South Carolina Finally Does The "Right" Thing

The Confederate flag finally came down from the statehouse in South Carolina. How anyone could have thought it was a good idea to put it up, I cannot understand. At the end of most wars, there are negotiations regarding unconditional surrender. Typically, any symbols of the vanquished regime are no longer allowed to be displayed in public. Especially in a state that receives federal dollars from the U. S. government, flying the rebel flag is treasonous. Encouraging citizens to take up arms against our nation is still a crime, but for some reason, we allowed that to be sanctioned and supported by the state government who, just this week, voted to not only take it down, but to remove even the flag pole on which it flew. Interesting that about a week ago, the woman who scaled the pole and physically removed the traitorous display was taken into custody and faces fines and jail time for her actions.

The founders of our nation believed that the Constitution would be updated and changed to keep pace with the changing needs and awareness of humanity, but they also could not have imagined that some turn-coats would betray our nation like some did during the Civil War. Rather than be bullied by the ideas of men who lived over two centuries ago, the founders believed that as humanity learned more and grew, we would accept new truths and hold new causes dear. Thomas Jefferson, actually referred to this concept when he stated "Lord help this nation if it should go another twenty years without another revolution of this kind." Back then he was referring to the Revolution, which we used to be taught was fought against the oligarchs in England who taxed us without offering representation in Parliament.

It seems hard to believe that we could be still be holding on to ideas, images and beliefs that are wrapped up in that flag, but there you have it. More than a century after the south gave terms of unconditional surrender, there are those who still believe that the south will "rise again." Interestingly, not even most southerners would want to see that occur. It took until the Vietnam War for the number of war dead in all conflicts engaged in by the U.S.A. to eclipse those lost in the Civil War, but the dislocation and strife during reconstruction, as well as the hatred toward our fellow Americans has been almost as bad as erasing a generation of young men from our society.

Honoring our war dead has far more to do with not making those same mistakes again than holding on to the confused motivations and blind following that they did that led them to the battlefield. We owe the dead more than rebellion. We owe them more than seething hatred toward others. We owe them more than false respect for their treason and we certainly owe them more than falling into the same traps laid by the ultra-wealthy to ensnare our nation and her people. I say, the flag ought never have been put up in the first place. When it was taken down by a woman willing to climb the pole to do so, the statehouse employees should not have put it back up. Finally, a little good sense has come to South Carolina, let us hope it is there to stay.