It can be hijacked as a Mitt Thread.
It can be hijacked as a Fred Thread.
It can be hijacked as a Ron Paul Thread.
It can be hijacked as a South-Shall-Rise-Again Thread.
I can't WAIT to see which one comes up!
bah...what a waste of a topic. Who cares!?
The flag means many things to many people,...leave it at that.
By the way, I’m not insulting you, I’m just saying this isn’t a big issue...
I thought they were running for President. What a State’s flag looks like is State business, and not the Federal Gobberments concern.
It can be hijacked as a Mitt Thread.
It can be hijacked as a Fred Thread.
It can be hijacked as a Ron Paul Thread.
It can be hijacked as a South-Shall-Rise-Again Thread.
I can't WAIT to see which one comes up!
How did Fred criticize the American Flag?
His answer was rational and spot on.
Now it's time for CNN to ask the rest of the candidates (of both parties) about the Confederte flag.
Number one, they didn’t criticize the Confederate flag, they praised the American flag. The question was a CNN ploy to get a headline.
Number two, if someone does or doesn’t vote for President based on what that person said or didn’t say about the Confederate Flag...well that’s impossible for me to fathom.
Number three, the guy who asked the question was one of Paul’s supporters (somebody looked him up on youtube, the link is on the debate thread.)
And finally, people that are making a big deal of this should probably “save their Confederate dollars cause the South’s gonna rise again.”
Sic 'em, boys!! Sic Fred! Sic Mitt!
(Sits back and watches the Mittwitts and Fredheads destroy each other)
I am amazed that Republicans allow themselves to debate in a socialist venue that a company like CNN puts on. My god, aren’t there any other options?
I thought civil war was over. Why is the confederate flag an issue any more? It is old history and irrelevent to modern era.
Romney: Right now, with the kinds of issues we got in this country, I’m not going to get involved with a flag like that. That’s not a flag that I recognize so that I would hold up in my room.
The people of our country have decided not to fly that flag. I think that’s the right thing.
(Applause)
My own view is that this country can go beyond that kind of stuff, and that instead we can do as a party what we need to do, which is to reach out to all Americans.
Every time I listen to someone like John Edwards get on TV and say there are two Americans, I just want to — I just want to throw something at the TV, because there are not two Americas. There’s one America.
We are a nation united. We face extraordinary challenges right now. And Democrats dividing us and tearing down this country are doing exactly the wrong thing.
We’re succeeding in Iraq. We’ve got tough challenges. We can overcome them. But we do not need to have that kind of divisive talk. And that flag, frankly, is divisive, and it shouldn’t be shown.
Cooper: Governor Thompson? Excuse me, Senator Thompson? Maybe one day.
Thompson: I know that everybody who hangs the flag up in their room like that is not racist. I also know that for a great many Americans it’s a symbol of racism.
So, therefore, as a public place — he’s free to do whatever he wants to in his home. As far as a public place is concerned, I am glad that people have made the decision not to display it as a prominent flag, symbolic of something, at a state capitol. As a part of a group of flags or something of that nature, you know, honoring various servicepeople at different times in different parts of the country, I think that’s different.
But, as a nation, we don’t need to go out of our way to be bringing up things that to certain people in our country that’s bad for them.
Out of that entire debate, THIS is the most substantive story they could throw out even before they finished sweeping the stage?
It was one of the most stupid questions asked but they are trying to use it to drive a wedge between the candidates who got stuck with it and the southern states. Lame. Very Lame.
It was more important in the CNN mindset, to bring up the Confederate flag, punishment for abortion, gays in the military, etc., etc.
I wished that Giuliani had been asked that question. It seems that the question was asked to hurt CERTAIN candidates only.
Soon as Mitt answered I said to my wife “well he just lost the entire Southern vote”
To be fair though personally I think that was a can’t win question though. Thompson did fairly well, better then Mitt, but still cost him some South points.
The Confed flag wouldn’t have even been an issue if CNN or whatever MSM network it was didn’t try to make it an issue because someone had one in his garage that Dick Cheney walked nearby and trying to claim that was an endorsement of some form.
I don’t like Mitt Romney, but I thought he answered the question well and succinctly, as did Fred Thompson. I told my husband at the time that he did much better than I would have thought he would have - I was impressed.
I thought they were both forceful and thoughtful, just what voters need to see and hear.
FWIW: I was raised in the South, so I do understand the issue.
Mitt’s answer was definitely fairly characterized as criticism of the flag, but Fred’s answer was not by any means.
Mitt basically seemed to agree with the premise that those who display the confederate flag are racists. Fred specifically disagreed with that premise.
Qwinn
Link broken:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/28/romney-thompson-criticize-confederate-flag/
Also, Newsbusters picked it up here today:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2007/11/29/youtube-boobtubery-cnn-spins-thompsons-confederate-flag-stance
This topic has no place in a presidential debate.