{"id":93124,"date":"2015-06-29T00:08:35","date_gmt":"2015-06-29T07:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=93124"},"modified":"2015-06-26T11:38:35","modified_gmt":"2015-06-26T18:38:35","slug":"flag-stupidity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/06\/flag-stupidity.html","title":{"rendered":"Flag Stupidity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

We Americans have trouble with prudence. \u00a0When we have a good idea, we go bananas until it becomes a bad idea. \u00a0Taking down the Confederate flag from state houses was a good idea, for the very simple reason that it implies state endorsement of a nation that was founded for the express purpose of maintaining slavery. \u00a0So good on Nikki Haley.<\/p>\n

Then the reactions started. \u00a0Speaking for the Id of the Party of Crazy, Ann Coulter blew her racist dog whistle and labeled Haley (who was born here, but in dark skin, so we all know what *that* means) an \u201cimmigrant\u201d. \u00a0Happily, most of the GOP didn\u2019t buy that and the flag came down and other GOP folks are bucking the very significant minority of crazies in their party to do the obviously right thing and put the flag in museums where it belongs. \u00a0A step toward long-overdue cleansing of memory is accomplished.<\/p>\n

But then, Leftist crazy kicks in too, as well as corporate cowardice. \u00a0Suddenly, taking the CSA battle flag off state building and making clear that the legacy of race hatred that was the raison d\u2019etre of the Confederacy is not approved by the state is not enough. Memory must not merely be cleansed. \u00a0It must be erased. \u00a0And so, the silliness begins. \u00a0Civil War games cannot use Confederate flags to denote Army positions. \u00a0The Gettysburg Memorial Museums can\u2019t have Confederate flag stuff anymore. \u00a0Pretty soon, history books will read that the Union Army fought the largest battle in the western hemisphere against\u2026. another army at Gettysburg.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not all. \u00a0In a frenzy of righteousness, some on the Left are demanding we burn the American flag too since bad things have been done under its banner and slavery was originally allowed under the Constitution.<\/p>\n

This is the problem with the Utopian Revolutionary. \u00a0He hates his fathers and cannot grasp the historical processes by which his ancestors labored to give him his pure and pristine vision of the New Order. \u00a0He kicks down the ladder of history by which he climbed to the perch whereon he now looks down in contempt on all who came before him.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the deal: \u00a0Yes, the Constitution made slavery lawful. \u00a0It also eventually made it unlawful. \u00a0And that\u2019s the little distinction between it and the Confederacy. \u00a0It was not written with the primary goal of preserving slavery, but of securing liberty. \u00a0No. \u00a0Really:<\/p>\n

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In contrast, as Alexander Stephens, the CSA Veep explained<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The *purpose* of the CSA and the primary reason for their launch of the war was to preserve slavery, not to secure liberty.<\/p>\n

God knoweth I don\u2019t think the USA is perfect. \u00a0But its founding principles, however imperfectly enacted and lived out, were honorable. \u00a0It\u2019s silly to talk about destroying the US flag because our ancestors were not saints. \u00a0They tried hard to do the right thing and failed\u2013like us.<\/p>\n

Use every man after his desert, and who should \u2019scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity. The less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We Americans have trouble with prudence. \u00a0When we have a good idea, we go bananas until it becomes a bad idea. \u00a0Taking down the Confederate flag from state houses was a good idea, for the very simple reason that it implies state endorsement of a nation that was founded for the express purpose of maintaining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[486,650],"class_list":["post-93124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-murka","tag-na"],"yoast_head":"\nFlag Stupidity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We Americans have trouble with prudence. \u00a0When we have a good idea, we go bananas until it becomes a bad idea. \u00a0Taking down the Confederate flag from\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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