The Confederate flag at South Carolina's state capitol (June 20, 2015)
Just 100 or so miles up the interstate from last week's massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, the Confederate flag flies on the grounds of the state capitol in Columbia. It stands perpetually at full mast, surrounded by an iron fence, and padlocked atop a flagpole with no pulley for lowering it.
It's also protected by a law, passed by the legislature in 2000, that specifies the flag cannot be removed without the support of two thirds of the members of each chamber of the state legislature.
But as the state's lone Democratic congressman, Rep. Jim Clyburn, points out, the law establishing the two-thirds requirement for taking down the flag, known as the South Carolina Heritage Act, can itself be wiped off the books with a simple majority vote.
Given the extremely reactionary nature of Palmetto State politics, even that lower hurdle would be high. Were every Democrat to vote in favor of repealing the Heritage Act, five Republican state senators and 17 Republican state representatives would have to join them. Gov. Nikki Haley, another Republican who has shown a complete absence of courage on the issue, would also have to sign off on the measure.
But just as reporters have been asking every Republican presidential candidate their opinion on South Carolina's decision to keep flying the flag, they should find out where state legislators stand, too. If Republicans who have the ability to do the right thing won't exercise that power, then we have the right to know who they are.
Mon Jun 22, 2015 at 12:31 PM PT: And for all its flaws, this is why the Fourth Estate really, really matters: South Carolina's Post and Courier is contacting every member of the state legislature to find out where they stand on the Confederate flag, and they're keeping a complete whip count updated in real time.