Jackson Jambalaya

Energy goes where the money flows.

Flag needs to be changed regardless of who is demanding it.

To bad tater tot is splitting the fence and dilbert is trying to kill the bill in committee.

The time is now.

The legislature needs to do the right thing and pass a bill to adopt a new flag or allow a statewide vote.


Sign me:

A Mississippian who has had family here when the state was a territory, had great...grandfathers in the legislature before secession, voted to change the flag in 2001, will do so again.

Wow is all I can say. Great points and it shows that today, in America LOCAL leadership is spineless gutless dickless and will break at the first sign of mouthy mobs and ignore our nations laws. Brit Hume had a great "empty gesture" article on this.

Greg Sankey can go f*ck himself and the horse he rode in on.

Wait, so he wants the flag to change but now wants it to stay because he doesn’t want to be associated with a movement that wants it to change? Can’t fix stupid I guess.

Spot on on both of his main points

"men whose ancestors fought and died under that flag now say that this has changed their mind on the issue." All my ancestors (all from Mississippi) fought and died under the flag of the United States. If you are referring to the confederate battle flag, all those fought and died for a flawed ideal.

The commentator has a lot less dog in this hunt than I do. The flag should represent all Mississippians.

tl;dr version - relocated Yankee embraces racist views.

Speaking of the opinions of the unelected, isn't Tulp? I can never trust a man who moved from New Jersey to Mississippi and now considers himself a superconservative like the Pine Belt Pimp. I assume he publishes feel good pieces like the above to make himself fit in more with the base that didn't elect him?

While we are on the subject of tearing down statues, they vandalized Stevie Ray Vaughn in Texas. What the heck did Stevie Ray Vaughn do besides make great music and leave this earth way too soon?

Pride goeth before the fall. Mississippi has fallen so far in so many categories that pride is all we have left. The Georgia legislature changed their flag in the blink of an eye and Georgia has been booming ever since. In six months the controversy was was forgotten. Our flag should be a flag all people can be proud of. "But the people voted!". Yeah right, almost 20 years ago and even then, one-third objected to it. Tate and Hosemann are cowards. Too afraid and too stuck in the past. The future is forward, not in the rear view mirror.
Meanwhile, in other news, Austin, TX is rolling out the red-carpet and making a strong bid for a multi-billion dollar Tesla plant. You really think Mississippi has a shot a another major employer. Take a good look at the tire plant on I-20 in Clinton. It's the last one you'll see until the flag gets changed. That's a fact.

Dear Mr. Mouse: I cancelled your vote in 2001 and will gladly do it again if necessary. The fact is, we had a vote and you lost. Suck it up buttercup.

So he agrees with Otis that the flag is an unnecessary burden on our state, evoking racist ideologies (re: statement from literally any black person in this state, among others) and causing undue economic harm (re: statement from literally any major CEO in this state, among others), but he is so offended by “outsiders” and “agitators” leveraging power to bring down the flag (for those same reasons stated above) that he is willing to abandon those things in defiance? What’s that saying about cutting off one’s nose...?

Keep foregoing economic opportunity to stick a middle finger to “the north,” along with half your state, both black and white. It’s worked out so well for MS in the past. What could go wrong.

The flag is a stain and should be removed. It’s amazing how all the “history lovers” here were radio silent when the Emmett Till marker was vandalized. I’ve seen absolutely no overlap in the people groaning on Facebook about confederate “history being destroyed” and those who expressed any outrage whatsoever when a group of rednecks shot at the memorial honoring Emmett Till. The difference in reaction from this group is very noticeable.

You cry about confederate statues, but clutch your pearls when the airport is named after Medgar Evers. You guys are all too transparent.

So much more is at stake here than just the flag. The mob is coming to erase history and then ultimately erase the United States of America

I for one do not appreciate outside agitating Yankees moving here and telling me what to do with my flag. Your ancestors tried to destroy that flag Tulp. Let us Mississippians decide to take it down. Yankees should refrain from comment.

Sadly, as will everything else in this country, it truly is ALL about the Benjamins.

842-I know my vote was negated in 2001. Obvious outcome is obvious.

Suffice it to say, my children are leaving the state, never to return here except to bury me.

