From Sunday's Montgomery Advertiser story about the 150th anniversary reenactment of Jefferson Davis' swearing-in as President of the Confederacy:
This time around there was nothing to be gained, and much potentially to be lost, by showing up.
Now the Alabama Republican Party, made up of the political ancestors of the Confederates, controls (with super-majorities!) both the Alabama House and The Alabama Senate. Who needs a parade?
The Advertiser story linked above said there were more reenactors than people watching.
When stating the reasons for celebrating the Confederacy, ( SCV Lt. Commander in Chief Kelley) Barrow asked if those in the crowd would rather hear from those in attendance than organizations such as MSNBC or USA Today, whose names received a chorus of boos from the crowd.I wanted to go to the parade downtown for photographic reasons, but other events got in the way. That's apparently what happened to every elected official in the Heart of Dixie. I've scoured reports about the event, and have yet to find a single one who was present, much less actually taking part. Contrast that with the 100th anniversary, when the Governor and lots of others attended and took part. If course that was in 1961, the early years of the Civil Rights Movement, and those elected official found the event a way to show how pro-white they were.
This time around there was nothing to be gained, and much potentially to be lost, by showing up.
Now the Alabama Republican Party, made up of the political ancestors of the Confederates, controls (with super-majorities!) both the Alabama House and The Alabama Senate. Who needs a parade?
The Advertiser story linked above said there were more reenactors than people watching.
When the 200th Anniversary comes around in 2061 the event may be relegated to a mention in a "This Day in History" story and to that era's trivia games. He was elected President in Alabama in 1861...for $7,000......ding! Who was Jefferson Davis!
"For photographic reasons?" C'mon.
ReplyDeleteAlvin Holmes had it right: "Don't give them any more publicity."
Another take on this event:
ReplyDeletehttp://weldbham.com/secondfront/2011/02/22/looking-for-winners-on-a-warm-winter-day/