Scott here...
It's not exactly surprising that Haley Barbour would refuse to issue a posthumous pardon to unjustly convicted civil rights pioneer Clyde Kennard. (And I should say that I happen to share a general principled opposition to pardons in many cases; whatever the question being raised about a given aspect of the legal system, "making it more arbitrary and capricious" is the wrong answer. When someone is both absolutely innocent of the crime and his conviction was an important symbol of racist authoritarianism, however, these objections obviously don't apply.) Consider his base. It's obviously not reasonable to expect Haley, a man willing to seek the support of the Council of Fascist Conservative Citizens, to repudiate that part of Mississippi's heritage, now is it? (Current headline at the CoCC website: "Multiracial youth more prone to violence say orthopsychiatrists.")
But, of course, if people like Trent "We wouldn't have had all these problems if Strom Thurmond had been able to preserve apartheid!" Lott and Jeff "white civil rights lawyers are race traitors" Sessions can be proud Republican representatives in the United States Senate, why should Barbour have to cross his racist allies either?
[Cross-posted to L, G &M.]
