South Carolina flag follies

Washington Times:

The Confederate battle flag — an issue that has confounded politicians in South Carolina for more than a decade — is back again, this time in the form of radio ads attacking Republican presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney for criticizing the flag.

Paid for by Americans for the Preservation of American Culture, the ads also single out rival Republican Mike Huckabee for praise, saying the former Arkansas governor defended the flag as a state and heritage issue. They began running yesterday.

"Mitt Romney's been trying, but when it comes to bashing the Confederate flag, he can't hold a candle to John McCain. McCain's been doing it — calling the flag a racist symbol — for years," one of the minute long ads says.

Another ad goes straight for Mr. Romney, with the announcer saying, "Romney let fly in a CNN debate, saying 'that flag shouldn't be flown' and 'that's not a flag I recognize.' "

Ron Wilson, a former national commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a South Carolinian who was involved in raising money for the ads, said they will be run through Saturday's primary on every radio station in the state that carries the radio shows of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly.

...

Why should anyone get so worked up over the battle flag of a failed revolution? The war is over and we all won.

Both sides have made this flag into a symbol of something it never was. Now it is just a historic piece of cloth. Let it go. It is just not an important issue and should not be. Anyone who thinks this flag is more important than a candidate's stand on national security and winning the war against al Qaeda has some warped priorities. It is not nearly as important as defeating Democrats either.

If someone wants to identify themselves with it, that is up to them, but no one should be criticized for not wrapping themselves in it either. The fact is that it is not an important piece of cloth in a modern election. Huckabee's pander on this issue tells you something about his character. I think McCain's attack was over the top and gives the flag more importance than it deserves. As for Romney's comment, he was closer to the truth.

It should be recognized as the battle flag of a failed rebellion. Those who have used the flag as a symbol for racist purposes in the past are the ones who have really brought discredit on it. No one should want to embrace that aspect as their heritage.

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