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struggle4progress

(118,320 posts) Thu Jul 16, 2015, 12:43 PM Jul 2015

Confederate Flag and Federal Spending

Mark Trahant
7/16/15

The federal appropriations process may be at its most convoluted point ever. A case in point: The Interior Appropriations bill was pulled from consideration by the leadership of Congress on July 9. That’s the spending bill that includes funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service.

Why? The debate wasn’t about money — even though that is an issue — but because some Southern Representatives are keen on protecting the Confederate Flag from being banned on federal land ...

At the same moment when South Carolina was debating, and then lowering the battle flag from state grounds, Democrats successfully included language to remove the flag from federal facilities including National Parks. Republican leaders (no doubt seeing their fellow legislators at work) quickly agreed and the measure passed on a voice vote.

That should have been the end of the story ...

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/07/16/confederate-flag-and-federal-spending-161091

3 replies

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Confederate Flag and Federal Spending (Original Post) struggle4progress Jul 2015 OP

Translatioin (is this thing on, anybody hear me?) GOP values RACISM over the EXISTENCE randys1 Jul 2015 #1

One could say that Federal land belongs to the Union... Historic NY Jul 2015 #2

One could also say that the federal lands belong to the people. Igel Jul 2015 #3

randys1

(16,286 posts)

1. Translatioin (is this thing on, anybody hear me?) GOP values RACISM over the EXISTENCE

Reply to struggle4progress (Original post)

Thu Jul 16, 2015, 12:57 PM

Jul 2015

of our government.

Do I need to repeat this?

Their need to preserve overt HATRED of Black people is stronger than their desire to have a functioning government.

Any fucking QUESTIONS?

Historic NY

(37,452 posts)

2. One could say that Federal land belongs to the Union...

Reply to struggle4progress (Original post)

Thu Jul 16, 2015, 01:06 PM

Jul 2015

and not the confederate states. The Union is represented by the flag of the United States of America. Lincoln said it was time to bind up the nation wounds. The confederate flag is a festering wound.

Igel

(35,332 posts)

3. One could also say that the federal lands belong to the people.

Reply to Historic NY (Reply #2)

Thu Jul 16, 2015, 03:35 PM

Jul 2015

And while not flying the Confederate flag is a fine thing--there's no need for the government to speak in that way, and if it offends part of the people and there's no need to fly it, dispose of it--depending on what "banning" means it would be limiting what people can say on federal property.

I'm not sure that's a compelling interest for 1st amendment purposes. Would we prohibit a British flag or a Mexican flag? I mean, both fought us, both lost. How about a Nation of Islam insignia? Black Panthers? New Black Panthers? At what point does the hate start to matter?

Does it matter what people see in some symbols? Roof went to slavery memorials and saw there how things should be. He drew inspiration from them. Others consider them to be humiliating and offensive. Do we let them stay, even if they're offensive to some?

Post-Soviet research showed that social trust depends on a common understanding of history--it doesn't matter who was wrong, acceptance of a common understanding was crucial. Moreover, even the side that started off considering itself truly wronged wound up concluding, as part of the process, that it's understanding wasn't 100% accurate. In short, the common understanding was always a compromise between competing narratives where both sides were both victims and victors to varying degrees.

Over the last 40 years, what I've seen is an attempt by all involved in the US to produce increasingly divergent understandings of a common history to be imposed in as humiliating a manner as possible on the other side. We could learn something from that post-Soviet sociology research, done at a time when a lot of towns and jurisdictions were still really, really close to exploding while others found a way of not just living together but building a future.

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