LOL...Hilarious!!! My 2nd FIRST!!

nickpoppagorgiofromyuma @ 2:

LOL...Hilarious!!! My 2nd FIRST!!

Or your first second ;)

The Confederate rag is anti-America by definition. Those who fought under the Confederate rag found against America. The Confederate rag represents a defeated nation.

seems like a lot of people still have issues with what happened some 140+ years ago. (black and white). Goes to show how much pain it caused.

'liberty and justice for all'

That is an interesting thought.

Of course, that was not the Confederacy, was it?

Terrific!! I've never seen a better smackdown of those idiots who think the confederate battle flag is "heritage." I'm gonna have fun with that "Octoberfest" line in the future.

Bluestocking @ 11:

Actually, I think Colbert makes a good point...one which I raised myself on a message board on another site a while back. I think that ultimately, if someone living in the South wants to fly the Confederate Flag, it begs the question...does that person consider him/herself part of this country or not? Strictly speaking, that flag doesn't just represent a different country...it represents a group of people who were once part of this country but deliberately chose to reject the United States of America which was then and is today symbolized by the Stars And Stripes. The Confederate Flag is a flag of deliberate rejection, of intentional separation and disassociation. Like the Nazi Flag or the flag of the former Soviet Union, the Confederate Flag represents a specific nation (albeit now extinct) united under a specific ideology -- and as a result, the symbolism of the flag cannot be separated from that ideology any more than the swastika can, no matter how convenient some people might find it to believe otherwise. What would many of the people who see nothing wrong with flying the Confederate Flag, I wonder, feel or think if they saw someone carrying or flying the flag of the former Soviet Union? Would they assume that this person is a Communist who shares the ideology of the nation which that flag once used to represent? Quite likely -- and that assumption would not be unjustified. So logically, why should it be any different with regard to the Confederate Flag??

Don't forget, reich-wingers also have a hissy fit when someone dares fly a Mexican flag but they are completely silent about the Confederate rag.

What is this, 1960?

No one flies the confederate flags anymore,

Ceptin these guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkQXjPJchas

ysbaddaden @ 16:

What is this, 1960?

No one flies the confederate flags anymore,

Come take a trip to Houston. I was at Crystal Beach a few weekends ago and there were Confederate rags all over the place.

This seems like a strange topic for Colbert to bring up, especially now.

ysbaddaden @ 16:

What is this, 1960?

No one flies the confederate flags anymore,

Ceptin these guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkQXjPJchas

Dude, I live in Idaho and I see it once in a while, and we're as north as you can get in the lower 48.
But there are plenty of racists here, and that's exactly what it represents-racism.

Dr. (terrorist fist jab) Matt @ 18:

ysbaddaden @ 16:

What is this, 1960?

No one flies the confederate flags anymore,

Come take a trip to Houston. I was at Crystal Beach a few weekends ago and there were Confederate rags all over the place.</blockquo
everybody wants to belong to something..equates for some tough guy red neck which is in voque right now part of that bitter thing hang on to your guns and religion...wedge issue to avoid real issues

I had relatives who fought for the south in the civil war. At the time I suppose they believed in what they fought for. Now these many many years removed we know it was the most awful thing to ever happen in our country. Our country could not have been more bitterly divided.

Today we are on the cusp of a bi-racial man, a black man, perhaps uniting our country. I would rather concentrate on that than dwell too long on our ugly past.

I have a sweatshirt that says, "Learn from the past and then get the hell out of there."

There is a lumber company outside between Concord and Asheboro, NC that actually flies this rag on a flag pole.

No NC flag. No US flag. Just this POS Confederate rag.

If it were really about heritage they would fly the actual CSA flag and not this battle flag. But then again, that heritage they celebrate was a losing heritage of hate, racism, and slavery. Woo-hoo... some heritage to celebrate.

Jay @ 3:

This was one of my favorite "the Words" ever. I hate the confederate flag and what it represents. Always have.

This flag is another symbol that I no longer ignore. I used to just look the other way when I saw it, just like I would delete wingnut emails without responding to them.

I don't anymore.

When I see that flag on a shirt, (and I'm reasonably sure the owner won't pull a gun on me) I ask, why would you want to display such a racist and treasonous symbol on your [insert place here].

If they suggest it's a symbol of "culture" or what have you, I point out that they don't know history. And if they try to argue that one, I'm quite the history buff. I like taking wackos on on that one.

(Did you know that the Constitution of the Confederacy is almost identical to the US Constitution? They were both written by Virginians after all. The two main differences is that the Confed Cons codifies slavery for all time, and it STRENGTHENS the power of the Federal Government over the individual states. So the war could not have been over "states rights". You can google it and read it for yourself.)

