Corrections on the latest AJC-BS report (Ben Smith) – Commentary by Steve Scroggins
Special Note: We now use special technology to sniff out distortions and misleading information. When we placed our special B.S. meter next to this Ben Smith link below,
we knew this article needed some serious editorial help. As a service to Georgia readers, I have added commentary to this Ben Smith report below
to make it informative and accurate. [Note: Smith's text is in black; my comments are in dark red italics]
Ben Smith's report in the 1/29/04 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is changing primary landscape a boost to Barnes' banner?
By BEN SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A wide interest in Georgia's March 2 presidential primary might be good news for supporters of the state's discarded blue-and-gold flag.
Ben, we call it the "Barnes Rag" and even though we hate it, it's the political equivalent of the Perdue/Tyrone flag. Close your eyes, Ben, and inhale deeply through your nose. Both flags have a kindred stench.
The banner that then-Gov. Roy Barnes raised in 2001 will be matched against the flag that replaced it in 2003, in a referendum on the same ballot that Georgians will use to vote on a Democratic presidential nominee.
The referendum -- which purposely omits the 1956 flag with its controversial Confederate battle emblem -- seemed destined for a low turnout, as long as Howard Dean looked like the hands-down front-runner in the Democratic presidential race.
Low turnout, high turnout, doesn't matter. Most folks don't really care about either flag offered in this insulting referendum.
Then John Kerry won Iowa and New Hampshire, putting him solidly in the lead. Dean is bidding for a comeback, while John Edwards and Wesley Clark had high hopes as the race headed to South Carolina this week.
The new landscape has some people wondering whether a higher Democratic turnout in Georgia might improve the chances that the "Barnes flag" could win the referendum.
It's six or a half dozen. Choose the Barnes rag or Tyrone's flag. Choose between bull manure and chicken poop. Neither one smells good to us.
A December Mason-Dixon poll shows the "Barnes flag" within striking distance of the new flag. The statewide survey found that 39 percent of Georgians would vote for the previous flag, while 42 percent would vote for the current one. The remainder were undecided.
Have we mentioned that poll somewhere on this website, Ben? There hasn't been a lot of AJC reporting on this poll. We note that that same poll also showed that 50% (that's one half) of Georgians favor including the 1956 flag in the referendum. Don't you think it's strange---dare we say an outrage---that a flag with 50% support is withheld as a choice? Did they really think we would just swallow this insult and "move on" as the AJC and other media klansmen have advocated?
"Those numbers certainly suggest it's possible" for the blue flag to win, said Whit Ayres, a Georgia Republican pollster and strategist.
A more competitive presidential race might increase black turnout -- which made up 45 percent of the Democratic vote in the 2002 primary. Some black voters, who overwhelmingly voted for Barnes, are partial to the banner closely identified with him.
State Rep. Winfred Dukes (D-Albany), an African-American, said he will choose that flag and thinks many other Democrats will, too. "A lot of people will vote for it because Roy Barnes still has a lot of friends in this state," Dukes said.
Yeah, a lot of those "friends" bought Barnes with $23 million for his campaign. Didn't win him the election though, did it? Most Georgians are NOT as stupid as Barnes and his friends seem to think. Money does not win elections. Votes win elections.
Some Democrats might simply "want to stick it to the current governor" by voting for the Barnes flag, Democratic consultant Beth Schapiro said. Although GOP-leaning voters may cast ballots in Georgia's open primary, it will be dominated by Democrats.
Those Democrats need to get in line behind the thousands of other Georgia citizens who have a beef with Perdue's bold faced lies.
Ayres and Schapiro agreed that the referendum's outcome is difficult to predict, because nobody is actively campaigning for either banner.
That's because there's not much support for either flag, Ben. Avert your eyes, hold your nose and pick one. Or just skip that question altogether. SCV's position on this insulting non-choice.
After last year's legislative battle over including the 1956 flag in the referendum, politicians don't want to revisit the issue. The Legislature's exclusion of that design turned the referendum into a low-interest contest between two compromise choices.
Duh!! That's an understatement. Low, low, low, low interest. Sounds like a car financing commercial. Politicians don't want to revisit their sellout to special interests orchestrated in a backroom deal. No surprise there, either. Keep your head in the sand if you like, this issue won't go away until we get a Fair Vote.
