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Title: You will be made to care… about the Confederate Battle Flag
Source:
hotair.com
URL Source: http://hotair.com/archives/2015/06/ ... t-the-confederate-battle-flag/
Published: Jun 22, 2015
Author: JAZZ SHAW
Post Date: 2015-06-23 23:39:46 by Gatlin
Keywords: None
Views: 4662
Comments: 37
By this time everyone has seen the news that the political correctness army has scored another victory and gotten Republicans from Nikki Haley to Lindsey Graham to call for the removal of the Stars and Bars from public grounds at the state house. (Yes, I know… the “Stars and Bars” is not technically the same as the Battle Flag but you’ll bear with me today for that as a generic salute to Southern pride.) You never know what’s going to happen in the heat of an election season when the eyes of politicos are on the polls and spines grow weak under pressure from the tide. The timing, of course, is no accident. Liberal, progressive forces will never miss an opportunity to turn a tragedy to their own advantage. Yes, the Governor is assuring us all that private citizens can still fly the flag on private property, but this declaration (as she made clear in her speech) is meant to show that the segment of the public who disagree with removing it are either in the wrong or should not be heard in proper society. The politicians have spoken and that piece of cloth should be reserved to the grounds of a disapproved segment of society. But before we pack the Confederate Battle Flag “off to a museum” as the President suggests, I would offer a bit of perspective. Some years ago, as I’ve noted in the past, our Red State colleague Erick Erickson penned a column on a completely different subject titled You Will Be Made to Care. Erick was talking about gay marriage, but what he described was the the ever present mode of operation for the modern American Left. It’s not enough to disagree with someone when there is a difference of opinion on social issues, government policy or even the color of the sky. It’s not even sufficient to shut down the conversation, as Guy and Mary Katharine so aptly identified in End of Discussion. Those who dissent must be forced to bend a knee and participate. We’re seeing the same thing today in the newly reignited, perpetual debate over the Confederate Battle Flag. Many Southern families still feel a strong association with the stars and bars even though they live in an era when everyone has written off slavery as an evil in our past which was engaged in by the male, landed gentry from both above and below the Mason-Dixon Line. They remember that the civil war was far more than some hotly debated policy discussion over slavery. (Though that was obviously a part of it.) They recall how the North used their enormous industrial advantage to craft policies which created hardship for the more agricultural South and drained them of their wealth. They know the family stories about how the North built up a huge population advantage and curried that into an electoral hammer they could use to write the rules in their own favor. They remember that and much more. Other Southern families may not even dwell on those concerns, but they know the pride they feel in the South. They know that their ancestors fought and died for what they, at the time, believed in and stood to defend their loved ones and their homes. And well into the modern era they have felt the sting of the constant derision from the North. Southerners talk slow, so they must be stupid. They are backward. They are ignorant rednecks. What a shame they can’t be as elite and as enlightened as their northern cousins. The fact is, they just don’t fit into proper modern America. Isn’t it a shame? This remains one of the few politically correct topics of “humor” in comedy shows. You can always make fun of the rednecks who speak with a Southern drawl. But these same people retain a modern pride in the heritage of their region. I frequently travel to various states in the warmer climes and constantly see signs and bumper stickers which proudly declare that the owner is American by birth, but is Southern by the Grace of God. But in keeping with liberal theory, we must eliminate some piece of cloth that reminds them of their heritage, even if it has nothing to do with racism or slavery in their minds. It does to us! That requires a trigger warning, mister, and you didn’t provide us with a safe space! And We Are The Perpetually And Righteously Offended, So You Shall Comply. What they forget is that there are plenty of flags out there and many people are offended by them. You can go to any number of liberal rallies and see a very famous banner honoring Che Guevara. “But no!” you say. “It’s not an “official” flag!” Yes, well neither is the Confederate Battle Flag. And we’ve seen the Che flag in all sort of rather official looking places, such as the offices of political candidates. You may be surprised to learn that a banner honoring Che Guevara is offensive to all sorts of people. If I have to explain why, then you didn’t read this column this far down anyway. And yet, for some reason, we don’t demand government action to ban it from being flown. We simply disagree with the sentiment and mock those who fly it. But that’s never good enough for the Left. You must be made to care. You will be made to participate. You will take the hateful piece of cloth down (though a piece of cloth has yet to ever shoot up a church or a school) and you will denounce it. Or we will destroy you. I should note, in closing, that this column is being penned by a Damned Yankee, born and bred in New York. But I’ve lived in enough places and met enough people to realize that you’re not always as wise and as righteous as you may think you are until you’ve sat down at the dinner table of another person’s mom for a plate of red beans and rice with cornbread. Every Southerner I know today abhors the idea of slavery and would immediately call the police if they found out about anyone keeping human beings as slaves. But they are also proud of their heritage and the many things the South represents, and for many of them the Stars and Bars is emblematic of that sense of history and pride. So maybe you can crack the politically correct whip and tear down some flags. I say go to hell. Our brothers and sisters who dwell below the Mason-Dixon are Americans first and always, but they are Southern by the Grace of God. 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 35.
