Dean and southerners who fly the confederate flag
First of all, thanks to axinar@yahoo.com for commenting on my last post regarding health care. He makes a good point and it is worth reading.

Now to the topic at hand. Isn't everyone making a little too much out of this? Here is what Governor Dean said:

"I intend to talk about race during this election in the South. The Republicans have been talking about it since 1968 in order to divide us, and I'm going to bring us together. Because you know what? White folks in the South who drive pick-up trucks with Confederate flag decals on the back ought to be voting with us because their kids don't have health insurance either, and their kids need better schools too." Howard Dean web site

I think the meaning is very straightforward. Unfortunately what was an economic remark turned into a "racial attack" like Dean was supporting racist attitudes. Now I'm not a supporter of Dean, nor do I intend to vote for him, but fair is fair. He was not supporting flying the Confederate flag. He was reaching out to southern whites who have it on their truck.

But, as is too often typical in the American political scene, comments are taken out of context and instead of calm discussion, candidates go for sound bites that can be seen on the evening news and used in commercials. But that is a topic for another day.