Last time he went hunting, Vice President Dick Cheney shot a man. This time he was caught, gasp, near a Confederate battle flag! Oh… my… GOSH!

And because it was in New York and they have nothing better to harp on, the MSM is trying to make a big deal of it.

It was Cheney’s second visit to Clove Valley Rod & Gun Club in Dutchess County, about 70 miles north of New York City. The previous trip was in fall 2001.

Although a heavy police presence kept the media and curious local residents at a distance, Cheney’s visit did stir up a bit of controversy when a New York Daily News photographer snapped a picture of a small Confederate flag hanging inside a garage on the hunt club property.

The photo was shown to New York City civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton, who issued a statement demanding that the vice president “leave immediately, denounce the club and apologize for going to a club that represents lynching, hate and murder to black people.” [AP]

First of all, who goes hunting 70 miles from New York City? That makes about as much sense as flying a kite in purgatory.

Secondly, why does the MSM sprint to Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson every time a racially-based issue pops into the national news cycle? Who appointed them the official voice of the black community?

But more importantly, who cares? It’s not like Cheney was chasing pheasants through a forest whistling Dixie with the rebel flag stuck to the barrel of his gun - although that would be awesome. The guy was at a lodge where there happened to be a very small Confederate flag and he didn’t even see it. Get over it.

We’ve had more than our fair share of recent battles over the battle flag in South Carolina, and while it’s still a hot issue, for the most part we’ve all tried to move on and get away from wedge issues that needlessly exploit deep-seeded emotions. It’s about time for the MSM to do the same.

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UPDATE: To “reown” and anyone else who wants to paint us into a “pro-flag” or “anti-flag” corner: We neither condemn nor condone the Confederate battle flag. It’s a difficult, emotionally-charged issue that — for lack of a better phrase — is neither black nor white but rather gray.

The point of this post is that it does us no good to unnecessarily exhaust ourselves exchanging bitter sentiments in a never-ending, cyclical argument of heritage versus hate. Nobody wins and we all lose.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.