

If a black man from Minnesota had approached me, I would have asked "how may I be of service?" Perhaps he needed directions to a locale of some sort. If he had asked me for money, I would have said "We have many Democrats in Madison. Let me find one for you!" And then I would have yelled "Democrat! Need a Democrat here!"

Oso Negro said...

It would be even more interesting if come nightfall, someone sets that cross ablaze. THAT would give Madison something to talk about.

Jupiter said...

"It's bad policy — I believe — for a woman to walk around in the city and be approachable."

Working that chick privilege, hey? Playing the ol' "weaker sex" card.

Have you started thinking about concealed carry? Sometimes how approachable you are isn't up to you.

Jupiter said...

"Now slap down some twisted steel and label it The Death of Floyd and your bit of “art” will be on the cover of Art Today and resting in front of the Museum of Natural History over there on CPW."

Hmmm... That is something to think about. What would it take, to do Justice to the Death of Floyd? Poor bastard was just trying to get high. Now he belongs to the ages. I'd like to think that in his final fever dream, he was all alone in the end zone, leaping high to catch that long, long pass and win the big game. Lying handcuffed on his back, strapped to a gurney in a screaming ambulance.

Rabel said...

Three squirrels on the right. Looking for nuts probably. They're in the right place.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." --Gal. 3:26

Narr said...

I used to be a pretty soft touch for panhandlers, but once you realize that they dehumanize you by treating you as their ATM, it gets easy to flick them away. Sometimes with a little verbal abuse thrown in, with the hope they'll remember me.

Narr
"Big Man! Excuse me, Big Man!"

Narr said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Achilles said...

Big Mike said...
Update. Someone online wrote that "12" comes from adding the digits from dialing 9-1-1. There's only one small thing wrong with that. 9+1+1 = 11, not 12.

Must have been written by a Fine Arts major. Or someone whose major ends in the word "Studies."


Not if it is Base 9.

Then 9+1+1=12

sorry...

Big Mike said...

In the thread’s first comment Dave Begley predicted that Madison officialdom (officious-dumb?) would have the cross taken down by noon. Purely out of intellectual curiosity, how accurate was he? Did tit even last until noon? 2:00? Surely it’s not still up at 8:40 pm?

Big Mike said...

@Achilles, sorry, but in base 9 the number 9 is written 10.

Do not attempt to screw with a mathematician!