The South Carolina honor guard put the Confederate flag permanently to rest on state Capitol grounds Friday.

The South Carolina honor guard put the Confederate flag permanently to rest on state Capitol grounds Friday.

Nothing could have made Republicans look worse this week than when the House of Representatives stole defeat from the jaws of political victory by prioritizing a symbol of hate and racism over reconciliation.

The GOP leadership sunk to new lows Thursday with its atrocious effort (not to mention incompetent) to reverse a measure passed earlier in the week that would prohibit the Confederate flag from being displayed at cemeteries on federal land and sold at National Park Service gift shops.

The GOP circus, punctuated by a keen procedural move from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, resulted in House Republicans voting to send the entire mess of an appropriations bill to committee for consideration.



"I think it's time for some adults here in Congress to sit down and have conversation about how to address this issue," Speaker John Boehner told reporters. "I do not want this to become a political football."

A little late for that 20/20 vision, John. If you had any sense at all, you'd be disgraced by your own failure in leadership.

In fact, the entire Republican Party—or at least anyone who wants a chance at some day winning the White House back—should be seething at the House GOP for clinging to a symbol that has made their entire party persona non grata with people of color for the last 50 years.

In contrast to their tomfoolery, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley—also a Republican—managed to preside over both a bill signing and flag ceremony that marked a graceful end to one of South Carolina's most bitterly fought battles over the last half century.

As the Confederate flag that has divided generations of South Carolinians slid down the flag pole at the command of a biracial group of honor guards, citizens black and white, young and old, some crying and others cheering, stood at attention to mark a new beginning.

It is by no means an end to racism, but rather the tempering of an insidious prejudice that continually simmers just beneath the surface of the South, sometimes boiling over to take the lives of good and innocent people. Still, anyone who dismisses the flag's removal as mere symbolism devoid of consequence, has not visited the region where the "War of Northern Aggression" remains a regular topic of conversation. (As a twenty-something who lived there in the '90s, it was a conversation that was regularly thrust upon me due to my northern roots.)

The fact that South Carolina lawmakers finally united in a vote to help end that festering wound could have been a triumphant moment for Republicans and Democrats alike, not to mention the nation.

Instead, we were reminded by John Boehner and his cronies that racism is alive and well and still holds a cherished and privileged place in the Republican Party.

Thanks for that reality check.

