Don’t Tear Down the Confederate Battle Flag (6/19)
The Democrats Created and Own the Confederate Flag (6/26)
Next week it'll be "Democrats started WWI, invented pneumonia and were responsible for flu pandemics".
Michael Cohen has a more appropriate look backward [UK spelling]:
But then something amazing happened. Practically overnight, America had a national epiphany. For decades, the Confederate flag, which has flown on the grounds of the state capitol building in South Carolina and across the south, became recognised for what it truly is – not a symbol of regional heritage, but a painful, modern symbol of racial exclusion.
Within days of the shooting, politicians across the Deep South couldn’t run fast enough to the nearest microphone or television camera to denounce a flag that a week earlier they would have self-righteously defended. Corporations from eBay to Wal-Mart quickly joined in, announcing their newfound realisation that the stars and bars causes pain. By the end of the week, there were serious discussions taking place in both north and south of removing all vestiges of Confederate reverence – statues to southern generals, schools and highways named after Americans who, at their core, were racists and traitors.
These were largely symbolic acts, but in America, which has for so long denied the racism that is as endemic to our nation’s history as Mom and apple pie, it was a revelation. And the week was far from over.
What has always made America a great nation is that for all our many flaws, we are established on a creed, one that is perhaps the simplest and yet most powerful political idea ever articulated, namely that all men are created equal. Living up to that ideal has been America’s arduous journey for 240 years and at the end of these 10 days we got that much closer to it. On Friday, the US Supreme Court ruled that gay Americans have the same right to marriage as other citizens.
James Fallows:
Obama's Grace
The president delivers his single most accomplished rhetorical performance, and it’s one you should watch rather than read.
We highlighted it
Saturday.
More politics and policy below the fold. And, below the fold, listen to the man sing.
Post and Courier:
Organist said it was his calling to chime in during Obama’s eulogy for Rev. Pinckney
Kudos to the Post and Courier for their coverage throughout,
including tracking the votes on the flag. Votes are there in the Senate, close to there in the House. Do not underestimate the importance of the personal relationship with Rev. Clementa Pinckney, state senator.
Karen Attiah:
The media was filled with headlines riffing on the themes of “Grace in Charleston,” “Forgiveness in Charleston,” aiming to celebrate the capacity of black folks to forgive yet another unspeakable act of violence. We were enthralled by President Obama, the first black U.S. president, singing “Amazing Grace” during his eulogy for S.C. State Senator Rev. Clementa Pinckney, allegedly gunned down by white supremacist Dylann Roof this month at the Mother Emanuel AME church.
I admit Obama’s eulogy in South Carolina was a welcome tonic, easing, if only a little bit, the pain and weight of what happened in Charleston. But, as barely two weeks have gone by since the massacre in that church, many black folk are still hurt, angry and afraid.
In her Bible quotation, [activist and filmmaker Bree] Newsome, a black woman, is asking, “Whom shall I fear?” while peacefully taking down the Confederate battle flag, a symbol of white supremacy and racial terror for generations. By her words, she is refusing to fear the hatred behind the symbol, the longstanding system in America of the forced labor of blacks under the threat of the most unspeakable forms of torture, terror, violence and death. She is refusing to fearfully tolerate the symbol that 21-year-old Roof (who in addition to allegedly assassinating a black political official, gunned down eight other innocent black people) proudly waved in photos.
Important story from
BuzzFeed:
Arsonists Strike Black Churches Across The South
Churches in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina all burned this week. Three of the fires were the work of arsonists, while the fourth remains under investigation.
Steven Salzberg:
In a victory for children’s health, California passed a new law this week removing the “personal belief” exemption from the state’s vaccine requirements for children. Assuming that Governor Jerry Brown signs the bill this week–which no one is certain about–California will be transformed from a haven for anti-vaccine demagoguery to a state that protects children instead.
How this came to pass is a long tale, but the immediate impetus was the outbreak of measles in Disneyland in January–the worst outbreak in 20 years–which spread mostly through unvaccinated children. During that outbreak, we learned that in some areas of California, anti-vaccination hysteria had grown so widespread that more than half the children in some schools were unvaccinated.
And just three years ago, California had the worst whooping cough epidemic in 70 years, thanks to the anti-vaccine movement.
Here's something to watch for: the conventional wisdom that since liberals won so much this week, they lost. See:
How the GOP won on same-sex marriage (CNN)
As Left Wins Culture Battles, G.O.P. Gains Opportunity to Pivot for 2016 (NYT)
In a fast-changing culture, can the GOP get in step with modern America? (WaPo)
Rosie Gray and McKay Coppins have a good take on this:
But those candidates signaling surrender in the marriage fight are no doubt hoping that an emphasis on religious freedom will be enough to placate the still-influential conservative Christian primary voters in states like Iowa and South Carolina. It remains to be seen whether those voters are ready to embrace the same political pragmatism that their prospective standard-bearers are exhibiting.
And it begins (
Texas Tribune):
County clerks in Texas who have religious objections to same-sex marriage can opt out of issuing such licenses — but they should be prepared to face fines or legal challenges, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a written opinion on Sunday.
In the opinion, which is meant to serve as guidance for clerks and public officials now that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states, Paxton said that pro-bono lawyers are ready to help such gay marriage opponents defend their decisions. But he indicated that his opinion offered no blanket protections, and said the "strength" of any claim of a religious objection was dependent "on the particular facts of each case."
"Our religious liberties find protection in state and federal constitutions and statutes," Paxton said in a statement. "While they are indisputably our first freedom, we should not let them be our last.”
You have to read this from
WaPo:
Atlanta resident Ted Souris, 62, describes himself as an “arch-conservative” who initially opposed the health law. He said he had mixed feelings about the ruling. He receives what he calls “a pretty hefty subsidy” to buy insurance — he gets $460 and pays $115 a month for insurance.
“I’m so against Obama, and I hate that he has any kind of victory,” Souris said, “but it’s nice that I don’t have to worry” about affording health coverage.
He said that he doesn’t like getting what he calls “a government handout” but that the law — and the subsidy — allowed him to retire early and still have coverage. “I am glad I have the Affordable Care Act, and I appreciate that I got the subsidy.”