Why? Because Mississippi is a stubborn and stiff necked people hellbent on their self destruction. I laugh at the idiots we elect because they are too cowardly to do the right thing.

Will we vote to change it when the SEC kicks out MSU and UM? Think it won’t happen?

Will we vote for it to save the children? To paraphrase Jesus, who Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Presbyterians here seem to ignore here, it is better to tie a millstone around your neck (and drown yourself) than to cause children harm. I can’t think of any greater harm than keeping a flag that 40+% of the children find offensive.

We need to keep the flag as a reminder to everyone in the world that Mississippi is full of backward ignorants who still find glory in their utter defeat. Never forgetting that the CSA treasury was plundered by a Judah P. Benjamin who fled to England with his lucre when the south surrendered. Not to mention celebrating the thousands that died for the south's 1 percent of gentry slave owners. A population of low IQ rubes.

That "flag" is NOT American history. It represents a group which attempted to break off FROM America.

Change that piece of sh*t flag!

Do away with it now and vote in November for 2 options and may the best flag win. We don't need this constantly being brought up every time there is an industry or event wanting to come here. We certainly can't afford for an industry with 300 jobs moving across a state line just because of the flag. No one I know cares about the flag issue. I don't like someone trying to force us but we should have quietly addressed it 10 years ago and be done with it. Now it will be a public spectacle.

Consider the source!!

Damn Yankee go home. We don't want you. Didn't your utter defeat tell you that?
Yankees visit. Damn yankees stay.

I like the rebel battle flag and I think black lives matter... can't I do both? No matter how much I care about someone, I don't change my mind over what a symbol means to my family, and has meant for generations, which I do see as southern pride, and standing up to northern bullies whether they are invading or just rewriting history. My ancestors were poor, and fought a heck of a war against a much stronger invading army. They all died for slaves, says who? You? You are giving the north WAY TOO much credit with that narrative of history. Read about riots after emancipation proclamation in all northern cities and nobody talks about slave states fighting for the union.

You curse my ancestors for slaves, which the whole world had at the time, but have no problem killing all these black babies in abortion today? And you are more moral than I? I think not!

Honestly, it is much easier to tell off someone who is a yankee or a white liberal while my black friends I am much more humble in my position. This is because I'm not a total idiot as I am aware that slavery was a large part of civil war, particularly for southern elites. And yes I am ashamed of that portion of my heritage. But that heritage is a part of all of America, northerners too. Look back at realties of time, Wall Street was much more concerned for slavery than my ancestors scratching around in the dirt.

While I can't keep someone else from telling you who I am, I ask you to judge me by how I have treated you.

I have no problem with people that want to have the flag on their own personal property. I do not have a problem with those that use it for hate speech. I do not have a problem with those that identify with it as a symbol of history and heritage. However, the current state flag is not representative of all Mississippians. There has to be a better flag that can represent OUR histories and heritage without being so slanted or stuck in the past. Create something new, and move forward. Fly the current flag on your front porch or hang it on the back of your truck all you want, but give the state a new flag and a kickstart forward.

Burn the old flag, get a new one. But get a signed statement from those offended that we are officially “woke” now and will not be held responsible for our ancestors transgressions from this point forward. Otherwise, they will be back and crying racism before the sun sets.

@9:02

"agitating Yankees" is the funniest thing ever. Dude, get over the War of Northern Aggression. We lost that battle. Join me in joining Jesus, the real winning team.

What exactly do think we will be accomplished in changing the flag? Do we honestly think those outside of Mississippi will change their opinions of this state? If the flag itself is the only factor in our divisiveness then change the damn thing, but in my opinion it will not effectively change whats deep in a mans soul.

This is a perfect example of a boomer temper tantrum. He knows the right thing, but doesn’t want to do it because he doesn’t like that someone he doesn’t like agrees with him. Enjoy the clicks, though. You’re welcome for mine.

It’s funny that the same people saying “damn Yankee go home” are also saying “change the flag to make this a more welcoming state.”

@9:35

As long as there are -isms being practiced, people have a right and responsibility to call them out.

