The Patriot Post® · Fight at the Museum

You can’t put a price tag on women’s contributions to America – but Congress is trying. For almost 20 years, liberals have batted around the idea of building a National Women’s History Museum in D.C. as a way to draw attention to the untold stories and accomplishments of America’s daughters. Who could be opposed to that?

Plenty of people, once they see who’s being honored and how much it could cost. Right now, the House is considering a bill (H.R. 863) that many believe is the first step to making that museum a reality. If it passes, Congress would create a special task force (four Republicans and four Democrats) to analyze possible fundraising options and building sites. For now, the museum exists as an online organization whose current roster of “heroes” raises plenty of questions about the kind of women its Board would push to include. If the website is any indication, the half-million dollar venture has the potential to be a permanent monument to radical feminism and abortion.

Perusing the pages of the National Women’s History Museum website is a biased trip through the “progressive era,” including a glowing tribute to Margaret Sanger, whom no one would mistake for the racist founder of Planned Parenthood that she was. Thanks to a Board of pro-abortion activists, Sanger’s hideous legacy of eugenics is replaced with her remarkable “contributions” to the birth control movement.

The woman who once wrote, “We do not want word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population,” and whose organization is responsible for the abortion of millions of future women, is celebrated as a champion of U.S. history. Other pages pay homage to Georgetown Law’s Sandra Fluke, who made it her personal crusade to destroy religious liberty through the HHS mandate. NWHM.org even highlights Victoria Woodhull, who equated marriage with “forced prostitution.” Imagine the students who will dutifully march past these displays and mistake these women for heroes.

Do we honestly believe that this same Board would give pro-life trailblazers like Susan B. Anthony the same treatment? Americans are right to be concerned that this museum would be just another platform for liberals to rewrite history. Name one D.C. monument from the last 50 years that hasn’t become a victim of political correctness! The government edited President Franklin Roosevelt’s prayer, chiseled away Rev. Martin Luther King’s God, and Congress thinks this museum would offer a fair and honest picture of women?

On RedState, David Horowitz is equally frustrated by the idea. “[The Left’s] monopoly on media, entertainment, and education has given radicals the opportunity to slowly, yet relentlessly, introduce extreme ideas into the mainstream with a high degree of success. The least we can do as conservatives is not use our majority to gratuitously grant the feminist movement more leverage to promote leftwing propaganda in our nation’s capital under the guise of celebrating famous women.”

To be clear: no one is suggesting that women don’t deserve to be recognized. They do – and are, thanks to 19 other Smithsonian museums that feature women’s achievements in everything from science to sports. But conservatives are concerned – and rightly so – that the GOP’s short-term goal of pushing back on the “war on women” will lead to long-term cultural consequences.

Although supporters claim the project would be funded by private dollars, it hasn’t exactly been a financial barn-burner, raising just under $15 million in the last several years. When pressed, proponents admit that they’d like the museum to be built as part of the Smithsonian (which, Heritage points out, raked in $805 million in taxpayer funds in FY 2014). If you want to know why America is $17 trillion in debt, look no further than politically-motivated projects like this one. Regardless of what some Republicans say, the one thing that will be on display at this museum is the GOP’s misplaced priorities.

On Benghazi, There Was a ‘There’ There

Americans have questions on Benghazi – and for once, Congress will demand answers. It took some persistent folks at Judicial Watch, but leaders finally have evidence of what people suspected all along: that the White House lied about its involvement in the Libyan cover-up. After defying subpoenas and refusing to cooperate, new emails link the Obama administration to a coordinated effort to suppress the truth about the terrorist attack. President Obama famously said, “There is no ‘there’ there” about the White House’s conspiracy to hide the facts on Benghazi. Turns out, there was a there, there.

“It is now abundantly clear,” said Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) “that senior White House staff were directly involved in coordinating the messaging in response to the Benghazi attacks and were actively working to tie the reason to the infamous Internet video.” Armed with emails from the White House’s then-communications advisor Ben Rhodes, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced today that the House will finally vote on establishing a select committee to pull back the curtain on what the administration actually knew before and after the assault.

“These revelations compel the House to take every possible action to ensure the American people have the truth about the terrorist attack on our consulate that killed four of our countrymen,” Speaker Boehner told reporters. For Rep. Wolf, at times the lone wolf in keeping the light on Benghazi, this news is a victory that will give his cause new legs. He stopped by “Washington Watch” Thursday to talk about the latest developments from Judicial Watch. Click here to hear what he said.

At NDP, a Lotz to Be Happy about

Anti-faith groups tried to push the military out of the National Day of Prayer – so imagine their horror when service members not only participated but spoke out about their religious liberty rights! The Air Force’s Major General Joseph Ward followed in Admiral William Lee’s 2013 footsteps, talking candidly about the attacks on faith in the military.

After years of combat, General Ward explained that our troops are under incredible stress and need to have the freedom to share the hope a “foundation of faith” provides. “God’s story is amazing. It needs to be told, and it needs to be shared.” Then, in a powerful prayer, the General asked the Lord to give strength and boldness to America’s “military leaders to stand tall so that our right to express our faith freely and openly is never taken from us.” We salute the General for bringing religious liberty the leadership and attention it deserves.

Ward’s remarks were part of a tremendous event, which also featured Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of the Reverend Billy Graham. Don’t miss the prayer from this year’s honorary chairwoman, available here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.