CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES
by SCOTT SAXON

http://www.montrealmirror.com/2010/041510/damn.html

The backlash against Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s decision to re-introduce Confederate History Month with a whitewashed proclamation devoid of any mention of slavery should have meant that that particular cheese would stand alone. Instead, Gov. Haley Barbour, a fellow Republican from the equally progressive state of Mississippi, has backed his historical secessionist ally, dismissing the failure to mention slavery as part of the Confederacy’s history as something that “doesn’t amount to diddly.”

McDonnell declared April Confederate History Month in Virginia, saying focus on the great Southern armies, celebrated generals and tall-standing Virginians would help to boost tourism. Before Prussian Blue could be booked for a fireworks and fritters night, though, the Governor had been roundly criticized—not only for dredging up the abandoned commemoration, but for ignoring the Civil War’s central cause, slavery, in his proclamation. Instead, according to McDonnell, the war was a fight for Virginians’ “homes, their communities and the Commonwealth.” But while McDonnell apologized for what he called a “major omission,” Barbour was pooh-poohing it as “a nit that is not significant.”

It’s Barbour’s contention that people no longer need to be reminded that “slavery is a bad thing.”