Posted on 01/19/2004 5:48:21 AM PST by stainlessbanner
An advisor to presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark is urging him to denounce President Clinton's decision, while governor of Arkansas, to sign into law several measures paying tribute to the Confederacy and Confederate flag.
"I think [Gen. Clark] would say and should say that he's against the Confederate flag wherever it is," Clark advisor and former Clinton speechwriter Michael Waldman told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg on Sunday.
"The Confederate flag is, to many people, a symbol of racism and slavery," he added.
"If [Clark] is asked about [the Arkansas Confederate flag celebrations] he should say that it was a mistake," said Waldman. "I'm sure Bill Clinton would say the same thing."
In 1987, then-Gov. Clinton signed a bill that designates a star in the Arkansas flag as symbolic of the Confederacy and issued a proclamation designating a birthday memorial for Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, according to the Washington Times.
Two years earlier Clinton signed Act 985 into law, making Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's birthday a state holiday.
On Friday Gen. Clark, an Arkansan who still lives in the state, told reporters that South Carolina officials were wrong to allow the Confederate flag to fly on statehouse grounds.
"I don't believe we ought to be honoring flags that divide us," Clark said during a conference call. "I don't believe we ought to be . . . keeping that flag on state grounds or federal grounds," he complained.
CLARK: "Well, he shouldn't have said those things. I think all Americans - and this is a joke! - all Americans, even if they're from the South and 'stupid,' should be represented."
(Clark's reaction to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's pandering comment that that he, Dean, wants the votes of Southerners, i.e. "guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks", NY Daily News, by Lloyd Grove, 12-Nov-2003)
CLARK: "Later, Clark held an American flag and said: "I'm proud of what our country stands for. We stand for patriotism. We stand for that American flag - not the Confederate flag. This flag.""
(Clark's reaction when asked if he supports the Confederate flag."President 'didn't do job,' Clark tells 'Grits' circuit", 30 Dec 2003, EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS, Sun Herald)
I've never seen these neanderthals burn the Stars and Bars, although they will fight over the matches to see who lights up Old Glory first.
General Spineless Wuss, "Make 7-UP Yours!"
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