I happened across a commentary written by Mike Biggs and posted at Mississippi Political Pulse in which he applauded Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree and Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett for taking down the Mississippi state flag in light of current controversy:
- What Johnny DuPree and Bill Luckett did took courage, showed compassion
and exhibited true and unapologetic leadership. They are not sitting
around waiting on someone else to do nothing. They are not grandstanding
or making empty speeches. They are not holding press conferences and
rallies to applaud the real obstructors to progress in Mississippi. They
are not sitting around asking for permission or pleading with
Republicans to work with them to do what’s right and necessary.
It sounds all patriotic and stuff and I guess is supposed to give you tingles as you read it, but the fact of the matter is that they are both elected officials of the state of Mississippi. The state flag of Mississippi has not been changed. They really do not have any real authority to decide after having been in elected to offices they have held for awhile to suddenly decide to just remove the state flag. Unless Hattiesburg and Clarksdale are planning on succeeding from the state of Mississippi, then the flag should stay where it belongs until it is changed by the state they are supposed be helping to serve.
They may be offended by the state flag but don't seem to have any problem collecting a paycheck from the Mississippi city they represent.
The fact of the matter is--and especially with Dupree--was that the act DID get them some media attention and they were given sound bytes to express their discontent. Not really much courage in that,.
The right thing, however, if they really want to be shown of courage and committed to conviction, they should resign. The state of Mississippi already had a referendum on the flag once and Mississippians voted 2 to 1 to keep the flag the same. Neither Dupree or Luckett--if they have any understanding of what it means to be an elected official and not a self-designated "king" have any right to declare themselves better then the Mississippi voters. Oh, they will likely get away with it because not enough people dare to challenge them, but they already showed they don't care what voters want. That in itself is enough for them to do the right thing and resign. They can run again when they feel the state has adequately changed the flag to meet their demands. .
