Former Griffith Chief of Staff: Man, Democrats used to stand for something… like in those good ‘ole segregation days!

posted at 9:33 pm on January 4, 2010 by Cassy Fiano

When Parker Griffith switched parties, he certainly got a lot of attention for himself. Switching from a Democrat to Republican drew the ire of Democrats and the skepticism of Republicans. And apparently, it also cost him the loyalty of his staff, who all quit — bemoaning the abandonment of the legacy of “conservative leadership”. Democrats? Conservative?

In an unusual press release announcing the resignation of his legislative staff, former aides to party-switching Rep. Parker Griffith, who is now a Republican, wrote that he had “abandoned the legacy of conservative leadership” provided by, among others, Alabama’s segregationist Civil Rights-era Senate delegation.

“Alabama’s Fifth District has deserved and has benefited from great Democratic conservative leadership since Reconstruction. And until now they had it,” his former chief of staff, Sharon Wheeler, said in a press release statement signed by 10 other departing staffers and circulated by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “But Parker Griffith has abandoned the legacy of conservative leadership provided by Bud Cramer, Ronnie Flippo, Bob Jones, Howell Heflin, Jim Allen, Lister Hill, John Sparkman, Big Jim Folsom, and so many more.”

Most of those Alabama Democrats are not associated with segregation, but Sens. Lister Hill and John Sparkman were both regular votes against civil rights legislation, and both signed the 1956 Southern Manifesto that condemned the “judicial usurpation” of Brown v. Board of Education and promised to use “all lawful means” to fight the ruling that put court power behind the integration of public institutions.

… Sparkman and Hill, incidentally, aren’t remembered as particularly conservative figures either. Time described them as “TVA liberal[s],” referring to the Tennessee Valley Authority, the symbol of ambitious federal projects in the South.

Sometimes, you have to wonder. Do these people honestly think before they talk?? Gee, if only we had Democrats more like those wonderful segregationist Democrats who fought so hard against civil rights. She speaks of politicians with “principles” while in the same breath touting racist Democrats who fought anti-lynching laws. And while Howell Heflin was mentioned, Don Surber points out that she was at least savvy enough to leave out his uncle, James Thomas Heflin. He was a famous white supremacist, a Democrat, who represented the district for over a decade and didn’t think that blacks should be allowed to vote.

Thank goodness for Wheeler that she’s a Democrat talking about Democrats. Were the parties switched, then the mainstream media would surely be going berserk about the racism of Republican staffers right now. Wheeler would be unhireable. Instead, she and the other disloyal Griffith staffers will surely find some new Democrat politician to hire them… a Democrat willing to continue to represent the proud segregationist history of the Democratic Party.

Cross-posted from Cassy’s blog. Stop by for more original commentary, or follow her on Twitter!

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