Democrats feel an opportunity to advance. The riots, grooming, and race wars are sure to follow.
Page A6From§Eachthe supper edition — 31 August 2026
Outlet revises own headline from 'just ran out' to 'running out' of Confederate statues to blame.
As it ran on the front
This desk has read both headlines carefully, and readers concerned about a supposed contradiction are, respectfully, missing the broader point about historical vandalism in the Commonwealth. The first headline, published this month, stated plainly that in Virginia the parties described as destroying statues had 'just run out' of Confederate statues to remove. That is a factual claim about inventory. It reflects the seriousness with which this publication tracks the removal of historical markers, a subject that deserves — did I say 'run out'? That's not — let me restate. The headline said 'just ran out,' past tense, complete.
Except the second headline, published under what appears to be the same byline convention, revised that to 'running out,' present progressive, incomplete. Now, a lesser outlet might call that a walkback. This desk calls it a refinement. Refinements happen. Editors improve copy. That the improvement moved a completed action to an ongoing one is a stylistic choice, not an admission that the first headline overstated the case. I want to be clear that I am not saying the first headline overstated the case. I am saying — the first headline said finished, the second says not finished, and those are, factually, different claims about the same inventory, on the same day, from the same source.…
…(cont) The larger argument — that removing statues escalates into removing people — stands on its own regardless of inventory status. Whether Virginia has zero Confederate statues left or merely very few, the argument does not require an object to remove. It requires only the premise, published twice, revised once, and the premise is what readers should carry forward. The inventory count is incidental. That the inventory count changed within the same week is also incidental. Two incidentals do not make a — they don't make a pattern. That's not what this is.
What this is, is a publication updating its readers on the exact number of applicable statues remaining, with precision, twice, in the same month, using two different verb tenses to describe the same shrinking category. This desk stands by both headlines. Both. At once. As written.
“Same outlet, same week, one headline says they already ran out of statues, the next says they're still running out — nobody edited the premise, they're just running out of things to be scared of and reloading.”
“The correction reflects an editorial refinement in verb tense, not — look, it's not a retraction, a retraction would require the first headline being wrong, and I'm not saying it was wrong, I'm saying it was revised, which is different, which — fine, it's the same thing.”
The receipts
Democrats feel an opportunity to advance. The riots, grooming, and race wars are sure to follow.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.