On Sunday, with throngs of veterans marching through Washington D.C. to protest President Obama’s closure of war memorials, the media focused on one man in particular: a random dude with a Confederate flag at the White House. In the apparent belief that they had found the conservative Professor Moriarty standing behind the current government shutdown, media members descended as one on the flagman:
Racism comes out of closet (as if it were ever in) as protesters hoist Confederate flag outside WH today.
— Roger Simon (@politicoroger) October 13, 2013
Raising the Confederate flag outside the White House seems like a compromise-oriented move. pic.twitter.com/pvU8QqRvZV
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) October 13, 2013
The presence of a Confederate flag at WHouse protest is a good time to remind you to read @zackbeauchamp: http://t.co/JgVuERf5NZ #shutdown
— Emily L. Hauser (@emilylhauser) October 13, 2013
I know, I’m always bringing race into everything, but I didn’t bring the Confederate flag to the White House: pic.twitter.com/avXiBME6Xd
— Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) October 13, 2013
Pro tip: If you want to express your love of US Army & its monuments … leave the Confederate flag at home. pic.twitter.com/dyByu9av51
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) October 13, 2013
Shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, to see a Confederate flag in this picture. pic.twitter.com/9xOuD8ed1R
— Jesse Berney (@jesseberney) October 13, 2013
To recap: House Rs believe optics of a protest that includes confederate flags at WH inhabited by 1st black president is a “game-changer?”
— Meredith Shiner (@meredithshiner) October 13, 2013
Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).