Huckabee on the Confederate flag

No time to get into this right now — I’m way behind on my Sunday column — but just to let you know, Mike Huckabee is now apparently bringing up the Confederate flag at campaign events, and here’s what he’s saying:

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (CNN) – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told South Carolina voters Thursday that the government had no business making decisions over the Confederate flag.
    "You don’t like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag," Huckabee said at a Myrtle Beach campaign event. "In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we’d tell them what to do with the pole, that’s what we’d do."
    Later, in Florence, he repeated the remarks. "I know what would happen if somebody comes to my state in Arkansas and tells us what to do, it doesn’t matter what it is, tell us how to run our schools, tell us how to raise our kids, tell us what to do with our flag — you want to come tell us what to do with the flag, we’d tell them what to do with the pole."

22 thoughts on “Huckabee on the Confederate flag”

  1. littlehouse

    Time for some levity. Hilarious video from our friends at RedState.com (warning: adult language).

  2. Jay

    Whatever he would do with that pole, I would think he’d be against it.
    Also, since when is the confederate flag ‘our flag’? It’s ‘a flag’ and it doesn’t represent all of South Carolina.

  6. Strom Lives

    ‘littlehouse’ writes:
    <>
    My dear, I’m afraid you did not comprehend correctly what former Gov. Huckabee actually said. I suspect you may be an employee of The State paper.
    Anyway, Huckabee was making a comparison. He said, “if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag”. The key phrase is “came to Arkansas”. He never said the Confederate flag is “our flag”.
    He is correct, however, that the matter is not one for the president of the United States. Thankfully, some limitations to federal power remain (to the constant aggravation of most employees of this paper).

  7. weldon VII

    I thought what Huckabee said was funny. I’m not sure he or anyone else from outside South Carolina, pundit or politician, knows where and how the battle flag is actually displayed now at the State House. For all I know, based on what he said, he may think the Confederate flag is incorporated in our state flag. If he said anything about the Confederate flag, I haven’t heard it, other than his saying it was South Carolina’s concern, not his, which seems the proper attitude to me.
    How a candidate feels about what South Carolina does with the rebel flag really has no business being a litmus test for the presidency.
    I myself have never seen our State House display. The flag disgusts me when I see it flying over a mobile home or at a NASCAR race, but the thought of it as part of a historical display at the State House, ironically, doesn’t bother me at all.
    I can understand, however, why some people would find its presence on state property problematical, something like seeing a swastika displayed at a public building in Germany.

  8. Steve

    Once again he told it like it is. Truth. Real truth. Despite the death grip MSM has on information, academia on “education” and Hollywood on perception he went against the tide and told the truth. Romney’s knee-jerk bigotry was political suicide. Interesting primary. God I love SC. Can’t wait to retire and move there. I’m going to move right across the street from Brad and fly the biggest rebel flag I can find.

  9. Brad Warthen

    There’s nothing wrong with what he SAID on the flag — that it’s up to South Carolinians to decide. That’s what I’ve always said.
    And those of you who think I’ve said anything else have a profound reading comprehension problem. But then I’ve noticed that’s pretty common among the sort of voters he’s trying to reach.
    The problem is that he’s deliberately bringing it up (that is, it APPEARS that he’s the one doing so, from these accounts; I’m trying to find out for sure), going out of his way to reach out to people who will have that guy emotional reaction, and therefor vote for him on something that has nothing to do with the office he’s running for.
    Once again in some of the comments above, we see something else that has characterized the people he’s appealing to — they always think THEY’RE the smart ones, and I’m the dumb one, when they can’t even read and understand the very straightforward words I write.
    They can’t seem to understand the spoken word, either. Someone above said that if David Beasley had said this, he’s still be governor. What Beasley did and said was completely consistent with what Huckabee said. Yep, it’s for South Carolinians to decide. And as the governor of South Carolina, he said, why don’t we South Carolinians take down the flag?
    But what he said then is pretty irrelevant, since he backed down and gave up almost right away — which is his real problem. You don’t bring up something like that without knowing what you’re getting yourself into, and being willing to see it through. He acted like he was surprised at the reaction he got.

  10. Karen McLeod

    The problem is, we the people in this state have not been given imput about the flag. There has never been a referendum about it. There have been a few powerful politicians, like McConnell, blocking any discussion, or reasonable compromise on the flag. .

  12. weldon VII

    Here’s the problem, Brad. If he brought up the flag, but didn’t say anything about the flag per se, to grab a few votes, then that’s a problem?
    But when Hillary disses black idealism under the cloak of Clinton speak, you don’t notice?
    Give me a break. What’s fair for one Arkansan is fair for another, even if one of them has moved to New York because the people in Arkansas can’t stand her any more.

