I've been fighting (and losing) against this cold since this weekend, so maybe that makes me prone to paranoia. I plan on reading the full Weekly Standard piece sometime in the next day or two.

Now, I'm doubtful that this is a campaign killer if Barbour wants to run in 2012. That's still a long way away. However, there's a part of me that thinks this is deliberate. First off, he didn't get caught making a gaffe with Anderson Cooper or Katie Couric. This is the Weekly Standard, his audience.

At 63, Barbour is slightly older than my parents. My mother attended mostly integrated schools (too poor to afford two schools), but my my father's high school didn't integrate fully until he was a senior, in 1970. It is my understanding that Mississippi schools didn't integrate until 1970, after Mr. Barbour had already graduated from Ole Miss. I believe Haley Barbour is too young to really have his feet held to the fire over the civil rights abuses of Mississippi in the 1960s. However, this feels like a wink and a nod to the old-timers (and current day racists).

Take this quote for example, when asked about seeing Martin Luther King, Jr. speak in 1962:
“I don’t really remember. The truth is, we couldn’t hear very well. We were sort of out there on the periphery. We just sat on our cars, watching the girls, talking, doing what boys do. We paid more attention to the girls than to King.”

That is probably the truth. However, as a professional politician, 48 years of history in the rear view mirror, you can't even lie about what a great opportunity that was? That seems to be the no-brainer. His reason for going was "I wanted to hear him speak", however this "Aw hell, he came to town, but I didn't really listen" follow-up comment is worse that Mitt Romney falsely claiming that he saw his father march with Dr. King. At least Romney is stretching to be on the right side of history.

I just get this awful feeling that this is bait for the No Black Kenyan Muslim President crowd, sprouting up alongside the State's Rights constitutional amendment proposals coming from Old Virginny. Sprinkle in taking on unemployment benefits and food stamps that "lazy" people don't deserve—but make sure to attack it as excess spending—and you have a revived Southern Strategy after losing North Carolina and Virginia in 2008.

I sure hope not, but there are a lot of racists out there, and not just in the south, and the GOP has proven willing to use whatever means necessary to win.

Background story, if anyone hasn't heard and is interested:
Mississippi Governor criticized for praising segregationist group

Best analysis I have heard is that this is a dog whistle to conservo-fails so that when he has to moderate his modern Wallace act, they stick with him. It's the type of Reagan-announcing-in-MS move that these guys are pros at.

alls i know is i can't stand to hear the man speak. i want to pick his lazy sagging diction off the floor and stuff it down his bloated reptilian neck sac

Fu,

Not sure what you're point really is. You acknowledge that his quote is probably the truth, which I agree it probably is. You'd rather him lie to not pander to his southern base? I think he could do a lot worse to pander to bigots. He didn't go Trent Lott style or anything.

Honestly, I'm don't see anything really racist with either comments. The man was more interested in tail than civil rights when he was a young man. Not sure that puts him on the wrong side of history or the right side. Probably puts him on the normal side of history.

Even his weekly standard quote doesn't seem awful to me. He just states why he believes there was no violence in Yazoo City as compared to the rest of the Mississippi, which was because their racist group didn't believe in violence because it was bad for business. I think that's probably an accurate statement. I don't see where he expressed any praise for segregation. If a history teacher said this in a class, I don't think anyone would pause.

But I haven't really followed the story. So maybe I'm missing something. Seems like a little knee jerk political correctness to me though.

Every word that comes out of a politicians mouth is selling something. Haley Barbour has press people, speech writers, advisers, etc., yet this is part of his marketing message, which made my flags go up. Obviously he can't praise the KKK, but White Citizens Councils were not an admirable phenomenon of the 20th century. Perhaps in Yazoo City they did help keep the Klan out. The fact remains that they were also heartily pro-segregation, anti-NAACP, anti-interracial marriage, "race-mixing" and "mongrelization". I don't think being taken aback at someone who praised these groups is knee jerk political correctness. Hell, I can look past Barbour's 1982 joke that his staffer would be reincarnated into a watermelon and handed to a group of black people, because that was almost 30 years ago.

Gar hit on a much more succinct statement of what I thought I smelled. This feels like a dog whistle to the racist jackoffs who don't think White Citizens Councils were all that bad.

