Miss. governor defends Confederate decree

NEW ORLEANS — The dust-up over Virginia’s proclamation for Confederate History Month seems like a lot of noise over something that “doesn’t amount to diddly,’’ Haley Barbour, Mississippi’s governor, said in an interview aired yesterday.

Bob McDonnell, Virginia’s Republican governor, apologized for leaving out of his proclamation any reference to slavery. He added language to the decree calling slavery evil and inhumane after being criticized for reviving what many Virginians believe is an insensitive commemoration.

Barbour, a Republican, said he does not believe the proclamation was a mistake. “To me, it’s a sort of feeling that it’s a nit, that it is not significant,’’ Barbour said in the interview aired on CNN’s “State of the Union.’’