Nikki and the S word.

It's easy to come up with the answers to certain historical questions in life. Who was the first president of the United States? What is the name of the country that attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor? What was the date of the terrorist attack on the United States orchestrated by Osama bin Laden?  If you guessed George Washington, Japan, and September 11, 2001, move to the head of the class. (If you guessed John Hanson for the first question you're just a history snob, and you probably have better things to do than read this post.)  And of course there is this gimmie: What was the cause of the Civil War between the states? These would all be easy questions for any typical school aged child in the United States. If you are running for president of the United States, and you are the former governor of a Southern state and high ranking government official, you shouldn't have to even think about it. But that's what Nikki Haley did when she  attempted to answer this question asked by a gentleman she considered a "democrat" plant.  

Nikki went all pretzel with her attempt to answer the question because she did not want to offend republican voters. Particularly those MAGA loyalist who she is still trying to court. In the world of half of republican voters, and most MAGA loyalists, the Civil War was more about good Americans just wanting to hold on to their property without the government telling them what to do, than it was about enslaving and cruelly treating  fellow human beings. This part of American history has been completely whitewashed by the American right, and Nikki Haley knows this. So rather than show some courage and speak the truth about the real reason for the Civil War (or as they call it in the South: 'The War of Northern Aggression') Nikki chose to dodge and obfuscate. It was painful to watch this Indian American daughter of immigrants, as she tried not to offend republican voters, explaining away the Civil War as some government overreach gone bad. 

Nikki Haley might or might not win the republican nomination to be president. Right now it's not looking good for her, but things could change. The thing is, she was gaining momentum. She did it by being a typical double-speaking politician who tried to be all things to all people. Shifting positions and giving nuanced takes to not get locked into a box that she couldn't talk her way out of later on. 

It's been working for her so far, and even her slavery misstep might not hurt her in the long run. I just wonder how she lives with herself.   

"The first thing I should have said was slavery," Haley said on "Cavuto Live" Saturday. "I completely agree with that. When you grow up in the South, slavery is a given. Like when you think of the Civil War, you know it was about slavery. That's never been in question."

Sure Nikki. Until the next time you're in front of a right-wing crowd.  If only you had the moral clarity to speak the truth. That would have been so refreshing.