In my line of work, you run across more than your fair share of WTF?! stories from time to time, but this one may just jump to the top of my list.
Craig Haden is your typical supporter of the Confederate flag, which remains part of the state flag in Mississippi. And he decided to show up and counterprotest at a “Take It Down March Rally” in Jackson, which drew about 400 people who think it’s way past time for this symbol of hate to be banished from their flag.
Before I return my focus to Mr. Haden, allow me to tell you a bit more about the rally: Republican state Representative Jenny Horne of South Carolina told the crowd:
“It is a new South. The economic development opportunities that Mississippi is missing out on — you don’t even know it, but it’s costing all citizens jobs.”
Also, Civil Rights Activist Myrlie Evers-Williams compared the gathered marchers to activists who fought for equal rights the 1960s:
“I look at you today I see strength. I see courage. I see determination.”
But Craig Haden would have no part of changing the flag, and his reasoning was, as you might expect, more than a little confusing to the average person. Haden explained why taking the Confederate flag symbol off the Mississippi flag would be anti-Semitic:
“If they’re offended I question their motivations because the blue in the Confederate battle flag represents St. Andrew who was an apostle of Jesus Christ and he was Jewish and makes me wonder if they’re anti-Semitic.”
Feel free to go back and read that quote again, see if it makes more sense the second time. Because I cannot make heads or tails of it. It’s fine for Haden to have a contrary opinion on the issue, but to chalk it up to anti-Semitism is the height of both lack of comprehension and twisted logic. If that is his defense of the Confederate flag, he loses the debate by default.