#1. To: Gatlin, ALL (#0)
The Left is determined to have their way in all areas of our life. The current issue with the flag is simply one battle in their prolong war against American ideals.
Click here for confederateamericanpride.com
The problem is the Stars and Bars only started to fly again in the 50s onward as an FU to the Federal govt's effort to end Jim Crow and introduce Civil Right legislation. We assume this flag was always flown there for like a 100 years but that was not the case - that is why there is a push back against the Stars and Bars - because of what pro Jim Crow southeners against Civil Rights made that flag be a symbol of.
If you’re gonna talk about the current issue with a Confederate flag, then you gonna have to become knowledgeable about the flags of the Confederate States of America. The is absolutely no problem with the Stars and Bars. The first national flag of the Confederacy: "The Stars and Bars" has not been referenced while discussing the current situation.
Since the Confederacy had three official flags, I've never read much about the distribution of Confederate flags and how often they got replaced. I assume the first Confederate flag (Stars And Bars) got the widest viewings across the Confederate states. Probably everyone in the South had seen this flag. Many would have seen the second Confederate flag, especially in bigger towns in the Confederate heartland. Probably relatively few ever saw the third Confederate flag, adopted only a month before the Confederate military collapse. These are the flags, via Wiki: The flag being protested at the SC capitol grounds most closely resembles the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, the command of Robert E. Lee (anti-slavery Confederate supreme commander from 1862). This army faced off against the Army of the Potomac repeatedly and eventually contained elements from the area and formations from all over the Confederacy, as far away as Texas. But the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virgina changed during the war as we see below. However, the actual flag of the Army of Northern Virginia during the command of Robert E. Lee was the following. My favorite feature of this flag is that the star pattern resembles the bad guys in an old Atari version of Space Invaders. Now that we've totally nerded up this thread with flag minutiae, we may as well start making some nice YouBoob vids about flag history like this one.
I fail to understand how those who profess to know so much about the Confederacy and make gross condemnations can continually demonstrate their stupidity and ignorance. It took no effort to do as you did here, and something they should have long ago done, to learn that the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia is not the Stars and Bars. Yet these misguided, uninformed know-it-alls continue to obnoxiously purport wrongly that they have an expansive comprehension of the Confederacy when in reality they have demonstrated their comprehension is both inaccurate and limited….they continue to misidentify the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia and call it the Stars and Bars. These naysayers need to educate themselves in order to recognize and properly identify the flags of the Confederacy and not continue to show their ignorance. I doubt they ever will….self righteousness will always block learning and reasoning.
The original offenders were the very Southerners themselves from the mid 1950s onwards who chose the Battle Flag of General Lee to represent their anti-segregationist and anti-civil rights views. In almost all cases this confederate flag was hoisted in the late 1950s and early 1960s not as a suddenly remembered need to honor a confederate legacy but to show resistance to the Civil Rights efforts originating with the Federal govt. Anything else is bullshit. The ones that soiled General Lee's flag are the very Southerners who hoisted it for that reason and 99% of those reasons was to galvanize support the old Jim Crow system.
