The confederate flag. Is it time to let it go? I'm not from the South so I don't understand the need to put this flag on anything.
It's like the swastika: important historically, but probably not something that should be displayed openly outside of a historical context since it's a symbol of an oppressive, racist regime. I'm sure blacks don't want to see the confederate flag any more than Jews want to see the swastika. You don't see Germans proudly displaying swastikas. They understand that the Nazi regime was a shameful time in their history. I've never understood why this is a thing with white southerners. It's like they don't understand that slavery and the Confederacy should be a point of shame, not pride. It's pretty embarassing. People outside the US must look at us like a bunch of morons.
A lot of people in the South have convinced themselves that the Civil War wasn't really about slavery, but rather about taxes and states rights. Fairly pathetic rationalization considering that the second version of the Confederate flag moved the "stars and bars" into the upper left corner and the rest was entirely white to specifically symbolize white supremacy.
Why is there such a distrust of government in America? I often hear about these fears of big government and stuff.
"Big Government" is a political and conservative term used to describe an over reaching and ineffective government that gets into things best managed by private business. The affordable care act and fair housing act would be what they consider Big Government. It's not really the same thing that cmdrmonkey is talking about. Most hard core conservatives here probably think the UK is half way to a communist state. As dysfunctional or corrupt as our government may or may not be it still a lot better than most places in the world. I've had friends from Mexico, Russia, and South Africa tell me they don't even try to hide the corruption there. Justice or your innocence can be decided by how much cash you have on you at that moment.
Confederate flag isn't a symbol for racist rednecks. They're just good old boys, living the only way they know how. But it's just a little bit more than the law will allow.
The U.S. is chock full of closet monarchists, i.e., libertarians. When they say "big" government, what they really mean is "democratic" government.
Dukes of Hazzard has the worst classic intro music of anything I can think of, those old shows are supposed to have great music. Even the banjo couldn't save it.
I played that song over and over again on my Fisher Price phonograph. I loved that song. That and The Devil Went Down to Georgia which was on the flip side of the record.
I feel like 99% of it is an overreaction. Pretty sure anybody that doesn't make their living from ad revenue gives zero fucks.
The days of being able to treat the Confederate flag like a harmless piece of pop culture are over. There are obviously many, many people in this country that still embrace it as a symbol of white supremacy.
The KKK is pretty much universally despised yet it's images still manages to work their way into entertainment without too much fuss.
A pro golfer that bought one of the General Lee cars from Dukes of Hazard is going to paint the American flag on the top... http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/13190780/bubba-watson-paint-confederate-flag-general-lee