By Jonathan Capehart, The Washington Post
If you want to curdle the blood of an African American and send a message of menace without resorting to burning a cross on the lawn or marching around in white sheets all one need do is wave the Confederate flag. So imagine my revulsion at the sight of one outside the front gates of the White House.
Michael Ashmore of Hooks, Tex., was among the many who converged on Washington for the “Million Vet March on the Memorials” to protest the government shutdown. This was the event where former half-term governor reality television star and best-selling author turned conservative gadfly Sarah Palin said, “Our vets have proven that they have not been timid, so we will not be timid in calling out any who would use our military, our vets, as pawns in a political game.” Applauding her self-awareness would be the height of irony – and sarcasm.
The protest and some of the barricades placed at the World War II Memorial then moved to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. And it was there that Ashmore waved his Confederate flag. A symbol of Southern resistance and white supremacy unfurled in front of the home of the first black president of the United States. As Jeffrey Goldberg of Bloomberg View and the Atlantic correctly said on Twitter yesterday, “In many parts of America, waving a Confederate flag outside the home of a black family would be considered a very hostile act.”
Ashmore’s reprehensible rebel yell wasn’t the only offensive thing to happen yesterday. In front of the World War II Memorial, Freedom Watch founder Larry Klayman said, “I call upon all of you to wage a second American nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience, and to demand that this president leave town, to get up, to put the Quran down, to get up off his knees, and to figuratively come out with his hands up.”
Ashmore’s actions and Klayman’s words are just the latest in a series of displays of disrespect directed at President Obama. For more than four years, the president’s detractors have said they “want our country back.” But they never say from whom. They continue to say he should be impeached. But they never say what his “crimes” or, if they do, said “crimes” are not grounded in any kind of reality.
For those of you who would push back by saying we’re overreacting, that the Confederate flag is nothing more than a symbol of regional pride, save it. That flag you revere so much is no better than a Swastika, a threatening symbol of hate that has no place in American political discourse.
The caption is incorrect: The flag on the left is not a version of the Gadsden flag. It is, as Salamander pointed out, the flag of the US Marine Corps. Carry on.
hmmm…it never occurred to me to be against his right to do this.
I’m just evaluating the message…the Confederate flag is inherently racist. With a black president there is an implied threat, and the Secret Service has expanded powers to address that if they perceive the need to. When I see this kind of thing, my concern is that someone may he inspired to take things further.
The issue here really is the message. To me, that message is ignorance…
I feel two things simultaneously when I look at this image and read this article:
– I feel revulsion and a sickening in my stomach that this sort of disrespect for the President is being allowed without being challenged or stopped.
and yet
– I also feel that as horrible as this is, I support the first amendment and I support the RIGHT for people who actually burn flags as a statement of protest to be able to do so without fear of being arrested. I know that the burning of flags sometimes causes others to feel revulsion and a sickening feeling in their stomachs when they see such protests.
That said, there is a fine line between free speech and hate speech and I think the line has been crossed here.
What bothers me is the way that protester put the USMC flag and the stars and bars together. This is disturbing on so many levels. This is an insult to the Marines, especially the Marines who fought in the Civil War.
Historically speaking, quite a few Southerners ditched the Confederacy and joined the Union army during the Civil War. The Confederacy was a morally bankrupt nation based on racism. Of course, neo-confederates altered the narrative a decade or two later, but if Southerners were taught a different historical viewpoint, maybe they’d see things differently. James Loewen has an interesting historical point of view on this.
The Tea Party politicians don’t appear to be bothered by violations of the bill of rights. Rather, they are bothered by any attempt to expand the social safety net, or to have government workers safeguarding the ecological and social fabrics.
And then Obama has a lot of Neptune in his natal chart, and he is going through Pluto in the 12th house. So people are putting all sorts of ridiculous expectations on him, and he is bearing the brunt of the collective shadow.
As flawed as the status quo is, it is more livable than the Tea Party’s vision of a patriarchal and oppressive dystopia. So I support the status quo.
I am a woman, and I want to have access to the career I want.
Some individuals are more self-reliant than others (maybe 1st housers), and some people like being in the household (4th housers, for instance). But this is not my case, I need to be out in the world, serve effectively my community, do work I can be proud of, and I often need other people’s help to get ahead. I have a packed 10th house, and a 7th house Sun after all.
Freedom Watch founder Larry Klayman said, “I call upon all of you to wage a second American nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience, and to demand that this president leave town, to get up, to put the Quran down, to get up off his knees, and to figuratively come out with his hands up.”
People have been charged with hate crimes for language like this. Why is this considered acceptible discourse and speech? This is not NON violence. It’s violence. It’s a prelude to a lynching somewhere. If they can’t touch the President, someone, somewhere will take it out on a convenient black scapegoat. Indeed this is already happening (Trayvon).
This is fucking irresponsible.
What is the response out there, Eric? Who’s shouting this moron down?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVRxdPWV3RM
Southern man
better keep your head
Don’t forget
what your good book said
Southern change
gonna come at last
Now your crosses
are burning fast
Southern man
I saw cotton
and I saw black
Tall white mansions
and little shacks.
Southern man
when will you
pay them back?
I heard screamin’
and bullwhips cracking
How long? How long?
Southern man
better keep your head
Don’t forget
what your good book said
Southern change
gonna come at last
Now your crosses
are burning fast
Southern man
Lily Belle,
your hair is golden brown
I’ve seen your black man
comin’ round
Swear by God
I’m gonna cut him down!
I heard screamin’
and bullwhips cracking
How long? How long?
Who are these people? They are so young. I sincerely feel for them and their campaign, it is of such hatred and fear.
The Confederate flag is touching the ground.
Bad Boy Scout!
The only crime being committed is Sedition, and the congressional gop is guilty there.