As candidate for governor, Sonny Perdue railed against Barnes for ramming his flag change through the Legislature in 2001 and promised Confederate heritage supporters that he would push for a referendum. But as governor, Perdue signed the bill that omitted the 1956 flag from the referendum and hoisted a new banner modeled after the political flag of the Confederacy.
Ben, a worldly reporter like you may have seen a few of these signs below (there are literally tens of thousands spreading throughout Georgia along with tens of thousands naming other TurnCoats). Altogether, a quarter of a million "LET US VOTE - BOOT name-your-turncoat" signs will blanket Georgia in the next few months. Of course, all this political carnage could be avoided if the people are given a FAIR VOTE.
"I plan to vote for the flag that was adopted last year, and I would encourage all Georgians to," Perdue said recently. "I think it represents a great blend of the heritage and history of Georgia with a future we can all go forward with." But Perdue won't campaign for the new banner. "This referendum is about Georgians choosing," he said.
No, Governor, this March referendum is an insult, not a choice. We don't really care WHAT you encourage, we're not going to "just move on" just because you wish it. It's simple really. If you'd like to be re-elected in 2006, you better give the people their Fair Vote. That might require active support on your part to get cooperation from the holdout heritage haters. Your duty is to implement
the will of 8 million Georgians. Obviously, you won't have their will documented beyond doubt unless you have a Fair Vote with ALL the leading contenders.
Surprisingly, some supporters of the 1956 flag say they are considering voting for the Barnes flag for strategic purposes. They want to keep the issue alive and possibly force a new referendum that includes their preferred banner. Among them is Tim Pilgrim, a construction company owner from Smyrna who attended a tribute to Gen. Robert E. Lee at the Capitol last week.
Yep, those flaggers are surprising a lot of people. Just ask Roy Barnes or Tom Murphy or the other TurnCoats turned out of office in 2002. Just watch what happens between now and November. You know, at some point, if yall keep being surprised, we're going to wonder about your mental faculties.
Pilgrim noted that the "Barnes flag" included a miniature Confederate battle emblem. The current flag does not include the St. Andrew's Cross that most Rebel troops carried.
"At least the Barnes flag does have the soldier's flag on it, even though it's credit-card-sized," Pilgrim said.
Ultimately, the Legislature is not required to follow voters' wishes, because the vote is not binding.
Clearly, the legislature has demonstrated a tendency to NOT follow the voter's wishes already----starting in 2001 when the '56 Flag of Honor was stolen---and ever since. But we tend to think that they will feel obligated to enact any flag chosen in a special referendum....or else explain WHY. I'd like to see the Barnes rag win just to see what the legislators will do. Will they restore the ugliest flag in North America? Or just conspicuously
admit that the results are "not really the will of Georgians." It's not as if they have NOT been told. We've told them the results will be meaningless as long as they deny and ignore the leading contender in a three way race.
State Rep. Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta) pushed for decades to strip the battle emblem from the state flag. He predicts the current flag will win, and he supports it.
This is why we call it the Perdue/Tyrone flag; it's the flag Tyrone wanted all along. Perdue and the Republicans only think it was their idea. Of course, part two of Taliban Tyrone's plan is to come back in a few years complaining how offensive the 2003 flag has become, it being a Confederate derived flag, you know.
"I don't think the governor wants to reopen this debate," Brooks said. "I don't think the Legislature wants to reopen this debate. I don't think the people want to reopen this debate. It's over."
Tyrone, two out of three ain't bad. But you're dead wrong about what the people want. And you know it. It ain't over. It will never be "over" until we get a Fair Vote. We have no illusions that you'll give up either. We expect more attacks from you and the Heritage Haters whether or not we win back our '56 Flag of Honor this year. But you should have no illusions we'll give up either. We're on to your game, Tyrone. Some of us have been for many years. We're getting better at making sure everyone else sees your game, too. We're in this for the long haul. Never doubt our resolve. We will never give up. We're sick and tired of your verbal abuse, distortions and mischaracterizations. We're going to start giving it back to you. We'll never stop fighting back until you stop the attacks. Some day, when you least expect it, you'll learn that we know how to play on offense, too. Welcome to our "New Georgia."
Steve Scroggins
is Adjutant of the Lt. James T. Woodward Camp 1399, Sons of Confederate
Veterans, in Warner Robins, GA and a frequent GHC contributor of parody
and political cartoons and graphics.
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