Posted on 06/25/2015 7:15:39 AM PDT by Drew68
It's the capture-the-flag you never saw coming.
In a shrewdly mapped play, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's (R) call to remove the flapping Confederate rebel jack from state capitol grounds suddenly prompted an entire party to reverse course on the issue. And after years of happily whistling political Dixie as part of its mad racial plan for Southern domination, the Republican Party backed away from this in an unprecedentedly humble about face. If presidential hopeful and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was calling it a non-issue on Sunday, there's now a good chance he might find a convenient backtrack moment by week's end.
The zeitgeist could hardly contain its excitement. Social media blew up into a hashtagging mess of victory laps. The ground-bolted flag, mind you, is still flapping, with no formal agreement or timeline (yet) of its final demise. Still, as historically hardheaded as South Carolina is (defiant and anti-federalist since national birth), the assumption is that the simple act of public contrition from state Republican leaders is in and of itself a remarkable feat.
But don't let hastily announced pressers and momentary Kumbaya in the wake of last week's horrific Charleston, S.C. terrorist attack fool you. Guided by Haley's gifted political hand, Republicans just pulled one of the most clever optical okey-dokeys in recent memory, capturing the flag, running across the field and waving it — in our collective face. Here are five reasons why it's not all what it seems:
Keep talking about flags, so long as you're not talking about guns. Philosophy professor and gun policy expert Firmin Debrabander threw a heavy dose of skepticism on the flag talk as we discussed it during a recent radio conversation on Baltimore-based WYPR-FM: The more we keep focus on the rebel flag, the less we're talking about gun control, just as the National Rifle Association (NRA) wants. Hence, Haley may have just engineered a spectacular solid for one of her more ardent political supporters. More talk about the rebel jack, conveniently stretching its shelf life on the news cycle, keeps the spotlight off gun control. And that's what Haley, state Republican leaders and the gun lobby want: In February, Haley signed a bill into law authorizing concealed guns in restaurants and bars and had the state Senate passed it, she was ready to sign a "permitless" concealed carry law.
Democrats just lost a cause. Real talk: Democrats hoped this was an issue they'd be riding way into 2016, a way to galvanize traditionally reliable, yet reticent African-American voters who are showing signs of displeasure with their current picks. There are signs that black voters aren't completely feeling early-presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, along with some disappointed in President Obama and others tapping out if he's not prominently displayed on the campaign trail. Plus, Democrats are too scared to talk boldly on issues like #BlackLivesMatter or poverty out of fear they'll alienate white voters. Along comes an easy lift issue for Democrats — or so they thought. And, perhaps, the issue could have leveraged South Carolina's black electorate, which represents about 30 percent of the state's voting population. But Republicans appear to have hijacked it before Democrats could get any sail from that wind, whether folks whine about it not coming down fast enough or not.
Everything stays the same, especially for black South Carolinians. It's not like taking the flag down dramatically changes anything for blacks in the Palmetto State. And folks can still wave it on private property if they want. The Republican governor and the GOP-dominated state legislature are still politically unfriendly to a community that's nearly 30 percent of the population. The state still boasts a voter ID law. While the Economic Policy Institute shows South Carolina has the second-lowest black unemployment rate in the nation, it's still rather high at 8.7 percent, compared to only 5.3 percent for whites. The state's poverty rate is ninth in the nation, and the black poverty rate is outrageous at 28 percent. Taking the flag down doesn't move the political or economic needle for blacks in South Carolina one bit.
Well, there goes state culpability. Not sure what the Charleston shooting victims' families or Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church had planned legally, but filing a civil suit against the state of South Carolina could have sent a powerful national message. Clearly, shooter Dylann Roof had an agenda, and the persistent state-sanctioned presence of a treasonous flag on state government grounds was one of several top motivating factors. Maybe it's a stretch (I'm not a lawyer), but South Carolina could be liable on a number of levels. This latest move diminishes that as a legal strategy.
It's all about Haley. This was some very smart, very intelligent and very long-term strategic maneuvering on the part of South Carolina's governor, a move that may have just secured her a new political life and a fresh national stage. She's still very popular. In terms of image, she's suddenly transformed herself into Republican Wonder Woman of color, who took a stand against racism even though the GOP hates talking about it. Since she finds a messaging foil against gun control, the NRA will scratch her back the same way she scratched theirs. The brilliance of the strategy puts her on the radar as a rather attractive running mate for 2016 or for her own presidential aspirations in 2020 if Republican hopes are dashed next year. Should the state's senior U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) snag a Cabinet slot if Republicans retake the White House (because, let's face it, he's not winning the nomination), Haley could get an early lift to Washington — or she could either take Graham on or fill his seat if he fades out several years from now.