Mark @ 30:

Jay @ 3:

(Did you know that the Constitution of the Confederacy is almost identical to the US Constitution? They were both written by Virginians after all. The two main differences is that the Confed Cons codifies slavery for all time, and it STRENGTHENS the power of the Federal Government over the individual states. So the war could not have been over "states rights". You can google it and read it for yourself.)

I did know that! it still amazes me when people say the southern states broke away because of the tyranny of the federal government, but who don't know that Jeff Davis understood he'd need what? a strong central government if he was going to hold the confederacy together. Seems "states' rights" was a empty a bumper sticker slogan back then as it is now.

Mark @ 30:

Jay @ 3:

This was one of my favorite "the Words" ever. I hate the confederate flag and what it represents. Always have.

This flag is another symbol that I no longer ignore. I used to just look the other way when I saw it, just like I would delete wingnut emails without responding to them.

I don't anymore.

When I see that flag on a shirt, (and I'm reasonably sure the owner won't pull a gun on me) I ask, why would you want to display such a racist and treasonous symbol on your [insert place here].

If they suggest it's a symbol of "culture" or what have you, I point out that they don't know history. And if they try to argue that one, I'm quite the history buff. I like taking wackos on on that one.

(Did you know that the Constitution of the Confederacy is almost identical to the US Constitution? They were both written by Virginians after all. The two main differences is that the Confed Cons codifies slavery for all time, and it STRENGTHENS the power of the Federal Government over the individual states. So the war could not have been over "states rights". You can google it and read it for yourself.)

Sir, I salute you. I had a similar epiphany in my life back at the beginning of the Iraq war. I live in a red state and am constantly surrounded by ignorance and bigotry. I decided one day to no longer look the other way. I've changed a few minds, but mostly, people just watch what they say because they don't want to get into an argument they know they're on the wrong side of. I try not to come off as preachy, but I just got sick of the bullshit and decided not to take it anymore. I'm hoping most democrats have similar feelings this election season.

I think that I might be the only one who caught his brilliance last night. Didn't anyone notice that he merged his confederate references into the Pledge of Allegiance, sans "under G-d"?

Colbert intentionally took a shot at all the alleged religious right who insist upon a loyalty oath both to country and to G-d, and based his version upon the wording of the Pledge of Allegiance that had existed prior to the red scare revisions arising in the 1950s.

Brilliant I tell you, sheer brilliance!

Is it a good or bad thing to say, "All s**t's breaking loose," to a constipated man?

Bluestocking @ 11:

Actually, I think Colbert makes a good point...one which I raised myself on a message board on another site a while back. I think that ultimately, if someone living in the South wants to fly the Confederate Flag, it begs the question...does that person consider him/herself part of this country or not? Strictly speaking, that flag doesn't just represent a different country...it represents a group of people who were once part of this country but deliberately chose to reject the United States of America which was then and is today symbolized by the Stars And Stripes. The Confederate Flag is a flag of deliberate rejection, of intentional separation and disassociation. Like the Nazi Flag or the flag of the former Soviet Union, the Confederate Flag represents a specific nation (albeit now extinct) united under a specific ideology -- and as a result, the symbolism of the flag cannot be separated from that ideology any more than the swastika can, no matter how convenient some people might find it to believe otherwise. What would many of the people who see nothing wrong with flying the Confederate Flag, I wonder, feel or think if they saw someone carrying or flying the flag of the former Soviet Union? Would they assume that this person is a Communist who shares the ideology of the nation which that flag once used to represent? Quite likely -- and that assumption would not be unjustified. So logically, why should it be any different with regard to the Confederate Flag??

Very nicely written!

I've always wondered why more of these neoconfederate types don't simply fly the first confederate flag instead (the stars and bars everyone knows are the second). Most people (even a lot of southerners) wouldn't recognize it. That way, they could fly their previous flag w/o offending many people.

Oh, wait, that would involve intelligence. Nevermind.

Blue Lensman @ 41:

Sue @ 39:

pissed off patricia @ 20:

This seems like a strange topic for Colbert to bring up, especially now.

Not really. The Sons of Confederate Veterans (who must be REALLY old by now) in Florida put up a huge (30-foot-tall, 50-foot-wide) confederate flag--C&L has the link to the story in this blog post above.

pissed off patricia @ 20:

This seems like a strange topic for Colbert to bring up, especially now.

And in the run up to this election, racism has to be clearly and loudly identified each and every time it raises its ugly head.

this is like a bee hive i avoid/ignore it.. the extreme right wants us give this issue attention so it rallies the haters...it empowers them

taller ghost walt @ 28:

There is a lumber company outside between Concord and Asheboro, NC that actually flies this rag on a flag pole.

