Saturday, April 23, 2016

An Insufficient Honor

So a Democratic president gets demoted on the $20 bill in favor of Harriett Tubman? Okay.

After all, she is a kind of person a conservative can get behind:

Tubman is an admirable choice. Not only was she a courageous chaperone along the Underground Railroad, responsible for escorting more than 300 slaves to freedom; she was also a scout and spy for the Union Army, the first woman in American history to lead a military raid (against Combahee Ferry, in South Carolina, where she helped liberate more than 700 slaves), a Republican, a devout Christian, and a staunch defender of the right to bear arms.

If Democrats want to demote one of their own, who am I to stand in the way?

Still, my preference is to keep Jackson on the 20.

I'd rather add a 200 or 250 bill to cover inflation and compete with the Euro big bill.

And stifle the impulse to control that is evident in efforts to get rid of even the inflation-shriveled 100 to push us away from paper currency and to easier to control and monitor cards.

Tubman would have liked that, I imagine.

Really, going on the 20 is an insufficient honor.