Posted on 06/21/2015 2:49:11 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Ted Cruz said Saturday that the Confederate flag flying in front of their statehouse is “a question for South Carolina” to decide.
He is not alone. Marco Rubio said the same: “This is an issue that they should debate and work through and not have a bunch of outsiders going in and telling them what to do.” Scott Walker and Carly Fiorina also feel it is an issue for South Carolina alone to decide.
Funny. I seem to recall South Carolina trying to decide that issue in 1861, when on April 12 they opened fire on Fort Sumter, inaugurating the Civil War.
Also, as I recall, they lost. The flag they waved at the end was white.
That should have been an end to that affair.
By the vote of an all-white legislature, a Confederate flag was raised once again above the South Carolina statehouse in 1962. In 2000, another vote removed it, and placed a square battle flag – oddly, the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia – over a monument to Confederate dead. This is the flag that is, in the wake of the Charleston massacre, the point of contention between Democrats and Republicans.
The flag chosen was not the national colors of the Confederacy – or even of South Carolina – though it did form a component of the second (1863) and third (1865) national flag.
It may have been raised in 1962 because that year was during the Civil War Centennial. It may also have been a reactionary white racist response to the Civil Rights Movement. Opinions differ. Perhaps both accounts are true.
The point is this: there is no long, unbroken tradition of this flag flying in the vicinity of the statehouse since the Civil War.
It is not even a South Carolina flag, nor the Confederacy’s national flag. There is nothing special about it even for descendants of Confederate soldiers unless their ancestors served in the Army of northern Virginia.
In other words, it is a peculiar way of honoring South Carolina’s Civil War dead and likely one that would not have been understood by the Civil War generation.
Ted Cruz ignores all this. Cruz wants us to believe he is a reasonable man, the voice of impartiality, a claim he threw away when he claimed Democrats were using the flag as a “wedge” issue:
"I understand the passions that this debate evokes on both sides. Both those who see a history of racial oppression and a history of slavery, which is the original sin of our nation, and we fought a bloody civil war to expunge that sin.
But I also understand those who want to remember the sacrifices of their ancestors and the traditions of their states, not the racial oppression, but the historical traditions, and I think often this issue is used as a wedge to try to divide people."
NAACP President Cornell Brooks admits there are different viewpoints here, but he has a different answer: “Yes, there may be multiple sides to this debate, but clearly we all have to be on the side of those who lost their lives in a church.”
According to Cruz, however, “the last thing they need is people from outside the state coming in and dictating how they should resolve that issue.”
That’s funny. Last time – I’m talking 1861 again – South Carolina needed all kinds of help. The Confederate march, “The Bonnie Blue Flag” tells us (third and fourth verses below),
First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand Then came Alabama and took her by the hand Next, quickly Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida All raised on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Ye men of valor gather round the banner of the right Texas and fair Louisiana join us in the fight Davis, our loved President, and Stephens statesmen rare Now rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Never mind that the song’s writer, Harry McCarthy, got the order of secession wrong in the third verse. The point to be made is that South Carolina had ten other states siding with it, rather than leaving it to South Carolina to decide alone. People from outside certainly did have a say in 1861.
In response, other states, known as the Union – twenty free states and five border states – stood up to oppose the Confederacy’s defense of slavery. We all – the entire nation – helped South Carolina with its “flag” issue.
It was very much a national affair then, and it is very much a national affair now. The wedge issue then as now is racism, and the rebel flag represents that wedge.
The Army of Northern Virginia’s battle flag is not the American flag. It is the flag of traitors. Of traitors whose cause was lost a century-and-a-half ago. It has no business flying over any state capitol.
Ted Cruz is wrong when he says this is South Carolina’s affair only and there is an answer to him: The NAACP has a long-standing boycott in place due to the flag. Brooks points out that,
“One of the ways we can bring that flag down is by writing to companies, engaging companies that are thinking about doing business in South Carolina, speaking to the governor, speaking to the legislature and saying the flag has to come down.”
If we, as a Nation, can make the State of Indiana stand up and take notice, as we did in the case of their RFRA directed at gays, we can certainly have the same effect on South Carolina for flying a symbol of hatred directed at blacks.
And you gave a good non-answer. So please, who do you support?
Oh, and I am not angry, but I guess you have comprehension issues. Not surprising giving your posts.
So, let’s see if you are courageous enough to tell us your candidate of choice.
“...Ted Cruz is a fine senator and a compelling presidential candidate, but he seems to attract a lot of constantly angry people. Seriously. Nearly unhinged.”
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I’ve seen this (”Ted Cruz’ supporters are angry or crazy) enough now to think that this is one of the GOPe “talking points” that has been put out. The RINOs are having trouble getting traction with any of their anti-Cruz campaigns and appear somewhat frustrated.
read. then post.
. . . Or maybe he just attracts a lot of angry people.
Answer then troll..
Ted Cruz Ping! I agree...
Funny, he hides when asked who he likes.
GREAT answer!
I think this poster prefers the Patriot Act and WEDC too.
. . . Or maybe he just attracts a lot of angry people.
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Are you frustrated because your “Cruz attracts angry people” meme is getting no traction here. Perhaps you need to report back to headquarters that it is not working and you need another talking point. By the way, who is it you support for the Republican nomination?
no, I just don’t understand why I have to say it a second time in the same thread. if you didn’t read it the first time, I don’t see why you would read it a second time.
I support scott walker.
Hey Friend! Hope you had a great Father’s Day. I always watch for your posts on threads. Appreciate your good work!
I have not said anything that wasn’t positively glowing about Ted Cruz, ever. I love the guy. You couldn’t possibly be missing the point any more badly than you are.
Ah, so, what is it that you like about Walker?
Do you like his stand on TPP? The Patriot Act? His flip flop on Amnesty?
The WEDC doesn’t trouble you?
He has some good points, but as people have pointed out, he is a bit too cozy with the GOP-e. He is in my top 3 though
I stand with Ted.
He is correct, the state should decided
I gave hundreds to Cruz, the only 2016 candidate so far. I openly supported him. Now, not so much. Nor anyone else. And you, have given hundreds to any candidate or are you just blather?
“...you’re saying that someone’s posting status on this disussion forum is contingent on supporting the right candidate. Or, certainly contingent on not supporting the wrong candidate....
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Are you trying to CLAIM VICTIM STATUS? I did a quick review of several pages of your posts and found that you recently were (mistakenly, I believe) under the impression that “Scott Walker threads” are pulled from Free Republic.
John, you are not now nor have you ever been a VICTIM on Free Republic. But I find it curious that YOU ATTACK TED CRUZ SUPPORTERS while refraining from attacking Ted Cruz. The fact that you haven’t (at least in the few recent posts of yours that I skimmed quickly) attacked Ted Cruz is good. But you might try to actually refrain from attacking and defaming Ted Cruz supporters-—you might be happier then. At least Free Republic would be just a bit more pleasant.
Trolls Lie.
Free Republic is not a place you and your troll army can get away with your lies.
You donated money to Cruz?
One of the oldest plays in the book.....................
And they get easier to spot every time.
Call’em out when you see them.
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