I'm with Cory here. This is code. Sorry. He has, because of his history and his mouth, a reasonably expectable obligation to clarify and distance himself from racism if he wants to be perceived as neutral / accepting on the issue. He's not doing that. He's shrugging and making things up* or exaggerating.


*

Story

Still, I don't see where he praised the White Citizens Councils. He was asked a direct question, "why didn't Yazoo City see violence?" The answer seems pretty straight-forward to me and probably historically accurate. Could he have added the disclaimer, "this is in no way an endorsement of the Citizen Councils but rather a statement of fact?" Probably. But I still think that's being a little too political correct and reading a little too much into it. Honestly, I'm not really sure there's a lot of southern racists reading the Weekly Standard even if racist have found a home in the republican party.

Don't get me wrong, Fu. I won't support Hayley Barbour for President or dog catcher. And Mississippi deserves every ounce of its reputation. But I think this might be a little bit more sensationalized than it deserves.

Maybe you're right and he's race baiting (not sure why he needs to as he seemingly has enough of this cred just being white from Mississippi). But as much as I agree that politicians are constantly marketing, I also believe the media is constantly taking things out of context (for both repubs and dems). So I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt here.

Sorry guys, I misread the quote. I'm multi-taking here. I missed the part that said "around here it was an organizations of town leaders" (as not being like the KKK).

Please disregard everything I said. Fuck this guy. Y'all are right.

I should have said defending rather than "praising".

No you're absolutely right. I didn't know anything of the story until this thread with Xmas and all. I was doing a couple of things at once at work and didn't read it carefully. My mistake. It amounted to praise. He's pandering to lowest common southern denominator. I should always follow my instincts that Mississippi sucks.

Can we further agree that the best thing to come out of Yazoo City is the Band Song?

Haha. Merry Christmas, brah.

Haley Barbour pretty much sewed up The Annual Bull Connor Golden Nozzle for Racist of The Year with this one, eh?

But if you want to talk pandering, we can talk about this shit-fuck, Jindal. He's decided to run this state like it's an extended audition for a presidential bid. While I admire his competence (something sorely lacking in the previous administration), not everything that is best for the tea party is best for the state.

A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union

"Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin."

-------------------------------------

I honestly don't mean to kick Mississippi all day today, but I just started pulling threads and keep finding things. The state's rights line got some play in History classes when I was a kid, but I can't ever actually recall seeing as many first hand documents like the secession resolution above. Texas, South Carolina and Georgia can be found here.

Excerpt from Texas:
"That in this free government all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to equal civil and political rights [emphasis in the original]; that the servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mutually beneficial to both bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and justified by the experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the Almighty Creator, as recognized by all Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations between the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, would bring inevitable calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding states."

I may be incredibly naive, but I don't think a Hailey Barbour has a chance in hay-hay hell of winning the nomination, let alone the POTUS, not because I disagree with him but because it's mathematically impossible.

It's probably time to start the POTUS 2012 thread, maybe start a wagering pool, etc. Let's go clagy!

Good 'n Pawlenty either wins or loses to Rebama by two points depending on economy.

Chuck Todd has more personality than Pawlenty.

Looking like a cross between Mullett Macca and Chris Collinsworth doesn't equal personality? Well, shoot.

Repubs nominate Mitt IMHO. They are not ones to deviate from the playbook in the POTUS selectin' process. Also, he has the best shot to beat BHO.

At least Mormonism is a WHITE cult, amirite?

Bingobango

As a Democrat, there is nothing I would like more than to see the Republicans run someone like Barbour, but I can't see it happening. He's a no hoper on the national stage. That whole nod to the racism of the past may score him big points in the south, but on the national stage, especially with demographic changes picking up steam across the land, it's a clear recipe for disaster to nominate someone who is gonna be so obvious with that shit.

I am curious how the Mormon thing will play out. I don't know that your typical voter really knows fuck all about Mormons or how much it will matter. Also, I am still waiting for someone to sync a Romney speech with some Guy Smiley footage for YouTube.

Maybe I'm naive, optimistic, or out of touch, but I don't think this kind of overt racism plays in the South either anymore. There's a brand of racism that does still play in the South but I don't think comments like this are really shared by majority of southerners. On the other hand, I don't think it really bothers many of them either.