No NC flag. No US flag. Just this POS Confederate rag.

If it were really about heritage they would fly the actual CSA flag and not this battle flag. But then again, that heritage they celebrate was a losing heritage of hate, racism, and slavery. Woo-hoo... some heritage to celebrate.

84 Lumber?

Dr. (terrorist fist jab) Matt @ 18:

ysbaddaden @ 16:

What is this, 1960?

No one flies the confederate flags anymore,

Come take a trip to Houston. I was at Crystal Beach a few weekends ago and there were Confederate rags all over the place.

I was Port Aransas last weekend. Idjits were driving their pickups with the stars n bars and the confederate rag on On the Beach Dr. They may not know the history of it (because it takes reading skills or parents with education) but they know what it really stands for.

lol @ 25:

Matt in Texas @ 21:

It's a shame what happened to your ancestors, but fighting on the same side as slavery - and flying their flag - still isn't right. Maybe fly a tribal flag.

They saw a chance to get revenge for being forced on a death march.

And they rode under the stars and bars.

Oh, I can understand their motivation, but that still doesn't make it right.

FYI to all: the flag most neoconfederates fly is the confederate battle flag, not the Stars and Bars, which had wide horizontal stripes and a field of stars (hence the name.) In the smoke and haze of battle, the U.S. and confederate flags were easily confused, so the cons designed a new flag for the field. The confederate battle flag was patterned after the confederate naval jack, only it was more square than the naval jack.

I think it would be much better if most of these nuts would fly the National Flag of the Confederacy. The Battle flag most often shown was not the only battle flag of the Confederate States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America

Since I live in Texas, let's have some Texas history and hoist a huge Mexico national flag at the intersection of I-45 and the beltway.

Sue @ 27:

lol @ 19:

And what would y'all think of my honoring my ancestors who joined the CSA so they could fight the same military that forced them on the trail of tears?

Why would it honor those ancestors to fly the confederate loser flag? wouldn't it be more appropriate to honor their tribal heritage outright than to rely on white people's symbols? And, seriously, the people who forced American Indians onto the Trail of Tears were in the south. It was the USG who instituted it, but it was the folks here in the south who wanted the Indians out of the way.

I seem to remember a time when people called all Native flags loser flags.

I attend UT where we had students seriously defending the right of the confederacy to secede and acting all dumbfounded about the fact that slavery had anything to do with it.

lol @ 55:

Matt in Texas @ 48:

lol @ 25:

Matt in Texas @ 21:

They saw a chance to get revenge for being forced on a death march.

And they rode under the stars and bars.

Oh, I can understand their motivation, but that still doesn't make it right.

FYI to all: the flag most neoconfederates fly is the confederate battle flag, not the Stars and Bars, which had wide horizontal stripes and a field of stars (hence the name.) In the smoke and haze of battle, the U.S. and confederate flags were easily confused, so the cons designed a new flag for the field. The confederate battle flag was patterned after the confederate naval jack, only it was more square than the naval jack.

Bah, I call any Confederate flag with stars and stripes on it the stars and bars.

That just makes you wrong. Again.

Sue @ 59:

lol @ 54:

Sue @ 27:

lol @ 19:

Why would it honor those ancestors to fly the confederate loser flag? wouldn't it be more appropriate to honor their tribal heritage outright than to rely on white people's symbols? And, seriously, the people who forced American Indians onto the Trail of Tears were in the south. It was the USG who instituted it, but it was the folks here in the south who wanted the Indians out of the way.

I seem to remember a time when people called all Native flags loser flags.

Really, when was that time? 'cause, uh, historically, most tribes didn't have flags.

You do know that the confederacy lost, right? I believe it made all the papers.

you honestly believe everyone can read

Back when I was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia (named after Confederate General, by the way) there was an absolutely forbidden and quite common fake ribbon making the rounds. Designed to be worn with the rest of your fruit salad, it was red with two vertical blue bars, with white stars in the bars. The joke was it was given for service in the Army of Occupation (Confederacy). I know a few guys who were very close to getting out who wore it for official photos.

If I want to express the spirit of rebellion, I'll fly the Gadsen Flag.

I'm reading 'The Bloody Shirt' by Budiansky, describing the collapse of the attempt to bring civilization to the South after the Civil War. Boy, we could have learned the lesson we're getting in Iraq from that disaster from 1865 to 1875. If you're not willing to commit heavy troops for a generation, you're not going to change people who don't want to change.

