Mitch McConnell and the Confederacy, a thread...

Let's start here: The 1992 Election was known as "The Year of the Woman" because it delivered a record number of Women into the United States Senate. Among them was Carol Mosley-Braun.

Sen. Mosley-Braun was also the *ONLY* Black person in the United States Senate in 1993.

In July 1993, Senator Jesse Helms, a renowned racist, tied a 'design patent' for the Confederate Flag into a bill on national service under the auspice of honoring the "Daughters of the Confederacy."

Sen. Mosley-Braun was having none of it.

Mosley-Braun calmly debated the questionable merits of this action by the US Senate but when it came time to vote, she lost... the majority of the US Senators, including some Democrats, voted to honor the Confederate Flag & the Confederacy.

After the vote, Sen. Mosley-Braun again rose to speak, this time holding little back... here's just a taste:

After Sen. Mosley-Braun's second speech, Senator after Senator rose to commend her, many of them even reversing their votes.

Very few, on the other hand, rose to defend Senator Jesse Helms.

Among those still willing to stand with Helms in his fight for the Confederacy were noted racists Sen. Strom Thurmond and Sen. Robert Byrd... and Sen. Mitch McConnell who rose to debate a red herring: he wasn't advocating slavery, just history. (Her point: it was simply racist).

Here watch: Mitch says it "never occurred to me" that the flag might be viewed as racist and that he simply "did it out of respect for my ancestors."

Mitch McConnell's ancestors that he was honoring with his vote for the Confederate Flag were... slave owners:

Despite McConnell's dispassioned plea on behalf of the Confederacy, Sen. Carol Mosley Braun was able to flip the Senate and, upon a second vote, the Helms/McConnell effort to enshrine the Confederate Flag with the Senate's stamp of approval failed.

McConnell's commitment to defending the Confederate Flag, however, did not waver.

Three months after being defeated by Mosley Braun, the Senate's *ONLY* Black member, McConnell was honored for his brave stand on behalf of "Southern heritage."

The 1994 issue of "Confederate Veteran" magazine notes McConnell was one of the only Senators to speak against Mosley Braun's "infamous speech." He was honored on October 23rd by the Sons of the Confederacy, John Hunt Morgan Camp 1342 in Louisville. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Confederate_Veteran_Magazine/b6oVAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=mcconnell

This is the event where a smiling Mitch McConnell posed in front of a massive Confederate Flag:

About the Ceremony: John Hunt Morgan was a slave trader and general in the Confederate Army.

Many in the Sons of the Confederate Veterans believe their mission is to fight for the right to display Confederate symbols everywhere. https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/02/10/mitch-mcconnell-posed-front-large-confederate-flag/

About the venue: McConnell posed in front of the Confederate Flag at the Big Spring Country Club in Louisville, which has a history of discrimination. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=266&dat=19790814&id=oPswAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xeAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1395,4360023

Around the same time, McConnell wrote to the Daughters of the Confederacy saying his was "proud" to have voted for the Helms amendment "out of reverence and respect for my ancestors." https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_United_Daughters_of_the_Confederacy/2KwVAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22i%20was%20proud%22

Last week, @RexChapman -- now the King of Twitter, then King Rex of Kentucky High School Basketball -- wrote that in 1985 McConnell visited his school with a Confederate Flag emblazoned on his briefcase. https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1270870739130908674

After the photo of Mitch in front of the Confederate flag, Mitch began to inch away from the flag... in 2015. Mitch said "while the flag means different things to different people" maybe it was best to start to move on.

Last week Mitch said this about renaming military bases named for Confederates:

"If it's appropriate to take another look at these names, I'm OK with that. Whatever is ultimately decided I don't have a problem with."

(This is not the same as supporting a change.)

Also last week, Mitch said it was ridiculous to remove Confederate statues from the US Capitol:
“What I do think is clearly a bridge too far is this nonsense that we need to airbrush the Capitol.” https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/16/mcconnell-confederate-statues-capitol-323037

But hey... the Confederacy means different things to different people.