Yes. Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi may have said some stupid things lately. He may have done some really stupid things. But if you watched Rachel Maddow last night, you're probably aware that Haley has a Heart. In fact, he's now a civil rights legend, and all his past mistakes have been forgiven. Ahem.
That's because Haley Barbour has extended clemency to the Scott Sisters, black sisters arrested in 1993 for armed robbery that netted them $11. Though there have been calls for their release for the past decade, Haley decided now was the time. Imagine that!
Only, there's a catch. A condition of their parole is that one sister donate a kidney to the other sister who is suffering from kidney failure and is on dialysis.
Of course, this could all be seen as yet more whitewashing of Haley Barbour's troubled and revisionist statements on civil rights and racism. But, it's like, totally not.
Just because Haley Barbour's been governor of Mississippi for six years and has had ample opportunity to review their case and the extenuating circumstances... Just because the Scott Sisters release has been called for by NAACP and civil rights leaders for 17 years... It doesn't mean that Barbour is releasing them now to cover up, I dunno, racist innuendo and Haley's terribly debilitating foot-in-mouth syndrome.
But, really guys -- No one is saying this is the case. Certainly not the largest newspaper in the state, with the headline "Recent Remarks Raise Suspicion Over Governor's Motive."
'Course there are other problems with the release.
As Arthur Caplan, professor at University of Pennsylvania, Center for Bioethics, notes:
Even though Gladys Scott proposed the idea in her petition for an early release and volunteered to donate the organ, Caplan said, it is against the law to buy and sell organs or to force people to give one up.
Oops.
To recap. Haley Barbour said he went to integrated schools, never had a problem with racism, and was of the generation that "undid" all the turrible history here. Apparently to prove that point, Haley had his picture taken with the all-white, modernized KKK in 2003, at their "Council of Conservative Citizens" rally. See, it's CCC -- not KKK! Silly willy!
Now to show he's REALLY not a racist, Haley comes late to the party and releases the Scott Sisters, on the condition (perhaps an illegal one) that they an undergo organ transplant.
Someone grab a crowbar... We've got another big foot in another big mouth.