Racism lived long before the flag, and it will live long after. No one says you are responsible for you ancestors transgressions. Drop the damn flag, so that we can all make more money, unless you only want the current haves/elite to keep all the money. I am tired of living in a welfare state. I want things to improve for all of us, so that we can throw up the middle finger to the states that look down on us for being stuck in time. We are better than what he have given to this country over the last 150 years. Let this state move forward, so that we can show the country and world just how good we are.

I don't like the flag... never have. I certainly would vote for changing it.

That said, I'm not going to be forced into changing it by a bunch of hypocritical scalawags. I think I'm speaking for the author and a lot of Mississippians in saying "Get the hell out of our business and let us handle it ourselves." I would rather keep the flag than give an inch to these outsiders. Let us handle our own business.

Also, this will not get changed through legislation. No good ole boy wants that kind of stain on their record. It will have to be done through voting.

This is incredibly stupid.

I am not a "rioter". I am not a part of a "mob". I am not an "amoral nihilist". I am a Mississippi taxpayer who has lived in this state for over sixty years under one of the most divisive and offensive banners the world has seen and I and many others have wanted it removed many years before the SEC or the present rioters said a damn word. It was meant to be offensive to a segment of society when it was enacted. That was it's purpose. If it represents your sentiments say so. But find another excuse.

...would rather sleep with Satan than take one step with you...

"You really think Mississippi has a shot a another major employer. Take a good look at the tire plant on I-20 in Clinton. It's the last one you'll see until the flag gets changed. That's a fact."

The fact is that the Germans, who in fact lost 2 back to back World Wars, built their Mississippi tire plant in The Land of Kush. And that's the fact, Jack.

Was wondering when Kingfish would post something about the flag debate. The fact that the first article published on this site is this tone deaf perspective confirms my suspicions.

The state flag did not become an embarrassment when the protests and riots started several weeks ago. It has always been an embarrassment. I am a conservative Republican who is absolutely ashamed of my state leaders and fellow Mississippians who are still clinging to the Confederacy and Jim Crow South. You people are why we can't have nice things.

Tulp just guaranteed that people with an above room temp IQ will stop listening whenever he starts speaking... what a joke.

Tulp may be unwilling to get in bed with the protesters, but meanwhile the white supremacists are the big spoon. Enjoy getting screwed James, everyone will remember who you chose to get in bed with.

What major industry said they wouldn't locate here because of a flag? How many are lined up to come once we remove it?? Poor Stennis lady. She just didn't know how much her last name was hated..? It's not the "flag" running around inside all our manufacturing industries wanting "to organize" and have labor unions....while sitting on their asses during work hours.

10:14: Nothing stopping you from submitting one. I published one from an opposing view yesterday. You submit one that is half-competently written, it will get published.

now hear this!
from the department of ''BE careful whaat you ask for''
after you change the flag, and the same problems persist, you will not have the flag to blame it on. and in this 3nd world backwater , the blame game is more important than being one of the beautiful people of the SEC

The state has had decades to do the right thing and have continuously failed. At what point do we admit that someone else will have to force the issue or we will continue to trip over our own feet on this. The state is 30 years behind the rest of the country and seems to enjoy living in ignorance. No wonder every college graduate leaves at the first opportunity.

9:40 I want the flag gone. I don’t need some New Jersey Yankee who can barley brea 10% in a Congressional election telling me what to
think of my ancestors.

Isn’t it sad how intolerant we have become? I disagree with this young mans opinion (and by the way, he’s not a boomer as someone previously suggested. He is 27 I believe. ), but I fully support his right to express it.

I also fully support his right to have an opinion on the flag despite the fact that he was not born here. He’s a citizen of the state by choice from what I can gather. That alone is pretty rare. Why would we try to discourage that?

James, I disagree. But keep expressing your opinions.

Someone help me here. I thought to use the threat of financial loss was extortion. To use financial gain as an influence was a bribe.

Some use the appeal that the flag should be changed because %40 of the people don't like it, what about the %60. They don't matter? That flies in the face of democracy.

The worship of the almighty dollar will probably be the deciding factor in this debate. The State will be persuaded by people with money. All convinced that changing the flag will cause a flood of new businesses and money to wash into the state. The almighty dollar must be appeased at any cost. Right?

