Did you hear what Hucklebee said in Myrtle Beach about the flag?

[madfloridian]

I seldom if ever agree with Kathleen Parker, and this may only be the second time ever. Politicians do change when they come South.

As soon as politicians and pundits cross the South Carolina line, their IQs plummet 20 points.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — They just can't help it. As soon as politicians and pundits cross the South Carolina line, their IQs plummet 20 points. I reckon the candidates figure if they say really dumb stuff, them lowbrow, redneck yahoos will vote them right into that great big ol' house up in Washington.

Yessiree-Bo, we're gonna rustle up some squirrels, suck on some hay straw, fry up some catfish, eat some Moon Pies and tell lies about how Diddy killed that cockfight cheat with a deer knife, and git us some dadgum votes.

.."Some of those yokels, like yokels everywhere, may be dumber 'n a box o' rocks, but they're smart enough to know what the newcomers want and, aiming to please, seem determined to give it to them. Good 'n' folksy-like."

..." But the South — and especially South Carolina because of the flag flap and because it hosts the first Southern primary — remains a quintessentially racist state in the minds of everyone except most of those who live here. ...Thus, when pols and pundits cross the state line, they begin thinking racially. The candidacy of Barack Obama makes race impossible to ignore, obviously. But what about when Republican Mike Huckabee comes to town and gratuitously starts talking about the Confederate flag? What does that mean?

I can't resist posting her remark about what Huckabee said.

compliments of Huckabee, who recited the litany without cue cards for his Myrtle Beach audience:

"You don't like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag. ... If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole. That's what we'd do."

Applause, applause, applause. Scribble, scribble, scribble. Yawn, yawn, yawn.

In 2003, when Howard Dean lamented that the South had to stop obsessing on race, guns, God and gays, he wasn't necessarily wrong. But it is once again clear that the pols and pundits will have to go first.

Oh, wait. Huckabee talks about telling people where to put the pole? And he might be our next president. Oh, good grief.

[madfloridian]

1. Yep, he really did say that. Verified by Huff Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/18/huckabee-embraces-confede_n_82199.html

"Columbia, S. Car. -- The populist campaign of Mike Huckabee, seeking to mobilize an insurgency of white evangelicals against the Republican establishment, took an abrupt turn today after the former Arkansas governor directly appealed to voters on the issue of race, summoning his fellow candidates to stop calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from government offices.

"You don't like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag. ... If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell them what to do with the pole. That's what we'd do," he declared to applause at a campaign rally in Myrtle Beach Thursday."

...."Furman political scientist James Guth said he was initially surprised Huckabee played the Confederate flag card, noting that it was out of character for his campaign. Guth said he believes Huckabee did so to try to stop Fred Thompson from making further gains here. Thompson remains far behind, but he has picked up roughly 7 or 8 points in recent weeks, and almost all the points Thompson acquired have been at Huckabee's expense, polls show.

The result of these trends is that in less than two weeks, Huckabee has dropped from first to second, with John McCain at the top of the polls.

Ron Wilson, past commander of the South Carolina Sons of the Confederacy, said he organized the fundraising to pay for the anti-McCain, pro-Huckabee radio ads. He said that the ads will run on every station that carries Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, plus all drive-time shows throughout the state."

Talk about ugly politics.

[madfloridian]

2. Last kick.

.