The racist murder of nine people in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, sure has given Republican politicians a lot of subjects to dodge. You've got racism, guns, and maybe most of all the Confederate flag. Guns are obviously a no-go zone for Republicans, no matter how many Americans die in mass shootings. Racism, too, is not a popular subject with the GOP, as quickly became evident in all the theorizing that the killer targeted Christians, the "I don't know what was on the mind or the heart" stylings of Jeb Bush, and of course Rick Perry's prescription drugs theory.
But about that flag. It's a flag that Dylann Roof liked to be photographed holding, and one that South Carolina flies on the Capitol grounds. And since South Carolina is an early primary state, presidential candidates have to tread carefully if they're going to do anything but pander to racism.
Jeb Bush kinda sorta suggested he maybe thinks the flag doesn't belong on the Capitol grounds, though his statement opening "My position on how to address the Confederate flag is clear" was less clear than those words imply. He continued, "In Florida, we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged." Okay, I think I can see where you're going with this, but it's not the firm clarity of a Mitt Romney, who tweeted Saturday "Take down the #ConfederateFlag at the SC Capitol. To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred. Remove it now to honor #Charleston victims." To be fair, Romney isn't trying to win the South Carolina primary, but when you're out-moral-claritied by Mitt Romney ... Still, Bush did better than his competitors. According to Sen. Ted Cruz, the flag is "a question for South Carolina," and:
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.
"Not the racial oppression, but the historical traditions." This is a flag that was explicitly about the tradition of racial oppression. That's the historical tradition in question. It is not the flag of generic southern culture, it is the flag of the Confederate States of America, which was formed to defend the institution of slavery.
Mike Huckabee, meanwhile, unloaded the full set of generic "I don't want to talk about it" Republican talking points. To Huckabee, the question of whether it's appropriate for a state to fly a flag that represents a fight to keep black people enslaved and treason against the nation "most certainly does not" have "anything to do whatsoever with running for president." And anyway, he personally does not fly the flag, so it's not an issue for him, it's "an issue for the people of South Carolina."
Funny how of all the things politicians like Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz have opinions about—state issues, personal issues—this is the one they get all vague and I-can-see-both-sides about.
9:44 AM PT: