Confederate Flag License Plates?, Why Not Al Qaida Plates?

Dallas-Fort Worth CBS is reporting that Texas is considering officially putting the confederate flag on its license plates which raises the question, why not Al Qaida license plates?  Here's the CBSDFW.com story:

Would you buy a license plate with a Confederate flag on it? State officials are looking at possibly launching a new Texas state license plate honoring veterans of the War Between the States.

Mr. Hilary Shelton, with the NAACP in Washington, D.C., said that the Civil War may not be something we want to celebrate.

“When many look at that history, we think about it in terms of secession, that is we were seceding from the Union in the southern parts of the country,” explained Shelton. “Many would view that, quite frankly, as treason, because they meant to actually destroy the existing governmental structure. But when we dig deeper, the issue becomes even more offensive to many African Americans and those that sought freedom for those of darker skin in our country.”

“When you understand the Confederate history, and what it stood for,” said Dallas resident Mark Jones, “it’s directly slapping African Americans in the face.”  In terms of the Civil War, Shelton said that the Confederate flag was actually very un-American. “It was the flag that was flown during a war to actually tear the nation apart,” Shelton explained.

“I don’t think that this will unify us,” said Carrollton resident Carolina Arreola. “Our patriotism is to the Unites States flag.”  But the Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans have renewed their push for a Texas license plate that includes the rebel flag in its design [. . . ]

Currently, nine states already allow the license plates. A statement in a recent newsletter from the Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans said, “…the Florida Division, the eleventh state, has just filed a lawsuit against the DOT there after their request was denied. I am confident their case will prevail, because legal precedents are in place. I am hopeful that the Texas DOT also realizes this as they consider our application.”
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Arguably, some southern states can claim confederate heritage, because God knows you want to be proud of your terrorist past--but, Texas was not even a state during the Civil War.  An article at the Houston Chronicle indicates that Texas is one vote short at the DMV board to obtain this license option.  How nice.

I consider this sort of thing garbage.  The same sort of politicians who want to slap confederate flags on their license plates would howl over the "dimming the light of liberty" if a corporate television network left "under God" out of the pledge allegiance as part of a golf broadcast.  The demagoguery behind this sort of thing turns my stomach.

Shoot Him In the Head?

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I've said here, before, that the Bad Lawyer Blawg does not concern itself with the "Big Story," the interest, here, is to talk about . . . well, the sorts of things that most people experience as they navigate the law or read law stories.  But this bit of Cable news grabbed me, and I actually think it illustrates one of the larger themes: demagoguery and it's distortion of the Rule of Law. 

The thing about the Rule of Law, it exists because it governs our own worse impulses, including our impulses to act hastily, vengefully, and reactionary.  Thank God.  For instance, we were told that Guantanamo Bay held the "worst of the worst." And yet, when those "screaming liberals" the US Military actually conducted evidentiary inquiry many of those "worst" turned out to be actually innocent of any invovlement in jihad, or war against American and our allies.  So "shoot him in the head" what does that mean, exactly what? 

You know what it means.  It means walk away from the very thing that makes America different than most other places in the world. 

The Persistence of Death Penalty Demagoguery

This report from the South Carolina Post and Courier ably illustrates why the elimination of the death penalty is going to be no easy task: 

"A South Carolina candidate for U.S. Senate says that when it comes to capitol punishment, some people need to be executed.

Democrat Chad McGowan was asked if he supported capital punishment on Tuesday at a South Carolina Business and Industry Political Education Committee debate.The Rock Hill lawyer said that his head tells him that it doesn't work but his heart tells him that some people just need killing.McGowan faces Democrat Mike Ruckes of Summerville in a primary that will decide who takes on Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint in the November election."