Based on this book, I want to tear down, stomp on, and burn, every American Swastika I see, and accuse every owner of being a traitor. based on the lovely string of Reaganazis they continue to stick us with, from Nixon to Junior, Delay to Lott, I'm fine with letting them secede, and then petition the United States for the foreign aid they'll beg for, standing in line with Mexico, Ethiopia, and the rest of the third world nations of the world.

Sue @ 58:

lol @ 55:

Matt in Texas @ 48:

lol @ 25:

Oh, I can understand their motivation, but that still doesn't make it right.

FYI to all: the flag most neoconfederates fly is the confederate battle flag, not the Stars and Bars, which had wide horizontal stripes and a field of stars (hence the name.) In the smoke and haze of battle, the U.S. and confederate flags were easily confused, so the cons designed a new flag for the field. The confederate battle flag was patterned after the confederate naval jack, only it was more square than the naval jack.

Bah, I call any Confederate flag with stars and stripes on it the stars and bars.

That just makes you wrong. Again.

No it makes me an independent thinker comrad.

karl @ 60:

Sue @ 59:

lol @ 54:

Sue @ 27:

I seem to remember a time when people called all Native flags loser flags.

Really, when was that time? 'cause, uh, historically, most tribes didn't have flags.

You do know that the confederacy lost, right? I believe it made all the papers.

you honestly believe everyone can read

Oh Iz donts newsz hew to eed i be a suternar

Sue @ 69:

lol @ 66:

Sue @ 58:

lol @ 55:

That just makes you wrong. Again.

No it makes me an independent thinker comrad.

Wrong again! It's not "independent thinking" to not know or understand facts, definitions, or histories. That's called "ignorant thinking." Yes, both start with the letter "i," so that might have been what confused you.

You mean I don't agree with you and now your going to throw a fit over it.

fastfeat @ 63:

Most people who fly the Confederate flag are really just too "politically correct" or pussy to fly a Nazi flag.

They are cool looking flags though. Why do all the evil, fucked up assholes of history get the really cool designers? It's not fair I tells ya!

lol @ 70:

Sue @ 69:

lol @ 66:

Sue @ 58:

No it makes me an independent thinker comrad.

Wrong again! It's not "independent thinking" to not know or understand facts, definitions, or histories. That's called "ignorant thinking." Yes, both start with the letter "i," so that might have been what confused you.

You mean I don't agree with you and now your going to throw a fit over it.

No fit thrown by me, unless you count fits of laughter.

p.s., I believe you meant "you're" which is the contraction of "you" and "are"

lol @ 73:

Sue @ 71:

lol @ 67:

Sue @ 59:

lol your ignorance is funny America's Natives have had flown flags since at least the 1800's.

Nope, wrong again. Wow, you do that a lot! The Choctaw had the first flag in the 1860s but *most* tribes did not have flags until the twentieth century. Today most tribes have flags, but historically? not so much.

Did I say all of them?

No.

Keep swinging kid your sure to hit one sooner of later.

And I didn't say "none" of them, I said "most."

And again, you want to use "you're" for the "you are" contraction. Geesh.

I believe I have hit them all.

Sue @ 76:

lol @ 73:

Sue @ 71:

lol @ 67:

Nope, wrong again. Wow, you do that a lot! The Choctaw had the first flag in the 1860s but *most* tribes did not have flags until the twentieth century. Today most tribes have flags, but historically? not so much.

Did I say all of them?

No.

Keep swinging kid your sure to hit one sooner of later.

And I didn't say "none" of them, I said "most."

And again, you want to use "you're" for the "you are" contraction. Geesh.

I believe I have hit them all.

If it wasn't an all or nothing claim then what was your problem with my pointing out that some tribes have had flags since the 1800's?

I'm a Southerner who does not and has never displayed the Confederate flag. What irks me though is how many jerk-offs from north of the Mason-Dixon line feel that they constantly have to remind you that if you're a Southerner, then they are superior to you in so many ways, that you're a "loser", you're a racist, a neo-nazi, etc...

What a pile of crap. Guess what, you're not superior because you're from Noo Yawk instead of some little town in Georgia. You may think you are, but you're not. And while some Southerners are too ignorant to find a better way to display their Southern pride, not all that do are racist redneck losers. I know that's a conveinent thing to think for you Yankees, but that's lazy thinking, and shame on you. What is your goal here, to convince Southerners that they are all losers from a inferior culture? If it is, just be honest and say so, and then do something about it instead of this ball-less ranting against the South on a message board. Maybe y'all need to re-conquer us down here in the South like you're doing in Iraq....show us who'se da boss!

Jay @ 3:

This was one of my favorite "the Words" ever. I hate the confederate flag and what it represents. Always have.

Really?

You hate it?

What exactly do you think it represents?