Few of those standing for the flag ever had an ancestor that fought with Lee's Army of Virginia or even one in the U.S. during the Civil War.

The Confederacy couldn't reach consensus about ONE Flag anymore than Lee could truly be a Commander in Chief as his Generals could only see their view and only a view. We couldn't unite on, we couldn't plan. We couldn't gain allies.

No surprise Mr. Tulp is a Yankee from New Jersey. Like many of the plantation owners who actually weren't native Mississippians and the majority of those who who hang on the land of any size after the Civil War and during Reconstruction were Yankees too. Daughters were urged to marry Yankees to "save the homeplace". Like them, Mr. Tulp has found a way to profit from living here.

So y'all pretend that you'd be behind Nazis in Germany having continued to have the Reich's flag flying and erect statues to Rommel and Goering et.al. and think the Jews were simply " overly sensitive snowflakes.

This pisses me off so bad and I’m glad I can post finally. I voted to change the flag and Madison county voted to change the flag. What really pisses me off is the black leadership in the Delta sat back and didn't do anything significant to get out the vote to change and those counties have almost all black leadership.Did it not matter to them back then.I would bet good money that any decent news investigator could check the voter roles back then and find many of todays black leaders didn't even vote that day. If Trump or Obama won the vote and congress later decided to change the outcome wouldn’t those that voted be up in arms. Yes change that damn flag but let the people decide.However it is very true we will be on every national news channel and will continue to look like a bunch of idiots.

to all of the people opposed to the flag................WHERE WERE YOU in 2001 when the voter referendum to change the flag FAILED , because it was defeated by a landslide vote? tell me , where were you?
or do you not even know about the 2001 vote......tell me I'm standing by!!!

If they don't want to change the flag, they can dropout the SEC and become independents, USM too. Scheduling away games will be easy, I am not sure if anyone would want to play here.

11:36 - I was a junior in high school wondering why my fellow Mississippians were proudly thumping their chests over a blatantly racist symbol.

@11:39
In 2001 I was 9. It was 19 years ago. Not everyone in the world is a boomer.

Crawford opines once week.
Salter opines twice a month.
Tulp opines twice a year and provides better thoughts than the Crawford and Salter combined.

Get rid of the flag already. When will MS and her leaders stop trying to teach the rest of the country a lesson at their own expense?

I must assume that a great many in Mississippi feel proud of the heritage of J.K.Vardaman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_K._Vardaman

and many long for the 'good ole days' when men like Vardaman could stir up a crowd.

White people are just beginning to get a small concept of whats its like when someone tells you to do something that you dont like. If you are 57 years old and black you were born WITHOUT the right to vote. How anyone cant see that this flag is offensive is beyond me. Tulp probably gets mad when his momma tells him to clean his room. What a child.

So, who ya got in the Egg Bowl?

With orchestrated statements today by the Chancellor of the Reformed Seminary and the Mississippi Baptist Convention in support of a new flag. This is looking like a done deal. This week.

While I certainly think it should be up to the citizens of the state as to the replacement of the flag (and not the half-assed attempt made last time), I would like to get everyone's take on the flag proposed here:

https://vimeo.com/mightymagnolia

Designed by a Mississippi native, and isn't quite as boring as the "Stennis Flag" being proposed by many.

11:36 am I was in the 40% that voted to see the flag changed. But, then I wasn't taught Civil War history by teachers who were afraid they'd wake up to a cross being burned in their yard.

I've also have my family's diaries of those who actually lived during the Civil War in the " Confederacy" and wrote about how it was going in real time and which of their neighbors were brutal to their slaves as well as their wife and children. They also wrote about those slave owners whose wives were infertile so they passed off their " light" children as white.

Might you ought take a DNA test? Quite a percentage of Southerners end up shocked. If you have a drop , you might be cast out if you succeed in your white supremacy ambitions.

I support our current flag for one reason:

It's only one item on the list of changes the AA community and the PC crowd want.

You change it and they'll go to item number 2, which means this shit will never end.

We are not going to get along. There is too much hatred towards whites for slavery and it will always be used as a club over the heads of people that had no part of it.

Sorry, That's the way it is.

