If Joe Biden wins the election, might he perhaps order—as the grand finale to the inauguration ceremony— the toppling of the Washington Monument?
As preposterous as that scenario might have appeared not that long ago, the possibility arises after listening this morning to a rising contender as Biden's VP pick. Senator Tammy Duckworth [D-IL] was interviewed on CNN's State of the Union. Questioned by Dana Bash, subbing for Jake Tapper, Duckworth twice refused to express opposition to taking down statues of George Washington.
The first time Bash asked her view on the subject, that this isn't just about Confederate statues, it's about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson -- like the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial could get canceled. Duckworth said it's all on the table:
"We should start off by having a national dialogue on it."
When, to her credit, Bash pressed Duckworth on the matter on George Washington, Duckowrth again ducked the question, refusing to rule out taking down statues honoring arguably the greatest hero in American history:
"I think we should listen to everybody! I think we should listen to the argument there."
Conclusion: This is how the Democrats tell you who their voters are.
If Biden can be reached in his basement, someone should immediately ask him whether he also refuses to rule out taking down statues of George Washington. Biden should also be quizzed as to whether Duckworth's refusal to rule out the possibility of dismantling monuments to Washington diminishes her in his mind [such as it is] as a potential VP pick. 
It is a sign of just how insanely, radically, left the Democrats have gone that a prominent Democrat senator and potential vice-president is leaving such an unpatriotic possibility on the table.
Question: has Duckworth been taking public-speaking lessons from Biden? She fumbled frequently, and at one point called Russia one of our "allies," before ineloquently correcting herself, calling Russia "one of our countries that are opposed to us."
Here's the transcript.
CNN
State of the Union
7-5-20
9:43 am EDTDANA BASH: The senator is picking up buzz as a potential running mate for Vice-president Joe Biden. One columnist this week calling her "the anti-Trump, the antidote to the ugliness he reveled in and the cynicism he stokes." [Frank Bruni, New York Times.] So joining me is Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, a former Army lieutenant colonel who served as a helicopter pilot in Iraq. Senator, thank you so much for joining me. President Trump gave a speech at Mount Rushmore Friday night. He talked about the importance of preserving historical monuments. Take a listen.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children.
BASH: Senator, I know that you support changing the name of military bases named after Confederate leaders, But there are leaders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were slave owners. And some people are demanding that their monuments come down, too. So, in your view, where does it end? Should statues, for example, of George Washington come down?
TAMMY DUCKWORTH: Well, let me just say that we should start off by having a national dialogue on it at some point. But right now we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. And one of our allies, one of our countries that are opposed to us, Russia, has put a bounty on American troops’ head [sic].
What really struck me about the speech tha the president gave at Mount Rushmore, was that he spent more time worried about honoring dead Confederates than he did talking about the lives of our 130,000 Americans who lost their lives to Covid-19, or by warning Russia off of the bounty they're putting bounties on Americans' heads. His priorities are all wrong here. He should be talking about what we're going to overcome this pandemic. What are we going to do to push Russia back? And instead, he had no time for that. He spent all his time talking about dead traitors.
BASH: So that may be true, but George Washington, I don’t think anybody would call him a traitor, and there are moves by some to remove statues of him. Is that a good idea?
DUCKWORTH: I think we should listen to everybody! I think we should listen to the argument there. but remember that the president at Mount Rushmore was standing on ground that was stolen from Native Americans who had actually been given that land during a treaty. And again, let’s talk about the greater context of where we are in our country right now. We should be talking about the fact that Covid-19 is experiencing a resurgence, and both this president and the man he put in charge of the pandemic response team, the vice-president, have both failed miserably at their Jobs. I’m more worried about the 130,000 who have lost their lives recently and the thousands and thousands of more Americans who are currently sick than I am our historical past.
