Words show Haley may not be PC, but he's honest

JACKSON -- The good news for Haley Barbour is that the left wing is after him. That means he’s being taken as a serious contender. The ruckus over Barbour’s latest interview is a typical example of taking individual words out of context.

For instance, Barbour is being blasted for saying that something -- we don’t know what -- “wasn’t that bad.”

The liberal bloggers argue that Barbour was saying the Citizens Council and the KKK “wasn’t that bad” but, in fact, Barbour said no such thing.

“In interviews Barbour doesn’t have much to say about growing up in the midst of the civil rights revolution. ‘I just don’t remember it as being that bad,’ he said. ‘I remember Martin Luther King came to town, in ’62. He spoke out at the old fairground and it was full of people, black and white.’”

Note that the introductory sentence preceding Barbour’s infamous statement contains “interviews” with an “s.” So we really don’t know the exact question to which Barbour was responding. Was Barbour referring to the violence associated with Yazoo City desegregation, which indeed “wasn’t that bad” compared to other cities in Mississippi? Was Barbour referring to the economic impact on the town, which “wasn’t that bad”? Was he referring to the impact of the civil rights movement on his individual life, which probably “wasn’t that bad”? Was Barbour referring to the level of violence typically associated with such a revolution which, indeed, “wasn’t that bad” in historical terms?

Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2010/12/30/2740862/words-show-haley-may-not-be-pc.html#ixzz19imsJfyK

The left leaning Media isn’t looking to tell the news, they are looking to bend it to fit their agenda of getting leftists elected.

I don’t understand why because once the left has taken over the Media will no longer be free to print anything they like.

Maybe that is waht they want.

I doubt these "verbal fluffs" will hurt Haley. He's such a wily and agile political operator that he probably can wiggle his ample frame out of harm's way.

The MSM's current anti-Barbour crusade reminds me of the attack last year by the Washington Post on Bob McDonnell, during the Virginia gubernatorial campaign:

In that soap opera, the WP kept up a steady drumbeat for weeks about remarks McDonnell had made decades earlier in his master's thesis, remarks that were interpreted as unfriendly to the feminist movement. The attack went over like a lead balloon, and McDonnell breezed into office -- even carrying Fairfax County, not only a haven for federal workers, but also a locale where the WP's influence is strong.

How did McDonnell pull it off? He emphasized mostly those current fiscal and economic issues that trouble both "independent moderates" and conservative Republicans, without ever betraying his bedrock conservative values on the social issues.

Also, very much unlike the wisecracking parttime-comedian George Allen, who was an earlier target of a calculated and sustained WaPo attack, McDonnell came across as a serious, studious and competent executive. No wisecracks and no Macacca jokes during his campaign.

Bottom Line:

I think Barbour can and will succeed by following pretty much the same path as McDonnell.

That was a very good article. Thank you for the ping. The only thing I take issue with is this...

“Both Mr. Mott and Mr. Kelly had told me that Yazoo City was perhaps the only municipality in Mississippi that managed to integrate the schools without violence. I asked Haley Barbour why he thought that was so.”

That’s a bunch of hooey. If they can point to violence in any Mississippi city, I wish they would cite it.

I’m from another town in MS, and am about Haley’s age. The only violence from school integration that I remember was in Boston, and perhaps Watts. I’m sure there’s more, but none that I remember in MS.

If any who read this post will tell me about school violence in any other MS town, I hope they will correct me.

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