by Patrick Appel
Wilkinson pans the new MLK memorial because the Chinese sculptor who chiseled King is renowned for carving statues of Mao:
That King's monumental likeness was chiseled from stone by an ace aesthetic hype man for Mao, a dictator responsible for " one of the most deadly mass killings of human history", suggests a couple things. First, and most obviously, it suggests that monuments like this one are pieces of propaganda, attempts to manipulate a state's citizens (or subjects, as the case may be) into parcelling out honour, reverence and esteem according to an "official" account of the country's history. This is a line of business most states are in, but it is not a line of business I think liberal states ought to be in, even if from time to time they happen to exalt worthy heroes, such as Martin Luther King.
Weigel differs.
(Photo: The new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Dish 