Governor Bob McDonnell Apologizes For Omitting Slavery In Confederacy Proclamation

CNN.com:

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell apologized Wednesday for leaving out any reference to slavery in his recent proclamation designating April as Confederate History Month, calling it a "major omission."

"The failure to include any reference to slavery was a mistake, and for that I apologize to any fellow Virginian who has been offended or disappointed," McDonnell said in a written statement.

"The abomination of slavery divided our nation, deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights, and led to the Civil War," the statement said. "Slavery was an evil, vicious and inhumane practice which degraded human beings to property, and it has left a stain on the soul of this state and nation."

McDonnell also announced Wednesday that he would add language about slavery to the proclamation.

"(I)t is important for all Virginians to understand that the institution of slavery led to this (Civil) war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights," the new language says, "and all Virginians are thankful for its permanent eradication from our borders."

McDonnell's statement noted that while Virginia was home to the Capital of the Confederacy, it was also the first nation to elect an African-American governor, L. Douglas Wilder, who McDonnell called "my friend."

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Wilder said that McDonnell's apology and his introduction of additional proclamation language was "the right thing for him to have done."

"Most people recognize that slavery was the cause of the (Civil) war," Wilder said, noting that McDonnell had called him Wednesday. "The war was not a glorious thing in our past. It was something that we were able to withstand in terms of tearing the country apart. ... Thank God that war ended with the Confederacy losing."

What Gov. McDonnell did was stupid, but if Douglas Wilder can forgive McDonell, I don't see why other Democrat pols can't. Of course, these are all the same Obama stans who had no problem accepting Harry Reid's apology after he made his idiot "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one" comment some months ago, but then if you look up "hypocrite" in the dictionary you're most likely to see a picture of a liberal Democrat.