Georgia state representative believes KKK wasn't racist, 'made a lot of people straighten up'

[struggle4progress]

6. Speaker David Ralston silent as GOP lawmaker blitzes media to defend KKK

JANUARY 29, 2016 BY BRYAN LONG

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston has remained silent as Rep. Tommy Benton bounces from one news outlet to another defending the Ku Klux Klan as “not so much a racist thing” and just a harmless vigilante group that “made a lot of people straighten up.”

While it’s up to voters in Rep. Benton’s Jefferson district whether or not his neo-Confederate views represent them, it’s squarely on Speaker Ralston’s shoulders as to whether Benton’s views are OK with the Georgia GOP and the Georgia House of Representatives.

Yesterday Speaker Ralston attempted to dodge the issue completely.

“In the heat of legislative sessions, it is not uncommon for hyperbole to enter into disagreements and discussions,” Speaker Ralston told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I always encourage members, in both chambers and in both parties, to ratchet down the language whenever possible” ...

http://bettergeorgia.org/2016/01/29/speaker-david-ralston-silent-as-gop-lawmaker-blitzes-media-to-defend-kkk/