Tell me in your own media brainwashed faux abolitionist way just exactly what the "Stars and Bars" represents to you.

But, before you do, find out just exactly WHICH flag it is you truly hate. Is it the one in the photo? The one that was NEVER the national flag of the Confederacy? The one that was simply a battle flag? How about a naval jack? Do you hate that one and all it stood for too?

Do you hate the "Rebel" flag because it represented a nation that chose to separate from its former government because of very real socio-economic reasons (self determination in levying international tariffs, interstate trade and tariffs, management of the port of New Orleans and control of the Mississippi River--the gateway to the new West--) or do you hate it because of a bogus "cause" trumped up by Northern corporate robber barons and their ignorant puppets, the abolitionists?

Do a little research and you will find that the moguls in Philly, New York and Boston were having shit-fits over the money they were losing hand over fist to the Southern ports because of the lower tariffs charged to foreign traders, and that the foreign traders were flocking to New Orleans in particular, because their goods would be sold and immediately shipped up river and to the waiting hordes in the new Western Territories. Without having to sail up the East coast in lousy weather to more expensive ports, the European traders could unload goods and take on much valued cotton and tobacco and other goods and skedaddle straight back home on the next good trade wind.

Look in your history books and see who it was that fired up the abolitionists and funded their cause. Look up who funded, armed, and protected the criminal, John Brown.

Read the Emancipation proclamation and really see that it did nothing to free ANYONE ANYWHERE. It supposedly freed people held in servitude in the "states in rebellion." Now, how can a law passed in Washington be expected to be obeyed in a foreign nation? As for the rest of that proclamation, it very specifically did NOT free any people held in bondage in any state NOT in rebellion, so, nice Union states like Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Missouri and so on, were unaffected by that useless piece of paper. Those states had slaves until 1866, and the passage of the 14th amendment.

Please, realize this: The Confederate flag was a proud symbol of a once independent nation of the world. Because of the action of later people who perverted that symbol, you have a prejudice against it. Many decent southerners fought and died under that flag, many who were not racists, many who, like Robert E. Lee, owned no slaves and believed slavery to be a crime against man and God believed in that flag and the nation it represented.

I think most people who say they "hate" that flag really hate the way it was perverted by monsters like the Klan, (who also proudly march beneath the Swastika AND the Stars and Stripes!!) and in many ways, the modern media. One thing we should never do is judge history by modern standards. Do we hold medieval Europe up to our standards? Do we have the right to hold Rome or the ancient Greeks up to 21st century morals and attitudes? Why should we hold our standards up against 1860's Richmond OR Washington? That was a different time, mindset, and system of belief. Know this: If anything can be learned by studying the roots and causes of the American Civil War, it is the simple fact that the war was caused by the same thing that caused every war since then, and most of the ones before---money. Plain and simple. The Dick Cheneys and Haliburtons of the 1860's saw a way to make a mint off of a war and its aftermath, and did so, the victims be damned. This hatred against all things "Southern" that so many liberals attest to today only feeds the Conservative backlash in those states. Better we ALL let those opinions and ways die the death they should have died long ago.

lol @ 79:

lol you fell for it.

Yes, I'm sure you're not the "independent" thinker you've been pretending to be.

Sue @ 84:

lol @ 79:

lol you fell for it.

Yes, I'm sure you're not the "independent" thinker you've been pretending to be.

pretending? hon I am.

samdog @ 82:

Jay @ 3:

This was one of my favorite "the Words" ever. I hate the confederate flag and what it represents. Always have.

Really?

You hate it?

What exactly do you think it represents?

Tell me in your own media brainwashed faux abolitionist way just exactly what the "Stars and Bars" represents to you.

But, before you do, find out just exactly WHICH flag it is you truly hate. Is it the one in the photo? The one that was NEVER the national flag of the Confederacy? The one that was simply a battle flag? How about a naval jack? Do you hate that one and all it stood for too?

Do you hate the "Rebel" flag because it represented a nation that chose to separate from its former government because of very real socio-economic reasons (self determination in levying international tariffs, interstate trade and tariffs, management of the port of New Orleans and control of the Mississippi River--the gateway to the new West--) or do you hate it because of a bogus "cause" trumped up by Northern corporate robber barons and their ignorant puppets, the abolitionists?

Do a little research and you will find that the moguls in Philly, New York and Boston were having shit-fits over the money they were losing hand over fist to the Southern ports because of the lower tariffs charged to foreign traders, and that the foreign traders were flocking to New Orleans in particular, because their goods would be sold and immediately shipped up river and to the waiting hordes in the new Western Territories. Without having to sail up the East coast in lousy weather to more expensive ports, the European traders could unload goods and take on much valued cotton and tobacco and other goods and skedaddle straight back home on the next good trade wind.

