Va. gov. concedes omission in history month decree

AP ^ | 04/07/2010 | Bob Lewis

[dware]

RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Bob McDonnell has conceded a "major omission" for not noting slavery in declaring April Confederate History Month in Virginia.

[dware]

You have got to be kidding me. I mean, honestly, this is why the Conservative movement goes nowhere. No balls.

[montag813]

What a mess. Why didn’t he just include slavery in the first place. Oh well, better to get this crap at the start of a term.

[nolongerademocrat]

I always wonder why these activists/complainers don’t talk about present-day slavery. I guess it just doesn’t suit their purposes. Rush is right, they will tell you what scares them, they will tell you what motivates them. It is truly a shame. I always want to ask: Are you really against slavery? Really? Then why are you talking so much bullshit about something that is over and nothing about what is happening today? Free the slaves my ass! It is a political tool to them and nothing more.

[counterpunch]

McDonnell had potential as a 2012 presidential candidate.
That’s pretty much over now. He’ll be accused of being a pro-confederacy racist now.
For the life of me I don’t know why these politicians get themselves entangled in these kinds of messes. There is never any upside, just a downside.

[iowamark]

This illustrates why it is always wise to have a “kitchen cabinet” of sober people to run ideas by.

[mwl8787]

Yes, it is inexcusable how dumb these GOP officials are - do they ever think and double-check with experts, particularly when dealing with explosive issues?

[RogerQ]

McDonnell had potential as a 2012 presidential candidate.
That’s pretty much over now. He’ll be accused of being a pro-confederacy racist now.
For the life of me I don’t know why these politicians get themselves entangled in these kinds of messes. There is never any upside, just a downside.

---

Maybe he thought it was the Right Thing To Do.

[FrankR]

I will never apologize.

I wasn't there.

I wasn't even alive.

I never owned a slave.

I never bought a slave.

I never sold a slave.

I never owned a plantation.

The only cotton I ever touched is on Q-tips in my medicine cabinet.

I challenge any former slave still living to come forward and claim that I was there and participated.

I can't control events and attitudes of over 100 years ago.

Every culture has had its slaves, every culture has had its kings, it's time to get over it.

If your great-grandparents were slaves, that does NOT make you a victim.

If my great-grandparents owned slaves, that does not make me a slave-owner, or a racist.

We've heard the Roots thing long enough; there are enough laws in place that slavery could not make a comeback even if anybody wanted it to...which nobody does.

The fact that it took you 200 years to finally stand up and demand your freedom is no concern of mine, I wasn't there. Therefore, I refuse to apologize for something I did not do and had no part in...

[boop]

Don’t forget is was white male Christians who abolished slavery in the free world. Slavery still exists in much of Africa.

[sergeantdave]

Okay, I note that the ghetto thug obuma is trying to enslave us.

Are we done?

[Corin Stormhands]

I will never apologize...

You miss the point. McDonnell did not apologize for slavery. (The General Assembly did that a couple of years ago).

He apologized for not acknowledging slavery in the proclamation to begin with.

Virginia is about to reap a whole bunch of money from history buffs coming here for the 150th Anniversary of the War. McDonnell was right to call attention to it.

Was it a little clumsy in the drafting? Maybe. But he did the right thing by amending the proclamation.

[nina0113]

The fact that it took you 200 years to finally stand up and demand your freedom is no concern of mine, I wasn't there.

That never happened. Their freedom was a gift from white men who bought it with their blood.

[FrankR]

"That never happened. Their freedom was a gift from white men who bought it with their blood. "

I'm talking about the 50's, 60's with all of the riots and demonstations for their "civil rights"...I probably should have said "civil rights" rather than "freedoms", but I was trying to generalize.

The point being, we hopped on rickety boats to come here to escape tyranny and oppression in England, fighting disease, wild animals, the elements and the indians for our freedom; we fought and died for our place in America.

[Verginius Rufus]

Slavery is only wrong when it involves Christians enslaving non-Christians or whites enslaving non-whites. Any other combination and who cares?

Turkish pirates used to enslave people on any ships they could capture in the Mediterranean, or raid villages near the coasts and carry off the peasants as slaves--you never hear about that, or about the millions trafficked by Arab slavetraders.

[yongin]

The WaPO is watching McDonnell's every move like a hawk. Any slight error will be blown out of proportion. I think the Civil War History proclamation is McDonnell's way ot making up to conservatives for going squisy on gay rights.

[Phosgood]

“slavery as THE cause of the Civil War”.

I jumped too early and sent him a supportive response to his first release and thanked him for not prostituting himself to the “SLAVERY” pimps.

I knew better but what the hell?

Why doesn't he have a Slavery proclamation and see who comes to VA for the event?

[Phosgood]

“a little clumsy in the drafting?”

Like a “little pregnant”.

I gotta do a little bumper decal scraping tomorrow, people are pointing and giggling.

[Corin Stormhands]

seriously, if you’re that shallow, then scrape your little arse off.