McDonnell's Confederate History Month Proclamation - Is He Tone Defeaf?

I will admit that I am a Civil War buff and have nothing against recognizing Virginia's history. Indeed, on my mother's side of the family from New Orleans, I have my own Confederate ancestors, one of whom was in a Union prison camp. But only a month after he and Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli generated worldwide negative press for Virginia on the state's support of discrimination against its LGBT citizens, was it a good idea to potentially give the appearance that the state is racist and anti-black too? Truthfully, I'm not sure what Bob McDonnell was thinking other than seeking to pander to the far right elements in the shrinking Republican Party of Virginia base who long for the days when, as one former classmate described the mindset, "men were men, women knew their place, and as for blacks, every white man could own one." No, it wasn't George Allen, although I can imagine him saying that too and, unlike this other classmate, it would not be a joke. Virginia has many pressing problems and stirring up more racial unrest and images of state supported discrimination does nothing to address them. Here are highlights from the Washington Post:
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Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday but that political observers said would strengthen his position with his conservative base.
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The two previous Democratic governors had refused to issue the mostly symbolic proclamation honoring the soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War. McDonnell (R) revived a practice started by Republican governor George Allen in 1997. McDonnell left out anti-slavery language that Allen's successor, James S. Gilmore III (R), had included in his proclamation.
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McDonnell said Tuesday that the move was designed to promote tourism in the state, which next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the war. McDonnell said he did not include a reference to slavery because "there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states.
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The proclamation was condemned by the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and the NAACP. Former governor L. Douglas Wilder called it "mind-boggling to say the least" that McDonnell did not reference slavery or Virginia's struggle with civil rights in his proclamation.
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The seven-paragraph declaration calls for Virginians to "understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War."
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The Virginia NAACP and the state's Legislative Black Caucus called the proclamation an insult to a large segment of the state's population, particularly because it never acknowledges slavery.

"Governor McDonnell's proclamation was offensive and offered a disturbing revision of the Civil War and the brutal era that followed," said Del. Kenneth Cooper Alexander (D-Norfolk), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. "Virginia has worked hard to move beyond the very things for which Governor McDonnell seems nostalgic."