Look in your history books and see who it was that fired up the abolitionists and funded their cause. Look up who funded, armed, and protected the criminal, John Brown.

Read the Emancipation proclamation and really see that it did nothing to free ANYONE ANYWHERE. It supposedly freed people held in servitude in the "states in rebellion." Now, how can a law passed in Washington be expected to be obeyed in a foreign nation? As for the rest of that proclamation, it very specifically did NOT free any people held in bondage in any state NOT in rebellion, so, nice Union states like Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Missouri and so on, were unaffected by that useless piece of paper. Those states had slaves until 1866, and the passage of the 14th amendment.

Please, realize this: The Confederate flag was a proud symbol of a once independent nation of the world. Because of the action of later people who perverted that symbol, you have a prejudice against it. Many decent southerners fought and died under that flag, many who were not racists, many who, like Robert E. Lee, owned no slaves and believed slavery to be a crime against man and God believed in that flag and the nation it represented.

I think most people who say they "hate" that flag really hate the way it was perverted by monsters like the Klan, (who also proudly march beneath the Swastika AND the Stars and Stripes!!) and in many ways, the modern media. One thing we should never do is judge history by modern standards. Do we hold medieval Europe up to our standards? Do we have the right to hold Rome or the ancient Greeks up to 21st century morals and attitudes? Why should we hold our standards up against 1860's Richmond OR Washington? That was a different time, mindset, and system of belief. Know this: If anything can be learned by studying the roots and causes of the American Civil War, it is the simple fact that the war was caused by the same thing that caused every war since then, and most of the ones before---money. Plain and simple. The Dick Cheneys and Haliburtons of the 1860's saw a way to make a mint off of a war and its aftermath, and did so, the victims be damned. This hatred against all things "Southern" that so many liberals attest to today only feeds the Conservative backlash in those states. Better we ALL let those opinions and ways die the death they should have died long ago.

Well put. Thank you. I hope somebody listens, but they probably won't, and the Southern backlash against liberalism will continue.

~A Obama supportin', sweet-tea drinkin', grits-eatin Southern Liberal

samdog @ 82:

Excellent post. There is no shortage of these sanctimonious crusaders for 'truth and justice' who co-opt a false sense of virtue any way they can. Every bit the supremacist at heart as a Klansman, except they target thought instead of melanin.

Good post 11, reminds me of seeing people wearing sickle and hammers at anti-war protests here in the US. Theres also always some communist groups (Communist Party of Iran specifically) from other countries and other socialist groups handing out flyers, and I wonder if the kids eating this stuff up realize that those groups want to ultimately establish a new government entirely? Does wearing a sickle and hammer not mean you support reforming the government to the ideals of Marx? I'm sure they think it just looks cool or something, but I hate to see the left in the US get equated with that. Supporting workers is not an idea confined to Marx and communists, after all.

peaceful easy feeling @ 90:

samdog @ 82:

Excellent post. There is no shortage of these sanctimonious crusaders for 'truth and justice' who co-opt a false sense of virtue any way they can. Every bit the supremacist at heart as a Klansman, except they target thought instead of melanin.

I'm sorry, but disliking someone's viewpoint is not at all the same thing as disliking their skin color. There's nothing wrong with targeting racist thought and ideology with contrary views.

You can try to dress up southern history all you want to re-cast the confederate flag as some noble symbol, but what it stands for today is racism and segregation. You can rail against that and say the KKK co-opted it, but that won't change the fact that the segregationists took it up as a symbol of opposition to civil rights. The swastika used to have a different symbolic meaning associated with it, then the Nazi's used it, and it is forever associated with them and the Holocaust no matter how hard anyone spins.

{ Deleted, Site Monitor}

Bamboo @ 97:

Most of these posts show a passionate intensity over nothing. Lighten up.
There are more important things to be dealing with these days, like getting Obama elected.

Agreed. It'd be easier to deal with getting Obama elected in the South, however, if certain loudmouth Yankees didn't insist that every Southerner first feel bad about themselves and own up to their supposed cultural inferiority. Fix your own house first before you start talking jack about someone else's, OK? Damn. Learn a lesson or two from history, guys. Nixon was a friggin' genius at exploiting this very sentiment to bring the South to the GOP. Now, we have so-called liberals here who are insuring, through their own prejudice and asinine beliefs about Southerners, that the South stay there. How exactly is this helping us? Learn to shut your mouth once in a while, OK? Damn.

