Hat tip to Lindsey Graham for doing the right thing and doing it first by earlier today making the announcement he wants the Confederate flag gone from the South Carolina capitol building.
(Unknown what happened in the background or if it would have happened anyway)
Next comes the announcement the current Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, will make the formal statement and she delivered the message well that it's time for the Confederate flag to go.
The was no equivocation in either statement and that alone makes them remarkable in the current political environment. This seems more than political stunt-flying and it will really happen.
(Unknown if an unusual coincidence but more news comes)
Wal-Mart announces they will no longer carry Confederate flag merch in their stores. They must be the biggest outlet for cheap t-shirts in the Universe other than the east coast of Florida so any change in their buying makes a loud statement.
There may be some stunt-flying in Lindsey Graham's statement as he steals a march on other contenders for the GOP nomination by a strong statement on the matter toward an immediate goal in South Carolina which was immediately taken up within the state. The other Presidential candidates had made only mealy-mouthed statements to no particular end. I still wouldn't vote for him but he may have set the other candidates to grinding their teeth a bit.
The irony is none of this had to happen. Using the Battle Flag of the Confederacy for something other than what it is (i.e. it wasn't the formally-adopted flag of the Confederate States), General Lee's war flag, was a huge tactical error.
It wasn't until the time of desegregation that it started showing up on capitol buildings, license plates, etc and this is what shamed the initial symbol of resistance, notwithstanding the resistance was coming from slave-owning states. The Confederate flag was not inherently racist when it was originally flown but it became that way through the association with resistance to desegregation and that, in my view, is why it pays for the price for it now. I doubt it will recover except on a few knock-off copies of the car from "The Dukes of Hazzard" but not much else.
We can watch the devolution of a battle flag into yard sale kitsch before our eyes.
(Unknown what happened in the background or if it would have happened anyway)
Next comes the announcement the current Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, will make the formal statement and she delivered the message well that it's time for the Confederate flag to go.
The was no equivocation in either statement and that alone makes them remarkable in the current political environment. This seems more than political stunt-flying and it will really happen.
(Unknown if an unusual coincidence but more news comes)
Wal-Mart announces they will no longer carry Confederate flag merch in their stores. They must be the biggest outlet for cheap t-shirts in the Universe other than the east coast of Florida so any change in their buying makes a loud statement.
There may be some stunt-flying in Lindsey Graham's statement as he steals a march on other contenders for the GOP nomination by a strong statement on the matter toward an immediate goal in South Carolina which was immediately taken up within the state. The other Presidential candidates had made only mealy-mouthed statements to no particular end. I still wouldn't vote for him but he may have set the other candidates to grinding their teeth a bit.
The irony is none of this had to happen. Using the Battle Flag of the Confederacy for something other than what it is (i.e. it wasn't the formally-adopted flag of the Confederate States), General Lee's war flag, was a huge tactical error.
It wasn't until the time of desegregation that it started showing up on capitol buildings, license plates, etc and this is what shamed the initial symbol of resistance, notwithstanding the resistance was coming from slave-owning states. The Confederate flag was not inherently racist when it was originally flown but it became that way through the association with resistance to desegregation and that, in my view, is why it pays for the price for it now. I doubt it will recover except on a few knock-off copies of the car from "The Dukes of Hazzard" but not much else.
We can watch the devolution of a battle flag into yard sale kitsch before our eyes.
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