you don't touch Saint Frederick

Frederick Douglass is one of the few historical figures whom I deeply admire. He enjoys the status of a saint in my mind. An autodidact who escaped slavery and went on to speak eloquently on behalf of the plight of his people, and on behalf of the equality of all human beings, Frederick Douglass truly is an American hero, a towering figure from our past who deserves our utmost respect.

So imagine my fury when I read that a statue of Douglass had been ripped off its pedestal and dragged over to a nearby river, presumably in an attempt to dump it in the water. This desecration occurred in Rochester, New York, at the very place where (and on the very date when) Douglass gave his "What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?" speech, 168 years ago.

More and more often, I find myself fantasizing about taking up a sniper position not far from certain statues, just so I can expose a few rioter-plunderer-desecrators' brains to the open air. Maybe it's good that I'm in Korea because, were I in the States about now, I might very well be in jail. And without a single twinge of regret.