Can we not just celebrate that the damned thing is DOWN?

Show some pride in an accomplishment?

Just for a MINUTE?

If you ain't got bitterness and resentment, even in your humiliation of your enemy, some people still think it's a loss.

i may have misunderstood who you were referring to, sorry

yes, the haters gonna keep hating and this will strengthen that hate

this issue is far from over, it will overlap with their other forms of hate they use daily

I never dreamed I'd see that piece-of-shit flag taken down in my lifetime, and I am overjoyed that it happened with such speed and purpose. Things will go into the toilet again, soon enough; how about we enjoy the sensation of being proud Americans, just for a while?

that we WON one battle.

For that, I will savor the moment.

She's a child who honestly believes I have friends who hate her just because her skin is black - because people on my facebook page are flipping out over that RAG!

Yeah, I'm going to savor this win with her. While explaining we have many more battles to fight, but we can WIN. Just like we won this one.

it did seem odd to me that they did it so REVERENTLY, which IMO it did not deserve.

Maybe he threw it in the can.

You think?

today in South Carolina.

Try not to diminish the importance of today's event by manufacturing yet another controversy.

down. There's no need to do that. The flag is down. It's over. Celebrate! Don't hang up on how it was taken down. I don't know if you noticed or not, but the guard who tied the string around that rag gave a two-fist victory pump in reaction to his own duty in that moment. He celebrated. So can you.

I honestly believe that this "ceremony" will only serve to encourage "White Citizens Councils," and their brothers who still wear white sheets, to continue their "cause."

Then again, they really don't need any ceremony to continue their ugly mission of hatred, bigotry and nihilism.

However, I really did take a moment to feel good that the flag/rag came down. Unfortunately, it's just one more baby step towards justice.

Hope not, but look at who loves that flag.

Cant get dumber or meaner than the flag lovers.

the way it was taken down will deprive them of another cause. They cannot use disrespect of the flag as another issue to recruit more haters.

Had it been done any other way they could have complained about their flag being treated badly.....

Letting it fall to the ground, or otherwise failing to retire the colors with honor, would be admitting that their display was a white nationalist policy of terror.

The Lege and governor are not ready for that yet. I'm sure that plenty of face-saving was part of the deal, just as was the Confederacy's surrender. Just as any surrender entails.

the diehards to go on waving that damn flag.

Then again, the bigots will go on waving it, and today's ceremony will probably increase the number of flags waved under the name of "Southern Heritage" -- also known as hatred and bigotry.

Today's ceremony only moved the issue to the forefront again. I really don't know how much longer it's going to take for this symbol, and everything it stands for, to finally come to an end.

Perhaps a few more, even, because the Legislature failed to repudiate it.

However, this ain't surgery; it's social engineering. We are lucky to get the flag down at all, or so soon. We can hope that it will also go out of fashion, but this is progress toward that very end.

I saw it live 10,000 miles away and was still disgusted at the respect accorded that symbol of racism and treason.

I was insulted by the honor guards' pants-tucked-in-boots thing -- how gauche.

the right, only to the legislature to remove it.

A few kudos to her for speaking up, but I'd bet anything that she had already stuck her toe in the water and read the mood of the state and most of the lawmakers. So she "courageously spoke out" once it was safe to do so.

In fact after Bree took it down last week it should have stayed down

I get it, malaise. That miserable rag should be put in a museum of infamy.

But as I calm down a bit over this morning's outrage of an "honor guard," the political situation called for granting some "face saving" to the bigots.

Yeah, it really sucks. And there are many who think that kissing the collective asses of the bigots will work. (IMO, it won't.)

Nonetheless, it's an attempt, by reasonable people, to give it a try. Let's watch what happens in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

I don't care how they took it down, frankly. It's gone.

was brought down in an official manner, just as it was put up in an official manner. The sight of it being lowered, rolled up and tied, and handed off to the black guardsman will live in my memory forever. I shed tears of joy and I think it was done exactly how many of us southerners who hate that flag approve.

flag. No one stole it. It was taken down and immediately put where it should have been put over a hundred years ago. Among the confederate museum artifacts. No more excuse to moan about how badly we are treating it. Over - done with.

if they had taken it down in some kind of cavalier manner, it would've just given more fuel to the people who are pissed about it coming down. Did it get more respect than it warranted? I believe so. But I think it's better to err on the side of showing more respect. No need to stoop down to their level.

If it was removed as you would like, then you would have seen a hundred fold of the backlash you suggest. Why stoke a fire that is on it's way out?

it represents is alive and well.





Millions and Millions of americans, aka teaparty, think this picture is funny

But will respond this evening. I think you missed my point.

fire is going out, I get that.

and it is a big one

..where you are coming from. All I am saying is if blow up the flagpole,burn the flag, and stuff it in a garbage can, it will inspire many more to wave it in our faces who would have otherwise let it die with a lot less protest. That's all I'm saying, and it's simply a firm opinion. Thanks.

The flag should have been burned off the pole. The use of the Honor Guard shows they still have respect for that flag.

Why the hell should be surprised when they aren't gracious in defeat?

LOL

talking about this in the morning, and chiefly take a cue from him.

The flag itself isn't worthy of dignity, but to process of removing it should be dignified.

It would be unseemly for government to act in a petulant fit. In countless battles throughout countless wars the defeated have been allowed to walk-out with the colors and, at times, even their weapons. When Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Gen. Grant ordered his men to attention. American officers showed courtesies to the Japanese party affecting surrender at the end of WW2. It's how the victor demonstrates the magnanimity to receive the surrender.

Emotionalism is for tribes, not matured nations.

The surrender was overseen by Gen Joshua Chamberlain commanding the 1st Division of V Corps. He ordered the salute rendered as the Confederates marched past to lay down their arms. CS Lt Gen John B. Gordon, leading the surrender column, returned the salute.

We could all have fun taking a drink every time we see the word "haters" in this thread. Looks like some people could sure use their sorrows over the flag removal lifted. Awwww!

it makes that flag's removal "official" and shows it is sanctioned by the government.