Gosh that wasn't predictable or anything.

A nobody wannabe in the MSGOP decides the only way to draw attention to himself is to go full George Wallace.

And the reasoning employed? Right on par for a Mississippi GOPer. He's basically saying, "I know I need to quit drinking, but since my friends staged an intervention and threatened to stop hanging out with me, I'm heading straight to the bar."

Kafka here:

I could give two shits about our flag. Hell, put a picture of Scooby Doo on it.

But it does make me angry to have to listen to out-of-state extortioners threatening to do whatever.

And as to the MS State running back, screw you too! Don't play ball if you're offended. Take a job at a car wash.

I am a lifelong Mississippian, educated in Jackson Public Schools (when they were still good) and graduated from an IHL university. I have worked for Mississippi companies all my life and never left the state. I also am a descendant of a signer of the US Constitution. Because of the time I went through JPS I was in contact with many blacks who I call friends. To me the flag issue is simply the refusal of some to grow up. They are acting like babies who refuse to face reality. The Confederate flag can be placed in state museums for all to see and learn about. It does not need to be representative of a part of the United States. Just because something is there doesn't mean it is right. What kind of place would this state be if we decided that laws of nature are resolute and unchangable? The Bible says, "A time for love, a time for peace," etc. It's time to stop being backwater and at least get to the 20th century.

@8:22a- Stupid?

I personally don't care if they change it or not. It's a piece of cloth. The cloth itself has ZERO power, despite the narrative that it is "holding folks back." I get tickled by the idea that colored fabric is offensive, but I get equally tickled at those who find "heritage" in it. Seriously... you lost! What heritage... failure, LOL! People complain about the dumbest shit.

We can change the flag, but the reality is that won't change the hate in a single person's heart. It won't eradicate the racism in the hearts of both blacks and whites. It's truly silly to feel offended by statues, cloths, and history. If these protestors possessed intelligence, they'd find the beauty in using history as a tool to teach younger and future generations what NOT TO DO. Instead, there is a delusion that erasing it will "fix" their hearts and minds.

It appears to be our country's goal to destroy itself from within. I wish these butthurt, emotional protestors would spend a month in Africa. Then, maybe they'd find out what TRUE oppression is like. When you have access to EVERYTHING, but are too lazy to work for ANYTHING, you are NOT oppressed. The oppressed people in Africa are so beautiful and grateful despite living in true fear. It will make ANYONE, black or white, realize just how spoiled rotten we Americans are!!

For 11:36 -- I saw this online a couple of weeks ago, went and found it again to post for for personal edification:

ABOUT THE 2001 FLAG VOTE IN MISSISSIPPI

People need to quit saying the “majority of Mississippi” voted to keep the flag containing the confederate battle emblem. It’s not a factual statement.

The population of the state of Mississippi in 2000 broke down like this:
- Overall Population: 2,844,658 (as of 4/1/00)
- Voting Age Population: 2,072,762 (as of 2000 presidential election)
- Registered Voters: 1,745,484 (as of 2000 presidential election)
While these numbers are from 2000, they are probably good enough to use in a basic analysis of the flag vote, which took place in April, 2001.

The vote totals for the flag vote were:
- Keep current flag – 494,323 (64.4%)
- Change to flag with circle of stars against blue – 273,359 (35.6%)
That totals to 767,681.

Keep in mind, that figure does not reflect turnout. The alternative flag proposed was not popular with everyone who did want to make a change (more on that in a minute), and some people did choose to write “None of the Above” on their ballots. Because write-in votes are not permitted in Mississippi, none of those ballots had to be counted and reported. Counties did not have to report actual turnout (number of people who signed the poll book and attempted to vote). Any write-in votes would have reflected opposition to the current flag – there was no reason for a supporter of that flag to write in an alternative.

The fact that the Legislature set this as a separate, off-cycle, non-November vote is problematic. Having the referendum at such an odd time definitely impacted turnout negatively. Unfortunately, the only elections scheduled for 2001 were municipal elections, which do not include the entire state population. The next scheduled statewide vote that this referendum could have piggy-backed onto would have been in November, 2002. That would have left more than a year-and-a-half of time for “flag politics,” and what the Legislature wanted was for the whole question to go away as quickly as possible.

