Yesterday, Jon Stewart didn't have his typical monologue. He presented a straight editorial on the Charleston church murders.
I was struck by this sentence at 3:42: "In South Carolina, the roads that black people drive on are named for Confederate generals, who fought to keep black people from being able to drive freely on that road."
Like he says, "That's insanity."
150 years after the Civil War, we need to start calling the Confederates what they were. Traitors. They set out to destroy the United States. They shot and killed a massive number of American soldiers.
We cannot continue to honor them in any way whatsoever. The treason of the Confederates is a real problem for those today trying to honor the memory of the traitors. We need tolerance, but there can be no tolerance for intolerance. Southerners have to come to grips with their dark history.
After the Civil War, it was decided to try to heal the country by not convicting any Confederates for treason. Like Dr. Phil asks, "How's That Workin' for Ya?" 150 years later we still are not healed.
This week four Supreme Court justices voted that Texans have a free speech right to force the government to promote the Confederacy. The L.A. Times backed that court minority. Insanity.
Sadly, it is not just Republicans who promote the traitors. In a factually flawed piece, DailyKos had a post a decade ago that defended the Confederacy. Claimed they weren't traitors. But be sure to read the comments in response. Like those commenters, we need to stand up to the apologists in our own ranks.
Comparisons with Nazis are always problematic, but there is a valuable comparison here. Today's Germans have to live with the terrible fact that for many of them their ancestors were mass murderers. It isn't easy for them, but they have done a decent job of dealing with that. Today's Germans are a good people. We have something to learn from that example. They don't honor the murderers for their murderous acts.
But that is exactly what Southerners do when they fly not the political flag but the battle flag of the Confederacy. It is what they do when they name the roads for the leaders who ordered the killing of patriotic Americans.
The insanity has to stop.
I'm running for State Senate District 27 in the Los Angeles area. This is an open seat rated as Safe Democrat; but I face challenges from Democrats who are not progressives and who represent the status quo.
Yesterday, as president of a Democratic Club, I created an Ad Hoc Committee on Gun Violence, to report back with a resolution responding to the church attack. I'll be taking this resolution through party ranks to gain support for some real change.
I am dedicated to equality. Serving on the California Democratic Party's Executive Board and Legislation Committee, I led the victory in getting a top party priority to be passing a bill to end the terrible Gay Panic Defense. The bill was fading in the legislature until I gave it the boost needed that got it passed.
Please check out my web page and consider a donation to my campaign. A crucial fundraising reporting deadline is coming up, and your support will make a huge difference.