A W for democracy*

 (*With a little push from the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference.)

Which is to say, Mississippi went to the polls like everyone else Tuesday. And wonder of wonders, they did the right thing. 

No, the state didn't go for president-elect Biden. That was a bit too much to ask.

What it did do was go for a new state flag that finally, finally, severs ties to a racist traitor nation that took up arms against the United States.

With a robust 68 percent of the vote, Mississippians kicked to the curb the old flag, with its Stars and Bars in the corner as a sort of wink to white supremacy. The new design voters approved is red, yellow and blue with a magnolia blossom circled by stars on a field of blue in the center. It's quite lovely, actually. 

And, yes, the NCAA and SEC had an indirect hand in it.

Both athletic entities told the state some months back that until Mississippi stopped running the old flag up the pole, there would be no more conference or NCAA championship events conducted on state soil. This did not get Mississippians right in the feels, but in a much more effective place: Their wallets.

No NCAA or SEC events, none of the dough that comes with them. Thus the old flag became not just an embarrassment to the decent people of Mississippi, but an economic liability.

Strange how quickly state officials got off their humps when that happened.

Or, you know, not so strange.