So the votes counted in the 2001 flag vote were:
- 27.0% of the population of Mississippi
- 37.0% of the voting age population of Mississippi
- 43.0% of registered voters in Mississippi

The people who voted to keep the flag were:
- 17.4% of the population of Mississippi
- 23.8% of the voting age population
- 28.3% of registered voters
Not one of those is a majority of Mississippians – only one of them surpasses a quarter of a population group.

What you can say is this – of the 27% of the people of Mississippi who successfully cast ballots in the 2001 flag referendum, 64.4% of them chose not to replace the existing flag with a proposed new design.

That last bit is important – they chose not to replace the current flag with a specific design. One of the biggest complaints you heard during the flag referendum was that the alternative design was unattractive. There may have been many voters who, while opposed to keeping the confederate emblem on the state flag, were put off by the aesthetics of the proposed replacement. It is unfortunate that state law does not require election officials to tally write-in vote attempts, that could have been an interesting measure of dissatisfaction with both designs.

The bottom line basically is this -- you cannot say that a majority of Mississippians wanted to keep the flag with the confederate emblem on it in 2001.

I listened to Rush today. He made the historically accurate statement that revolutions always begin with tearing down the statues and edifices of the old order. But that revolutionaries are never satisfied with toppling inanimate objects. When the population being toppled shows little or no resistance to being overthrown, the bloodshed soon follows.

To the person talking about major employers not coming to MS, Amazon(arguably one of the biggest employers in the country), has committed to a second distribution facility in MS. Rumor has it they have requested to double its size.

But carry on with the rhetoric.

(I am for changing the flag, but not all the BS threats and ultimatums)

If the Southern Baptists, the Presbyterians, NASCAR, the SEC, C-USA, the NCAA, CSpire, all the state's universities, many Mississippi cities and towns, the bankers (Hancock Whitney), and now the poultry people (Joe Sanderson) are all on one side of an issue, and a little more than half the Legislature is on the other side, then it's pretty much become "what ought to happen" against "dumbass rednecks." I know which side I wanna be on. Everyone else can just got find an island and formalize yourselves as "The State of America's Laughingstock," where your motto can be "We don't care if it's stupid and self-defeating, we're going to do it anyway." Your state song can be the whine of a petulant toddler.

At 11:36 - I was in high school. A lot has changed in the almost 20 years since that vote. I can vote now, but my grandparents who voted to keep the flag can't.

Love James show! He is the best talk show host ever. Listen every day

@2:24
I like James too but Art Bell was the best talk show host ever. Art Bell "Somewhere in Time" airs on Saturday and Sunday nights at 8:00 PM and it is the only reason I tune in to SuperTalkMS.

Waaaah, Waaaaah, I want my pretty binky!!! Waaaaaaaaah

to all of the people opposed to the flag................WHERE WERE YOU in 2001 when the voter referendum to change the flag FAILED , because it was defeated by a landslide vote? tell me , where were you?
or do you not even know about the 2001 vote......tell me I'm standing by!!!

Well, 11:43, I was deployed as a Reconnaissance Team Leader with a Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). I did not know about the vote. You got me there. But if you think that somehow denies me a voice currently then you are as wrong as you are provincial. My vote, honestly, is that you take that racist banner and shove it straight up your ass. I doubt there is room enough as your head seems to be firmly lodged there already.

Somewhere Carlos Moore is laughing.

If it ain't one thing it will be another. The goal is to keep people divided. It seems to be working. I won't say the flag shouldn't be changed, I will say the approach is wrong. The war to erase all of the U.S. histories is very unwise, in my opinion. How can you learn from the mistakes of history if you don't know what they are? How can you know where you are going, unless you know where you have been.

The fact is that you can't fix "stupid." And, we have a large population of stupid peeps in the Magnolia state. And they are all damn proud of their stupidity.

Unless 3:31 is drunk or stoned, I doubt they were in the Marine Corps.

This commentator immediately shows an emotional reaction. (A very serious emotional reaction).

A real Marine would never express emotions in the comment section of a blog. Even if they did, they would not bring up the USMC.


