Putting Aside “slavery”Nikki Haley’s Civil War Answer was even more Mortifying.

Sometimes, at family events, I am grateful when someone behaves horribly. That takes the focus off of me and gives everybody something else to talk about.

If Uncle Winthrop (not his real name. His real name is “Rodney”) gets drunk and starts showing everyone his denture collection, that deflects people from their usual conversations about my wardrobe, my table manners, my love of the Didgeridoo, and who exactly am I related to anyway?

I feel like this is the story of the Republican presidential primary so far, minus the didgeridoo. Given that the front-runner spends his days as a jukebox for Hitler’s greatest hits and sending out Christmas “rot-in-hell” messages, it is very difficult for any other candidate to get noticed for anything, least of all committing a gaffe. Trump has made committing a gaffe all-but impossible and given his primary opponents leave to say virtually anything without getting in trouble for it.

The exception that proves the rule occured this week when former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was asked what caused the American Civil War. Worried about offending a constituency that has…how shall I say it…a slightly more ambivalent view about the outcome of that war, Haley gave a convoluted answer which studiously avoided mentioning the…