Didn’t See That One Coming.
From the Austin American-Statesman:
The state Department of Motor Vehicles’ governing board has just voted down a proposal for a specialty license plate displaying the Confederate battle flag.
The vote was unanimous.
I could see this vote going either way, but figured it would be close regardless. (It was a 4-4 tie last time around.) Previously I mentioned that one of my county elected officials, Cheryl Johnson, was on the board and had previously voted in favor of the measure, citing the inevitability of a lawsuit if it were not approved. She apparently did not attend the meeting today and so did not vote on the measure.
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Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog 
Hi Andy. Thanks for sharing the good news. I think you can thank Governor Perry for the vote. If he wasn’t running for President and been told by his advisers he needed to tone down a bit the extremist politics that have made him such a success in Texas, the vote might easily have gone the other way. The Governing Board of the Texas DMV is no doubt stacked with his appointees who dutifully voted the way they believed Rick Perry wanted them to. Now we will see if his stacked Texas judiciary does the same thing to the lawsuit you say is coming.
Perry has a long record (10+) years of saying one thing when it comes to Confederate “heritage” issues, then doing another. (Or rather, not doing anything at all.) He’s been governor for almost 11 years now, but has not restored those plaques to the Texas Supreme Court that he supported leaving in place when he was Lite Guv, and not the one to make the actual decision. When Perry expressed his not-exactly-vehement displeasure with the proposed plates recently, the surprising thing to me is that he actually took a public position on it. I really did expect him to sidestep it all together. It’s a long tradition here.
From what I hear, Herman Cain is going to be pressed to take a position on the Confederate Battle Flag on the capitol grounds in South Carolina, before that state’s primary on January 21. That will be interesting to watch.
Guess it’s time to take this to court where the plate will be approved.
I have no doubt that’s where this is headed next.
Do they allow a plate for Daughters of the Confederacy, Union Vets, Mexican War, War of 1812, WWI or WWII vets? If those are not allowed, then I see no reason to specially favor the SCV. Frankly I think all states that do these favors for their favored favorites; diminished the size and number of ID letters and numbers for which car license plates were originally designed for. For active volunteer fireman, National Guard, or state legislature VIP parking/ticket immunity, etc. The reservation as a first letter F=fireman, G=guard, I=immune/North Carolina legislator (or RHIP=Rank Hath It’s Privileges), should suffice.
There are scads of them, for all sorts of groups and schools and causes. Most do not cause any controversy at all. This likely would not either, if it were not focused on promoting the SCV (and thus the logo, with its CBF), as opposed to any number of other emblems or graphics that might be used to commemorate the conflict or veterans from it.