Thumbs down: Demonstrating why statues had to go

The recent removal of Confederate monuments in the Deep South has triggered a variety of public protests. But if ever there was one that demonstrated the need for knocking some old ideas off their pedestals, the protest in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday was it. The demonstration involved about 50 members of the Ku Klux Klan, including some who wore their traditional hooded white robes and chanted such things as “white power” as they protested the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. But after 30 minutes of marching, the protesters were confronted by a group of counterprotesters more than 1,000 strong that followed the KKK members to their cars chanting “go home” and “black lives matter.”