Patricio @ 95:

StevenMN @ 93:

Patricio @ 80:

I'm a Southerner who does not and has never displayed the Confederate flag. What irks me though is how many jerk-offs from north of the Mason-Dixon line feel that they constantly have to remind you that if you're a Southerner, then they are superior to you in so many ways, that you're a "loser", you're a racist, a neo-nazi, etc...

What a pile of crap. Guess what, you're not superior because you're from Noo Yawk instead of some little town in Georgia. You may think you are, but you're not. And while some Southerners are too ignorant to find a better way to display their Southern pride, not all that do are racist redneck losers. I know that's a conveinent thing to think for you Yankees, but that's lazy thinking, and shame on you. What is your goal here, to convince Southerners that they are all losers from a inferior culture? If it is, just be honest and say so, and then do something about it instead of this ball-less ranting against the South on a message board. Maybe y'all need to re-conquer us down here in the South like you're doing in Iraq....show us who'se da boss!

I don't think I'm superior and I'll admit there are redneck freaks living all over, but. I lived in Savannah GA for a few years and barely a day went by when I wasn't called a yankee because of my accent.

It was also weird to see those creepy civil war reenactments going on all over the place. Most often at the beach. The guys would get together dress up as confederate solders, stick a flag in the sand and camp out on beach for a weekend. It wasn't for tourists. These were actually people & clubs that did this as recreation.

I'm glad that you at least actually lived in the South before you condemn it; that puts you in the minority, but good for you. Hey look, I think it's creepy too, those re-enactments, but guess what...they do the same thing in the North ALL THE TIME! Why should that be any different?

When I lived in Boston and told people where I was from, the response was ususally along the lines of that's too bad/how can you stand living there where it's flat and hot/aren't people all racists there/howcome Southerners don't understand that they lost...that type of thing.

Whatever...people are the same wherever you go, stupid and prejudiced. That's why you got those comments in Savannah, that's why I got them in Boston, that's why we have Christian evengelist soldiers in Iraq handing out bibles who just can't believe that them there A-rabs don't like our Holy Leader Bush and accept the Good News of Jesus while we bomb their houses and kill their kids. My point is that for a liberal northerner to feel superior to and preach to Southerners because they were born north of a certain line on a map is stupid and harms the cause of liberalism in the South. If you can at all stand it, Yankees, leave the flag name-calling out of your efforts to bring the fruits of liberalism to the South. You'll be glad you did. Don't try and convince us of the necessity to repent for our sins or our feel ashamed of our backwardsness, OK, because you've got plenty of that to work on yourselves.

I live in California, a place where very little Civil War legacy exists, yet, at every Celtic/Irish festival Civil War reenactors dressed as the "Fighting 69th" Irish brigade (Union Army) shows up and goes through the motions. Funny, there isn't that much Celtic legacy here either, yet those festivals flourish.

samdog @ 101:

Sue @ 94:

peaceful easy feeling @ 90:

samdog @ 82:

Excellent post. There is no shortage of these sanctimonious crusaders for 'truth and justice' who co-opt a false sense of virtue any way they can. Every bit the supremacist at heart as a Klansman, except they target thought instead of melanin.

I'm sorry, but disliking someone's viewpoint is not at all the same thing as disliking their skin color. There's nothing wrong with targeting racist thought and ideology with contrary views.

You can try to dress up southern history all you want to re-cast the confederate flag as some noble symbol, but what it stands for today is racism and segregation. You can rail against that and say the KKK co-opted it, but that won't change the fact that the segregationists took it up as a symbol of opposition to civil rights. The swastika used to have a different symbolic meaning associated with it, then the Nazi's used it, and it is forever associated with them and the Holocaust no matter how hard anyone spins.

It only stands for racism and segregation to YOU and people LIKE you. For me it is merely a symbol of a nation and time long gone, and carries absolutely NONE of the negative connotations you suggest. It is a footnote in history that some people dislike and others take pride in, for many reasons. I do not accept the co-opting of that symbol by Klansmen and Nazis and racists, just like I do not accept the co-opting of the Stars and Stripes by those same groups or the co-opting of the word "patriot" by the right wing. Because you DO accept that belief about that old piece of fabric does not make it a symbol of those things, just like the swastika still used by Navajo weavers and East Indian artisans does not mean naziism, no matter how horrified you may be at its appearance in native American or Indian art. Design elements and symbols are seen by many as many different things. Just accept that that old flag is important to some folks, and useless to others, and get on with REAL issues. What a tempest in a teapot.