Don’t you dare try to spin this. You and tomder55 are chief standouts among those who grossly misidentified the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia and called it the Stars and Bars. I cannot tolerate ignorance. Even more than that, I deplore anyone who will not admit they made a mistake….but tries to weasel their way out by “shifting blame.” You fit both categories. No longer will anything you post have any factual value….none whatsoever.
#36. To: nolu chan (#35)
Thanks for posting this. I had been reviewing the printed article and was debating whether to post it as a thread. I have now decided to do so.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestI should note, in closing, that this column is being penned by a Damned Yankee, born and bred in New York. But I’ve lived in enough places and met enough people to realize that you’re not always as wise and as righteous as you may think you are until you’ve sat down at the dinner table of another person’s mom for a plate of red beans and rice with cornbread. Every Southerner I know today abhors the idea of slavery and would immediately call the police if they found out about anyone keeping human beings as slaves. But they are also proud of their heritage and the many things the South represents, and for many of them the Stars and Bars is emblematic of that sense of history and pride. So maybe you can crack the politically correct whip and tear down some flags. I say go to hell. Our brothers and sisters who dwell below the Mason-Dixon are Americans first and always, but they are Southern by the Grace of God.
#5. To: GarySpFC (#1)
(Edited)
#6. To: Gatlin (#5)
#8. To: Pericles (#6)
If You're Gonna Play in (Dixie), You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band.
The problem is the Stars and Bars…
#9. To: Gatlin, Pericles, redleghunter, Vicomte13 (#8)
The first national flag of the Confederacy: "The Stars and Bars" has not been referenced while discussing the current situation.
.svg)
The first national flag of the Confederate States of America. Name "The Stars and Bars" Use National flag 
Adopted March 4, 1861 (first 7-star version)
November 28, 1861 (final 13-star version)Design Three horizontal stripes of equal height, alternating red and white, with a blue quadrilateral in the canton, inside the canton are white five-pointed stars of equal size, arranged in a circle and pointing outward. Designed by Nicola Marschall .svg)
The second national flag of the Confederate States of America. Name "The Stainless Banner"[a] Use National flag Proportion 1:2[b] Adopted May 1, 1863 Design A white rectangle two times as wide as it is tall, a red quadrilateral in the canton, inside the canton is a blue saltire with white outlining, with thirteen white five-pointed stars of equal size inside the saltire. Designed by William T. Thompson[c][1][2][4][5][6][7] .svg)
The third national flag of the Confederate States of America. Name "The Blood-Stained Banner" Use National flag Proportion 2:3 Adopted March 4, 1865 Design A white rectangle, three to two times as wide as it is tall a red vertical stipe on the far right of the rectangle, a red quadrilateral in the canton, inside the canton is a blue saltire with white outlining, with thirteen white five-pointed stars of equal size inside the saltire.[d] Designed by Arthur L. Rogers[10]
The white-fringed version is apparently the one used at the monument on the grounds of the state capitol. 
Battleflag made out of silk from November, 1861 
Battleflag made of wool, 1862 
Battleflag made from wool, 1863 
The official flag of the Army of Northern Virginia during the command of Robert E. Lee, June 1862-April 1865
#10. To: TooConservative, Pericles, tomder55, redleghunter, Vicomte13, A K A Stone (#9)
#11. To: Gatlin, TooConservative, tomder55, redleghunter, Vicomte13, A K A Stone (#10)
I fail to understand how those who profess to know so much about the Confederacy and make gross condemnations can continually demonstrate their stupidity and ignorance.
#18. To: Pericles, tomder55, redleghunter, Vicomte13, A K A Stone, TooConservative (#11)
#35. To: Gatlin (#18)
Replies to Comment # 35.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 35.
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