RESPECTABLE CONSERVATIVES LINE UP AGAINST FLAG | 2000-04-08
Liberals have fired most of their ammunition against the Confederate flag flying over the South Carolina State House. Now they're calling in their reliable second team: respectable conservatives. William Buckley's NATIONAL REVIEW has been demanding the flag come down since it got its latest editor, Richard Lowry. Since he took over, NR has stopped capitalizing the word "Southern."
NR's latest effort was a screaming piece called "Rebels Yell," which caused at least one Charlestonian to write them saying he was canceling his subscription.
In other words, NATIONAL REVIEW has given up its pretense of being a spokesman for the American right nation-wide. It has always been a theocratic, east coast magazine making a few gestures to others. NR has simply given up the gestures.
David Broder, the token semi-conservative writer for the Washington Post, has come out with an article demanding that the flag come down. Like McCain, his comment on Bob Jones ending its policy against interracial dating was a kick in the teeth. Funny how people who back down get no respect.
In other words, we have the usual formula: liberals have screamed their lungs out on the flag issue, so their second team has volunteered to earn its "respectable" credentials again. Stabbing other conservatives in the back is the main job of respectable conservatives.