Pelosi’s Faulty Memory

Is House speaker “daddy’s little heartbreaker”?

By Dr. Ed DeVries

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is demanding that Congress remove “reprehensible” Confederate statues from the halls of our nation’s Capitol. Thus now would be a good time to remind her that at least two of those “reprehensible” monuments in nearby Maryland were dedicated by her own father, the late Thomas D’Alesandro Jr.

D’Alesandro preceded his daughter in the United States House of Representatives as congressman from Maryland’s 3rd congressional district from 1939–1947. He then served as mayor of the city of Baltimore from 1947-1959.

On May 3, 1948, just days before the ever-so-popular state of Israel was officially constituted, the Baltimore Sun reported that the previous day over 3,000 people attended a speech given by Pelosi’s father in which he formally accepted the statues of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson on behalf of the city of Baltimore. Afterward, Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. gave a speech to formally accept the monuments on behalf of the state of Maryland.

“Today, with our nation beset by subversive groups and propaganda which seeks to destroy our national unity, we can look for inspiration to the lives of Lee and Jackson to remind us to be resolute and determined in preserving our sacred institutions,” Pelosi’s daddy said in his dedication speech. “We must remain steadfast in our determination to preserve freedom, not only for ourselves, but for the other liberty-loving nations who are striving to preserve their national unity as free nations.”

As his then bright-eyed 7-year-old daughter looked on, D’Alesandro would end his speech by saying, “In these days of uncertainty and turmoil, Americans must emulate Jackson’s example and stand like a stone wall against aggression in any form that would seek to destroy the liberty of the world.” Little did he know that his adorable little daughter would grow up to become the leader of that “aggression” and a destroyer of the very “liberty” that he on that day proclaimed and commemorated.

As President Donald Trump cautions that the purge of Confederate statues is a “slippery slope,” Speaker Pelosi is “greasing the sled.” When asked for comment, neither the Speaker nor the spokesperson in her office would respond to a request for comment on her father’s support for Confederate monuments.

Specifically, we asked the speaker if she remembers what was going through her mind when she watched as her father dedicated the statues to Jackson and Lee? Was her little heart already filled with hate and disdain? Or did the little girl admire her father? And Jackson? And Lee? How and why did the little girl grow up to assist in the destruction of the heritage, history, and monuments that her daddy had given as a gift to a nation that he loved and that she would grow up to hate? Does her father look from the beyond with a broken heart? Does his now-grown daughter care?

A pastor and in-demand traveling speaker, Dr. Edward DeVries is the editor of the Dixie Heritage Newsletter and a contributing editor at THE BARNES REVIEW. He is also the host of TBR RADIO’S “TBR History Hour.” Please check it out at www.BarnesReview.com.