Not A Bastard

Mitt Romney, perhaps because he isn't a candidate for his party's presidential nomination this time around, became the first prominent Repub to recommend the Confederate flag on the Statehouse grounds come down in South Carolina when on Saturday he tweeted

Take down the #ConfederateFlag at the SC Capitol. To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred. Remove it now to honor #Charleston victims.

Of course, it isn't a symbol of racial hatred "to many"- it is a symbol fo racial  hatred.  Still, we'll take it.

Coming very close was Ohio governor John Kasich, expected to announce a run for the White House soon, whose written statement included "This is up to the people of South Carolina to decide, but if I were a citizen of South Carolina I'd be for taking it down."

Not as close was John Ellis Bush, who entered Saturday afternoon on his Facebook page

My position on how to address the Confederate flag is clear. In Florida, we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged. This is obviously a very sensitive time in South Carolina and our prayers are with the families, the AME church community and the entire state. Following a period of mourning, there will rightly be a discussion among leaders in the state about how South Carolina should move forward and I'm confident they will do the right thing.

His position on the Confederate flag in Florida is clear;  his position about it in South Carolina less so. He does take a pro-pandering position, however, because he's sure political leaders there "will d the right thing." His non-position is not for naught, though, for he appears to have impressed some media matters.

Daniel Politi, whose readers in Slate are not dominated by CPAC attendees, wrote of Bush and Romney "Those calling for the removal of the Confederate flag that is flying above the grounds of South Carolina's state Capitol received support from two Republicans on Saturday."  A New York Times blogger even seemed to credit John Ellis Bush with Romney's forthright statement, accurately but deceptively writing "Prior to Mr. Bush’s statement, none of the party’s 2016 presidential candidates had gone as far as Mr. Romney in demanding that the flag come down."

Pretty slick, that John Ellis Bush.  In late April, an e-mail he sent to supporters, according to The Washington Post, read

This week Hillary Clinton said that people's deep-seated religious beliefs need to be changed in order to advance her own personal political agenda. Wow. America was founded on religious freedom, and that freedom is woven into the Bill of Rights as the first guarantee. And strengthening families is an important element to helping people rise up. This shouldn't be a partisan political issue, but unfortunately for Hillary Clinton it sounds like it is.

It would be reprehensible to demand that Americans' religious beliefs be changed. Except that Clinton said nothing of the sort (video below) three days earlier at the Women in the World Conference in New York when

In her speech, Hillary talked about the challenges facing women across the globe, as women everywhere still face sexual and domestic violence, too few legal protections and too little access to health care — particularly when it comes to reproductive health and safe childbirth. “All the laws we passed don’t count for much if they are not enforced,” Clinton said. “Rights have to exist in practice, not just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will, and deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”








Memo to John Ellis Bush- in most of the Third World, women don't have the rights they have (however inadequate) in the USA. At the risk of sounding like Bill Maher: the "cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases" are not as progressive as they are in advanced, western republics.

It's a tough concept but John Ellis Bush should be able to figure it out.  When he made his remark in April, Evil Right Wing Bastards  criticized Bush, as well as Catholic League President Bill Donohue and Glenn Beck's website The Blaze.  In the run-up to the presidential election, this fellow argues, "every word" Clinton "utters will be lied about and misrepresented- because that's the way Evil Rightwing Bastards operate."

That's an unfair and inaccurate characterization of the former governor.  We know for a fact that his parents were married when he was conceived.





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