South Carolina lawmaker sends Confederate flag Christmas cards to fellow Republicans

Nothing says “holiday spirit” like racist iconography.

Republican South Carolina State Rep. Chris Corley, known for his support of the Confederate Flag during this year’s decision to remove it from the statehouse, sent Christmas cards with the good old rebel banner on them to Republican colleagues. According to TPM:

A South Carolina lawmaker sent out a Christmas card featuring a photo of the Confederate flag that was removed this year from the Statehouse to his Republican colleagues, suggesting they use the holiday to "ask for forgiveness of all your sins such as betrayal."

Rep. Chris Corley said the card was a political statement to his fellow Republicans meant as a joke in his smart-aleck style. Democrats and others on his Christmas card list will get one with a picture of his children.

"If somebody's feelings are legitimately hurt about that Christmas card, I think that might speak more to their conscience than the content of the card," the Republican from Graniteville said.

[...]

Corley's holiday card starts with: "May your Christmas be filled with memories of a happier time when South Carolina's leaders possessed morals, convictions and the principles to stand for what is right."

It ends with: "May you have a blessed and happy Christmas, and may you take this joyous time as an opportunity to ask for forgiveness of all your sins such as betrayal."

While it may be a joke, it’s certainly no small amount of sour grapes from Corley, whose coalition to keep the flag lost out to bipartisan support to remove it in the wake of Dylann Roof’s attacks on Emanuel AME Church, which left nine people dead. Corley’s colleagues should tell him what they seem to have realized already: It’s time to let it go.