The Ashcroft Battle: Republicans And The Rebel Yell

GHOSTS OF THE CIVIL WAR

How did the Confederacy become the sleeper issue of 2001? In John Ashcroft's nomination for Attorney General and Gale Norton's for Interior Secretary, the Civil War has appeared like one of those weekend battle re-enactments with folks in period costume. Ashcroft is under fire for giving an interview to a pro-Confederate magazine, Southern Partisan, in which he praised icons like Jefferson Davis while lauding the publication for helping "set the record straight." Two columnists for the magazine are members of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a self-styled "white-rights" group based in St. Louis, Mo., which is part of the coalition supporting...

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