The Confederate flag has been misused and abused by racists to sully the fact that the Confederate flag was created by racists in their war to protect slavery.
He’s also doubled- down on his statements today.
And those poor soldiers had never even seen a slave, because slaves were really rare in Virginia.
Slavery was fucking evil, which to my mind makes the Confederate flag right on par with the Nazi flag. I say this as a Southerner. My ancestors made mistakes, they also did good things. I don’t have to enshrine their mistakes, any more than I have to downplay the good things they did.
The man is clueless.
Well, Webb is a historian at heart, and one deeply proud of his ancestors’ military service, but he’s showing himself to be politically tone-deaf for 2015, to say the least.
Apparently the letter he posted was to an African-American supporter. For one, I honestly can’t imagine how he would think it’s be a good idea to offer excuses for the Cobfederacy to a Black person. Relatedly, I think it’s be difficult to rally Black voters, who solidly vote Democrat, behind someone who wants to honor those who fought to continue the enslavement of Black people.
Well, it is actually complicated now that you bring that up. Was the union fighting to free the slaves? No. Was Abraham Lincoln going to end slavery in the South had there been no war? No.
Does this hurt Jim Webb? No, because he was always the white male Democrat’s Democrat. If he tried to go all liberal on race issues then he’d lose his base of support, such as it is. And he’d be a flip-flopper.
I say you’re Bill Krystol and I claim my $5!
Well, I do agree that the Confederate flag should be removed from government buildings, although it should remain at Confederate cemetaries and museums. But for whatever reasons, we chose to forgive the Confederate leaders and people who joined the Confederate armies, despite having laid down hundreds of thousands of lives to defeat them. I’m not inclined to substitute our 21st century “wisdom” for the wisdom of the men who actually freed the slaves and restored our union.
It hurt’s Jim Webb because lots of white male Democrats think displaying the Confederate flag is extremely obnoxious and have no interest in defending it (or supporting someone who defends it). In my opinion at least. I’m definitely less likely to support Webb based on this statement.
Then you must not have known much about Webb prior to this.
I didn’t know his views about the Confederate flag (or the Confederacy), and perhaps I should have. My point was to refute your point about white male Democrats – I believe you continue to misunderstand how real world Democrats choose candidates and are motivated by issues, and it’s very frustrating since there are so many here that you could defer to if you wanted to know something about how they (we) think.
Jim Webb is officially in, but I can’t see the point.
SOMEONE has to represent the strong-on-defense, weak-on-climate-change, loves-them-some-Dixie-swastika demographic.
hangs head
Sorry. I forgot.
Yeah, I kinda liked him. But I’m Black. I can’t vote for a Confederate sympathizer.
I don’t see what that has to do with you being black. I’m white, and I couldn’t vote for a Confederate sympathizer, either.
True, but it’s a tad more insulting listening to someone talk about how we should honor Confederate soldiers knowing that, at the time of the Civil War, your family was enslaved on a plantation in Georgia.
Actually, someone has to represent the majority of Americans:
http://pollingreport.com/race.htm
Webb’s views may put him outside the Democratic mainstream, but well within the American mainstream. Every primary campaign needs a candidate for the majority.
And also voted opposed the Iraq War from 2002, and consistently supported criminal justice reform. :rolleyes:
I disagree with Webb on the Confederate flag issue (as anyone following my recent posts will realize), but his position hardly makes him a “Confederate sympathizer” and I would say the flag is somewhere between the 200th and 300th most important issue facing the country right now. The majority of black Americans (as well as middle- and working-class Americans in general) will be infinitely better off under a Webb administration than under any “moderate” Republican one or a Chafee administration.