MaddowBlog-Hegseth's Pentagon to reinstall Confederate general's portrait at West Point library

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Last edited Mon Sep 1, 2025, 10:37 AM - Edit history (1)

Despite Hegseth’s rhetoric about “lethality,” his Pentagon finds time for other priorities — such as helping Confederate names, monuments and paintings.

For all of Hegseth’s chest-thumping about being “laser-focused on warfighting,” his Pentagon finds time for other priorities — such as restoring Confederate names, reinstalling Confederate monuments, and rehanging a portrait of a Confederate general at West Point. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-29T16:15:27.936Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/hegseths-pentagon-reinstall-confederate-generals-portrait-west-point-l-rcna228036

The beleaguered Pentagon chief didn’t elaborate on which works of art were of interest, but the answer has apparently come into focus. The New York Times reported:

The Pentagon is restoring a portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee, which includes a slave guiding the Confederate general’s horse in the background, to the West Point library three years after a congressionally mandated commission ordered it removed, officials said. The 20-foot-tall painting, which hung at the United States Military Academy for 70 years, was taken down in response to a 2020 law that stripped the names of Confederate leaders from military bases.

.......Right off the bat, I’ve never seen a presidential administration in which news about wall décor has been quite so frequent. I’ve kept a running file on this for months, and it’s practically overflowing — which is every bit as weird as it seems.

What’s more, for all of Hegseth’s chest-thumping about emphasizing “lethality,” his Defense Department sure does find time for other unrelated pursuits.

During a recent “expletive-laden address” at the Army War College, the secretary boasted, “We are laser-focused on our mission of warfighting.” The former Fox News host did not, however, note that he was apparently referring to a domestic culture war: Hegseth has invested a considerable amount of time and energy in library books. And scrubbing Defense Department websites of articles and images about Jackie Robinson and the Navajo Code Talkers. And renaming Navy ships. And leading a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon’s auditorium. And amplifying videos about denying women the right to vote.

Finally, let’s not overlook the Confederate-related pattern, too. The Pentagon is apparently eager to reinstall a painting of a Confederate general who was responsible for taking up arms against the United States and killing Americans. It comes after Hegseth also renamed military bases by restoring Confederate names......

Asked about Hegseth’s latest move, Seidule told the Post, “The idea of putting that monument back up is just wrong. This is not some woke thing, it’s the will of the American people that Secretary Hegseth is going against.”

The monument, Seidule added, “is the cruelest I’ve ever seen because it’s a pro-slavery, pro-segregation, anti-United States monument. It’s not a reconciliation monument. It’s a Confederate monument and it’s meant to say that the white South was right and the United States of America was wrong.”

Given the broader pattern, it’s far from clear whether or not Hegseth and his team would be bothered by such a message.

[B.See]

1. The South shall reich again.

[Mister Ed]

2. So the lesson to cadets is that you can violate your solemn oath, take up arms against your country,

take full part in the enslavement of a people...

...and be reverently honored at West Point?

[Norrrm]

5. Yes! REL was a traitor to his country and his oath.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Slavery, rebellion, insurrection are the new American values./

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

4. Hegseth is an idiot

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Trump and Hegseth are honoring traitors who fought against America to keep people enslaved

Link to tweet

[Brainfodder]

7. Are they forging a slew of backups and not putting up the original?