Accept the co-opting of the flag by nazis and klansmen or not...Today, it represents hatred, ignorance, and racism...regardless of what it historically represented. That's what it is today...

liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 102:

samdog @ 101:

Sue @ 94:

peaceful easy feeling @ 90:

Says who? Says a bunch of professors at some ivy league school? Says your typical northerner who has never even been to the south, except for a trip to Miami Beach? Says some namby pamby apologist white guy on the west coast? You sound exactly like some AIPAC guy who throws a fit when they see a Palestinian flag in public or on someone's t-shirt...they are quick to tell you that the Palestinian flag "represents anti-semitism and terrorism". &#@$!??? OK, I guess we always have to accept the dominant viewpoint...just cave in to the loudmouth know-nothings who want the world to conform to their ignorance.

What you smart-asses don't realize is that if you dropped this issue, you might just find that inside every southern partisan or (gasp) 4x4 driving, confederate flag bumper sticker displaying "redneck" is an Obama voter waiting to get out. If you think I'm crazy then obviously you've never been to the South, or you're too blinded by your own delusions of superiority to see that fact. Oh well, thanks for helping keep the South strongly in the hands of the GOP...they shurley do 'preciate it!

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the corporate states of America. And to the military industrial complex for which it stands,
one nation under corporate religious tyranny, with suffering and death for anyone who stands in our way. Amen.

As usual Colbert and his writers get to the heart of the matter and skewer it with impeccable logic. Long live his fight against hypocrisy, viva Colbert!

Thank you fro proving my point, liberalHUSSEINmoderation, when you say that your own brother is an confederate flag flying 4x4 truck driving Obama voter. Cheers to that!

Of course I'm not trying to say that racism doesn't exist in the South. Of course I'm not trying to lay all the blame for the South belonging to the GOP on know-it-all northerners who overlook their own sins and bitch about what the stars and bars "mean". I'm just saying that every little bit helps, so laying off the flag issue will, I believe, help immensely when it comes to not alienating Southerners who may disagree that the flag stands for racism and hate. Right or wrong, you keep trying to force your (pompous) version of morality and "truth" on someone else and you'll lose them right quick. What would you rather have, a confederate flag-flying Obama voter like your brother, or alienate people like that for foolish reasons and have them vote GOP out of spite? People do vote out of spite too, you know. Just look at all the angry "feminists" who swear they'll vote for McCain.

Patricio @ 110:

Thank you fro proving my point, liberalHUSSEINmoderation, when you say that your own brother is an confederate flag flying 4x4 truck driving Obama voter. Cheers to that!

Of course I'm not trying to say that racism doesn't exist in the South. Of course I'm not trying to lay all the blame for the South belonging to the GOP on know-it-all northerners who overlook their own sins and bitch about what the stars and bars "mean". I'm just saying that every little bit helps, so laying off the flag issue will, I believe, help immensely when it comes to not alienating Southerners who may disagree that the flag stands for racism and hate. Right or wrong, you keep trying to force your (pompous) version of morality and "truth" on someone else and you'll lose them right quick. What would you rather have, a confederate flag-flying Obama voter like your brother, or alienate people like that for foolish reasons and have them vote GOP out of spite? People do vote out of spite too, you know. Just look at all the angry "feminists" who swear they'll vote for McCain.

All too true.

By the way, I never found more racism in society than I did in the Northern states, and, believe it or not, Canada. It was overt and nasty and right out in the open. Not only were many Canadians against Jamaicans, Haitians, Pakistanis, Indians, and Native Americans, they hate each other for whatever their brand of white ethnic/religious origin is, (Irish Catholics and English Protestants) or language (French/English) or even Provincial origin (have you heard "Newfie" jokes, or Quebecer jokes?) I had taxi drivers tell me outright that I should always call their company, because they refuse to employ blacks or "Pakis." I was ignored, snubbed, and insulted when I spoke English in stores and restaurants in Quebec. I knew supposed "liberal" hippie west coast and Toronto individuals that matter of factly stated how they hated certain immigrant groups and ethnic groups. Native Americans were roundly despised as drunkards, shiftless, and useless drains on society. Oh, I know this isn't the opinion of all, and there are plenty of Canadians who are very well rounded, educated, non-racist types, but, all I am saying is, from my 12 year experience of living in Canada, racism and bigotry is alive and well, and not too well hidden.

Hmm... looks like Reconstruction ended 130 years too soon for some people.

So these yahoos still want to fly the flag of the traitors who took up arms against against the United States of America 145 years after they lost the war, huh? Try 'em for treason I say!

lewisnclark @ 114:

Hmm... looks like Reconstruction ended 130 years too soon for some people.

So these yahoos still want to fly the flag of the traitors who took up arms against against the United States of America 145 years after they lost the war, huh? Try 'em for treason I say!

Actually, I'd like to see a little secession again...I'd get behind the flag of the Bear Republic of California. I'd volunteer to dig a moat along our borders and fill them with alligators.