Charleston And The "Culture Of Evasion"

Here's E.J. Dionne, Jr., this morning on how some =cough= Republicans = cough= take cover through a "culture of evasion" to deflect the changes that we need to make as a people in the wake of tragedies like the murders in Charleston, SC:

Right off the top, anyone who wants to discuss the implications of this shooting is scolded for “politicizing a tragedy.” We are told we must heal and mourn first, that it’s “disrespectful” to the victims to ask what this slaughter means and what we must do as a nation. How manipulative: Mourning the deaths of good people — and honoring the astonishing spirit of forgiveness modeled by their families — is used as an excuse to delay reflection on why this happened until the moment of urgency passes. In a media culture with a short attention span, there is no surer way to contain and marginalize the hard questions. (our emphasis)

Hmm.  Could he be referring, at least in part, to an op/ ed in the same paper the day before from Republican apologist and Family Bush publicist Kathleen Parker, who wrote this perfect example of delaying reckoning:

As I hear talk-show hosts scramble to turn this tragedy into issues — gun control, race, mental illness, what’s next? — I can’t help thinking that some manners are in order. People need time to recover from shock and to heal. Grief isn’t bound by deadlines or expressed in sound bites. Southerners, especially, like to take time with their mourning.

Let’s allow them.  (our emphasis)

No, let's not allow them.

Manners?  How is flying the flag of slavery and treason -- the "American swastika" -- at the South Carolina state capitol mannerly?   Southerners "like to take time" in a lot of things, don't they?  Southerners are taking their time getting over the Civil War, over integration, over voting rights, over same-sex marriage -- essentially over entering the 20th (much less the 21st) century.

No, they've had enough time.  And they don't have the moral authority to decide when and how long to mourn the victims of their "heritage."

UPDATE:  The Governor of South Carolina is now calling for the flag of slavery and treason to come down.