Nazism at work?
WASHINGTON – With South Carolina
poised to take down its Confederate flag on Friday, the debate is
quickly expanding to all symbols of the Confederacy -- and causing
consternation among lawmakers.
The conflict over the Confederate flag spread to Capitol Hill
Thursday in a politically-charged and emotionally-draining display from
both House Democrats and Republicans, who accused each other of using
the controversial and thorny topic as political leverage to advance
their own agendas.
House Republicans abruptly abandoned plans to vote on a spending bill
that included a provision to allow flying the Confederate flag in
cemeteries operated by the National Park Service.
The vote would have reversed action the House had taken only hours
earlier to ban the flags and underscores how toxic the fight over the
flag – as well as other symbols linked to the Confederacy – has become.
“I actually think it is time for some adults here in the Congress to
actually sit down and have a conversation about how to address this
issue,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. “I do not want this to
become some political football. It should not. So I would expect you
will see some conversations in the coming days.”
About an hour later, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
offered legislation to remove all state flags containing any portion of
the Confederate battle flag emblem from the House side of the Capitol.
Republican lawmakers prevented the vote by referring it to a
committee, while Boehner’s spokesman, Kevin Smith, accused Pelosi of
pulling a “cheap political stunt.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest questioned Republican priorities
during his daily press briefing and said there was a sizeable group of
GOP lawmakers who were “eager to protect the flag.”
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz also jumped into the drama, calling it an “example of the GOP’s
abhorrent tone-deafness to what is happening across the nation in the
wake of the Charleston tragedy.”
When the dust settled, any real action to continue or prohibit flying
the Confederate flag on park service land appeared far off. First, the
House amendment would have to be adopted. If it were to become law, it
would take several more steps and need to pass the Senate, as well.
The Washington fallout came the same day South Carolina Gov. Nikki
Haley signed a measure into law to remove the Confederate flag from
statehouse grounds where it has flown for more than five decades.
Before signing the legislation, Haley said the act of love and faith
by the nine black victims who were gunned down by a white man during
Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Church, had set in motion a
chain of events that led to the flag’s removal. The man who has admitted
to murdering the members of the Charleston church had been photographed
multiple times standing in front of the Confederate flag.
Since then, states and towns across the country have been debating
how to respond to the national momentum to remove Confederate symbols
not only from government buildings but also from schools, streets and
other public places. Questions linger over Confederate memorabilia, its
place in society and the message it sends.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said Thursday he supports
the removal of some Confederate symbols, but called extreme measures to
take down all symbols “political correctness run amok.”
In the past, Hogan has supported a move to remove the Confederate
flag from specialty license plates, but pushed back Thursday against
efforts to alter or remove official state symbols that have Confederate
links, including the state song and state flag.
“Some of this other stuff to me... is really going too far. And it's
political correctness run amok. Where do we draw the line?” he said.
In Nashville, a painting featuring an image of the Confederate flag
was removed from the restaurant Acme Feed & Seed after complaints
from patrons and criticism of both the establishment and one of the
city’s mayoral candidates –an investor in the company – surfaced.
And even Walt Disney World turned political on Thursday, The
amusement park announced it has taken down a banner bearing the
Confederate flag was from a display of flags in Epcot’s American
Adventure.