Here's another telling sign that this a Marine imposter :

" Reconnaissance Team Leader with a Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable)."
WTF ?

It's called Force Recon.

Change the flag or keep it . . . but don't pretend to a Marine.

So far ...78 comments...hold my beer while I go take a piss....didn’t get this many comments when a white deputy was killed last week....and I guarantee you he would want each and everyone to love one another. My dad died 6 months ago and he was a wwii and Korea vet. To see the wwii monument disgraced with graffiti is not what they fought for. Many times he told me he fought for the man in front, beside and behind him.

3:58 You are right, the goal IS to keep people divided. That flag is the absolute banner/symbol of division. No state with a population of white and black people can EVER look to that flag for anything but division. Isn't that obvious? Why the hell would a modern state want to symbolize it's affinity for a cause that embraced the SLAVERY of half it's population unless it wants to create division. Or maybe it doesn't matter to you.

@3:58, most people know that slavery is wrong without having to look at a confederate flag or monument every day. Maybe you need that reminder, but I don’t.

Can the SEC be sued for extortion?

5:18,

You know that Force Recon is a company within every reconnaissance battalion, right? You gave the rest of Recon a sad. I'd give an incredibly tedious lecture about the T/O of a Marine Expeditionary Unit in 2001 but no one cares. 10 seconds of Google Fu and anyone reading will see you're full of shit.

I responded referencing the Marines because the gentlemen to whom I was responding was implying that should one not have voted in 2001, they should STFU. He even said he was waiting for responses. I obliged. Apparently that hit a little too close to home.

You don't know real Marines that don't bring up the USMC? Kinda hard when it was a quarter of my life. Hell, it comes up when I discuss recipes.

Real Marines don't express emotions or react to political commentary? You ever read Smedly Butler's "War is a Racket"? I recall Mad Dog Mattis responding publicly about the current president. Most real Marines vouch for them as being real Marines.

You're either a History Channel / Armchair warrior or you did the minimum enlistment in supply or motor transport for a non combat arms unit. Go put on Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American," wrap yourself in a flag and go belittle the clerk at Lowe's for not immediately applying your Hero/Veteran discount. Either way I have more time waiting for my parachute to open than you have in service.

How's that for an emotional response?

@7:47 Thank you for your service. You have earned the right to be heard and to be treated with great respect.

As far as the current flag, my first memory of the confederate flag was one thrown on my family's front porch when I was around six years old. There were also threats that were claimed to be from the KKK. Apparently my father refused to be intimidated and "talked back" to a Caucasian man.

So many comments, many attacking the opinion of the author
Who expressed it under his name
Yet no others have done so.

Mississippi. Still 50.

"If you are referring to the confederate battle flag, all those fought and died for a flawed ideal."

Let's see if I have it...The states that chose to leave the union of states, just as they chose earlier to join it, doing so for a sense of states rights, sovereignty and in rebellion against heavy and unfair taxation and tariffs...were suffering under a 'flawed ideal'?

I'm pretty sure you have no idea that the South, the states that formed the Confederacy, were providing the lion's share of taxes that ran the country prior to the war.

Well, there's always Puerto Rico.

Change the flag. But don't expect it to make one damned bit of difference. Not one damned bit.

The cries for further reparations, entitlements and 'take downs' will still resonate just as loudly, if not more loudly, now that the 'offended' will think they've gained traction.

Regional arrogance will still reflect just as negatively on our state and the entire South as ever before.

Companies taking a look at this state will still cross us off the list, not because of a flag, but because of untrained and ill-motivated citizens who should make up a workforce.

Politics won't change but will still be chasing greenbacks, regardless of a flag.

Whichever flag flies, there will still be thousands who are told they should be offended by it, and, therefore, will be.

@320
"A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union.
In the momentous step which our State has taken of dissolving its connection with the government of which we so long formed a part, it is but just that we should declare the prominent reasons which have induced our course.
Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation...."

Think this is the flawed ideal the above poster is referencing. Also, the declaration does not go on to mention states rights, tariffs, or taxation.

@3:20 - Gee I wonder what particular state right and sovereign decision they wanted to protect. Any ideas what that could have been about?

@11:39

Nice mic drop.