Dissing the heritage of the entire South was such a shrewd move.
Not with me!
Yes, you should always buckle under leftie demands. It always works out so well.
It is like the dude that says I kept hitting his fists with my face, I really showed him.
That is the most absolutely ridiculous reasoning of anything I have EVER heard.
This presumes something that is as absurd as presuming the sun doesn’t shine ... that it ends with the flag. The flag is just the easiest target.
Any nitwit that doesn’t think it will soon be about guns and any other number of issues is, well ... a nitwit.
The Left is now extraordinarily emboldened. Even if the GOP pushes back on the next target, it does not matter. The giant is awake. They are motivated and emboldened. They will vote in legions.
Yeah ... real genius move there GOP.
In a rare candid moment I had a black friend( No longer a friend ) tell me blacks just love agitating white people. It is like a hobby. I wonder if that was true or he made that up to piss me off.
I didn’t know the people at The Hill sniffed glue.
Good grief.
Probably a little of both if I had my guess. Like I said ... this doesn’t stop with the flag.
Nothing is so uniting to our nation like telling a large swath of America that your symbols don’t count. But then their goal is divide and conquer.
Where does it end? The owners of the media (I don’t call them liberals) are front and center at hawking political correctness. They are the owners and puppet string pullers of liberals. PC serves as a pathway for them to gain power at the expense of our rights and freedoms (free speech, equal protection). They are getting ready to go for the gold and take away our right of self defense as they did in Australia.
In case you haven’t noticed these PC attacks are always pointed by “elites” at the majority represented by average white Christian Americans. By decimating the power and self worth of the majority, and the country is in their palm.
Shame on this man, if he had any. This is his reaction in the wake of 9 people being murdered?
Ohhhhhhhhh. So now the Republicans pulled a fast one. Those dastardly Repubwicans. Always one step ahead.
Republicans have never had much fondness for the rebel flag and I don't think they're too worried about losing southern white voters over the issue.
She seemed like a different type of politician. I always thought she was Presidential timber.
I was wrong. She caved in a minute.
..... Unfortunately this statement, while I am sure means well, is missing one key component that is not being considered. Unlike the Conservative movement, those that seek to destroy this country have spent at least the last half century setting up a vast nation wide, and in some cases, global network and well oiled machine of activists and community organizers that can spring into motion and fight .... and keep on fighting .... on a moments notice.
...... Because of their size and funding, They have the capability to fight on almost limitless fronts with the help of their media propaganda machine to sway the public to their causes. They are relentless.
.... The conservative movement is limited in it's scope and power and can, for the most part, only fight on a single front with only a single news network and a few talk radio components that will for the most part .... only speak to the choir of faithfuls within America. The Left on the other hand, has almost the entire media machine to incessantly indoctrinate the masses with their propaganda, never letting up.
Because the message of the Left is so similar to the socialist philosophies of other nations .... their message resonates and gains support not only in the United States .... but also to other nations around the world. When the Right is Demonized here in the US .... they are also Demonized worldwide. Therefore other nations look upon the struggle here in America as whatever the left wants it to be perceived as. The enemies of this nation therefore see the opportunity to weaken what is left of her with, not only with their foreign funding, but also with the support of their own propaganda machine.
It doesn’t matter what we think about whether this is the case or not.
It’s what Progs think about this. Last night I used this line of reasoning on a bunch of Prog victory-lappers on FB. Told them congratulations: “you were itching to dance in the blood of the Charleston victims, exploiting their deaths for political gain. And all you did was blow all of your political blood capital on the ... Confederate flag. Didn’t you learn how to effectively trade for stuff in preschool?”
It turned out to be a VERY effective taunt/troll. I think, regardless of what we think, it’s a very effective tool to make them think that we successfully used the Confederate flag as a distraction from the other portions of their agenda.
I can see a reasonable argument as to why it shouldn't be flown. It represents another country, The Confederate States of America. Yeah, yeah. I know it's just a "battle flag". Of course the "battle" known as The Civil War had nothing to do with slavery it had to do with state's rights, yada, yada, yada.
I have no animosity nor any respect for the Confederate flag. To think we can make that part of our history disappear or prevent people from committing murder by removing it from statehouses is sophomoric.
I agree. And liberals who have been forced to begrudgingly approve of what Haley is doing doing will naturally overplay their hand.
Removing the rebel flag from statehouse grounds and license plates is one thing. The calls now for the Taliban-ish bulldozing of Confederate statues and war memorials will result in a backlash costing them in the end, even this issue.
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