  13. Lee Muller

    Huckabee handled this trap by the media very well. He is right – this is a state issue, and it was settled in a deal with the NAACP long ago.
    As usual, the word of progressives and liberals means nothing. Compromise is temporary for them, and they keep coming back until they get everything they want. They have no honor.
    Television pundits like Alan Combs were showing pictures of the Confederate flag over the State House and talking about it flying over the capitol. Either they are very ignorant, or just liars.

  14. Michael Rodgers

    The so-called compromise was not a compromise at all. The flag still flies from a flagpole on the Statehouse grounds — now it’s planted in our eyeballs instead of poking up through the top of our skulls. A compromise requires two sides, not just one side seeing what it can get away with behind closed doors in a rush without listening to extremely reasonable suggestions from the other side.
    Regards,
    Michael Rodgers
    Columbia, SC

  15. Lee Muller

    Mr. Rodgers,
    The present location of the flag was proposed by black members of the SC General Assembly, and by the national leadership of the NAACP, who had ginned up this phony issue as a smokescreen for their previous leaders pleading guilty to embezzling $3,000,000 from the NAACP treasury.
    It was their compromise, but it did not fit the way white liberals thought blacks should act. White liberals need to quit thinking they know what is best for black people, not to mention everyone else.

  16. Michael Rodgers

    Mr. Muller,
    As I already told you, people who want the Confederate flag down provided many reasonable suggestions, none of which were to have it flying from a flagpole on the Statehouse grounds. Let me say it again, neither the members of the SCLBC nor members of the SCNAACP suggested, let alone supported, that a good “compromise” would be for the Confederate flag to be flying from a flagpole on the Statehouse grounds. I’ll gladly tell you the facts again if you are interested in learning them. Thank you for your correspondence.
    Regards,
    Michael Rodgers
    Columbia, SC

  17. Lee Muller

    What gives you and your tiny minority of white liberals the authority to dismiss the compromise struck by the NAACP and the legislature?
    Some may want to pretend they never made the deal, but that’s simply not true.

  18. Michael Rodgers

    Mr. Muller,
    I can say what I want for the same reason you can. I speak only for myself. How you think that you make any sense when you lump a bunch of people together, say there’s hardly any of them, and then tell them they’re not allowed to speak, act, or vote, or ever change anything is ridiculous.
    And, once again, you are wrong on your facts, and I really don’t understand why you don’t look up what the facts are. I’ll tell you what they are one last time.
    The NAACP never, ever, ever, supported the current situation of a Confederate flag flying from a flagpole on the Statehouse grounds. As for the legislature, “Six of South Carolina’s seven black Senators voted in favor of the compromise, while only four of twenty-six black members of the House of Representatives did.”
    http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june00/flag_5-29.html
    Thank you for your interest in the history of the legislative actions in 2000. Now, the topic in the blog (as evidenced from the follow-up post by the moderator and host, Brad Warthen) is about what the people of South Carolina want to and should do to remove the Confederate flag from the flagpole on the Statehouse grounds. I suggest that we South Carolinians support the bill H 3588. Thank you.
    Regards,
    Michael Rodgers
    Columbia, SC

  19. Lee Muller

    At least your recognize that your opinion is not representative of even a tiny minority. The NAACP and various editorial writers and TV agitators represent a slightly larger, but still very small, minority viewpoint.
    If moving the flag to the monument does not suit you, you have avoided saying what your FINAL SOLUTION would be – not your interim solution for some other minority to denounce as an “illegitimate compromise”.
    So what do you want? Some of the other radical South-haters have proposed removing all flags to a museum, preferably in a dark storage room. Some have proposed ripping down all the statues, monuments and gravestones honoring the Confederate soldiers.

  20. Michael Rodgers

    Mr. Muller,
    With all due respect, sir, why do you insist on bullying and dehumanizing rhetoric?
    I have not avoided saying anything. Nor have I suggested that there are less people who want the flag down than who want it up. Nor have I acted or spoken like a radical South-hater, whatever that means. Your tendency to, once again, divide people into categories to dehumanize them and to attempt to suppress their voice is astounding and alarming.
    I have said exactly what I want, which is, once again, to pass H-3588. I know that many, many other people also want this bill passed. I have not, nor will I, propose or support “ripping down all the statues, monuments and gravestones honoring the Confederate soldiers.”
    I think that if we get the flag down then you might realize that divisive bullying and dehumanizing behavior is unappealing. And others who currently put up with behavior such as yours will realize that they don’t have to any more.
    With Kindest Regards,
    Michael Rodgers
    Columbia, SC

  21. Lee Muller

    You are still avoiding a straight answer with a reference to a H-3588, which has been marked up about 50 times.
    What do you want as your FINAL SOLUTION to the South, its flags, and its monuments? Do you stop with removal of the flag from the State House grounds, or do you want removed from other displays? Do you want to remove the monuments?

Comments are closed.