Sonny Perdue correctly brought attention to the fact that Roy "I never disagree with an African-American about Anything, Ever" Barnes had failed to speak up against Billy McKinney's overt and ugly Anti-Semitic slur against fellow Democrat Denese Majette and her supporters. Perdue properly called on Barnes to denounce McKinney and his anti-Semiticism. This was smart state craft and smart politics.

However, if you read Barnes' response very carefully you will notice that Barnes only denounces McKinney's words (as if they were some sort of animate object divorced from the Anti-Semitic bigot who uttered them). Barnes then ripostes with a counter-demand that Sonny Perdue denounce the "Confederates" who are protesting against him, Barnes, and supports his demand with a tale (whether it is true or not is irrelevant) that these "Confederates" have been carrying around a Black Mannequin in a garbage can (for what purpose is not identified).

** Note that in this context we put "Confederates" in quotation marks because Barnes is using it as a nasty and derogatory slur.**

This normally presents a trap that Republicans fall for almost every time with some sort of half-hearted defense of the Confederates'" right to free speech or whatever. Witness Trent Lott's speech to the Concerned Citizens' Committee (or whoever it was). And then Teper writes some article about "How the Republicans are loathe to Denounce Bigots." Then the next two weeks are spent with the Republicans defending on how they're not bigots rather than attacking.

If Sonny Perdue's team is smart (and we have no doubt that they are) they will denounce the protest behavior of carrying a Black Mannequin in a garbage can (whether it happened or not is irrelevant) in the strongest of terms just like Barnes did with McKinney. (i.e. "There is no place in civil discourse for acts like putting a Black Mannequin in a Garbage Can for whatever purpose. That is completely and totally unacceptable and I repudiate and denounce it in the strongest terms.")

This will make the readers of the Atlanta papers happy (Sonny will never make the writers of the AJC happy) because they will see Sonny Perdue taking a strong stand against bigotry and will even make the "'Confederates" happy because only a fool among them would carry around a Black Mannequin in a garbage can (in fact, if this really did happen, and we doubt that it did, there's no way to know it wasn't a Barnes plant). The natural reaction would be "Well, that wasn't me, so Perdue's not condemning me." It will make Perdue look like Barnes' equal in denouncing racism and bigotry. And if Barnes
comes back and says "You only condemned the behavior you didn't condemn the person who did it." Perdue can say "Just like you did with McKinney. Do you want to take another stab at condemning him for his hate-filled Anti-Semitic bigotry?"

Attack...attack...attack