Petition to Ban Confederate Flag from Walton County Courthouse

[Kaydence]

I don't tell anyone how to celebrate their heritage. But I will tell them that holding on to a symbol that offends millions of Americans doesn't necessarily mean you are a racist but it 100% means you am an *******.

You're entitled to your opinion jensky. You are NOT entitled to tell other folks how or what they should be offended by!!!!!!!!!!!! And people are free to call you the same names that you can't articulate without resorting to unprintable name calling.

 

[Kaydence]

Well thank you. At least this gives us common ground

Touché!!

 

[PoppaJ]

I agree with you 100%. I do not agree with voter suppression anything. I hope the Supreme Court fixes this over reach on the republicans part to change voter districts in their favor. Our voting process needs to open, free and easy. We can always enforce election laws to punish those that try to game the system.

So you see we can agree on things. Where I disagree with you probably is that even though you and I did not vote for DT he is OUR President. Calling him MY President is kind of what I am talking about. When liberals do not like the way an election goes they secede from our Republic. Who is the President of your Republic? I don't know if you are an elitist but if you are you will only be satisfied with your candidates and your opinions and everything else is trash. Elitist are all or nothing thinkers. Of course these are my opinions and I look forward to you proving me wrong by giving people with a different viewpoint a chance. Everyone including DT deserves a chance. It is never okay to ridicule another person unless it is your profession and even then there are limits. People are going too far with their disapproval. The precedent that is being set is very dangerous.

I find it comical you keep using the term elitist while telling me how I and others feel and what we believe. If I ever need a life coach I will be sure to exclude you first.

 

[mputnal]

I find it comical you keep using the term elitist while telling me how I and others feel and what we believe. If I ever need a life coach I will be sure to exclude you first.

I just call it like I read it. If your point is that I don't really know you, then I agree with you. If you listen really listen I think you will see that I own my on thoughts AND willing to find common ground with people. Just like I did with Jensky

I think both political parties have their elitist. If you are not aware of the ones in this thread then you need to go back and read the posts and decide for yourself which side it comes from.

 

[Kaydence]

This is only about the flag huh?? Really?

By TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press

Published: June 21, 2017, 12:25 PM

TAMPA, Fla. — The battle over whether to move Confederate memorials has come to another Southern U.S. city, this one in Florida.

On Wednesday morning, the Hillsborough County Commission started discussing whether to move a statue that was erected in Tampa in 1911 in front of the county courthouse. Commissioner Les Miller has called for its removal.

Commission chambers were packed, with several people holding signs that said, “Americans build monuments we don’t remove them!”

Emotions were already running high as debate got underway. A woman with an American flag slung over her body like a sash spoke during public comment and played a music video showing various monuments around the country.

Commission chair Stacy White implored people in the audience to be polite.

“This is obviously a contentious issue,” said White. “I’m going to have zero tolerance for outbursts. If this continues I’m going to begin to ask security and law enforcement staff. Let’s have civil discourse today. That’s something that’s lacking across this entire country.”

Advocates of Southern heritage say removing these symbols is a disservice to the men who fought in the Civil War.

The monument is in front of a county building that contains administrative offices and traffic court. Facing north, the statue depicts a proud and young Confederate soldier, while facing south, a battered and weary soldier in tattered clothing plods along.

 

[bob bob]

@mputnal returns after 2 years - welcome back. Interesting that your last posts in 2015 were about confederate monuments and you're back when the issue comes up again.



Killing time between nole games and Trump rallies?

 

[mputnal]

Poppaj, you have asked very good questions and I continue to think about them. Jensky and a few others are just trolls. Why would anyone (me, Walton County, Rednecks driving around with beer cans in the back of their trucks, Rural Southern Citizens and many other decent and good people take pride in anything to do with the Confederate Soldier, Southern Heritage and Southern traditions. Yes the Confederate Flag has been hijacked by hate groups which until the church shootings I never really thought about. I had always believed that the Confederate Flag represented the Confederate Soldier and Southern Heritage and those opposing were ignorant to our American History which was frustrating when you keep hearing the same old inaccurate truths about the civil war. The frustration intensified when this thread started and good people like yourself seemed confused about our American History. This Country was formed with brilliant and decent people who were white supremist and racist. The negro was believed to be an inferior race back then and this belief continued on through and after the civil war. There are just as many quotes of white supremacy and racism from all over this Country including Abraham Lincoln yet (it seems) many liberals are choosing to put all of it on the South. So this thread became about the politics where both sides are extremely polarized and some are very uncivil. We live in a different era now and we ALL know how WRONG slavery and racism was and IS. The frustration on my part is that on a thread like this where you can hide civility with negative sound bites became rather habitual. I think human nature is addicted to immediate gratification and this thread was itself a troll for that behavior in all of us. I really want to believe that people are not all or nothing thinkers and we can all live and let live without hatred.

Okay back to the primary question that you accurately asked. I grew up in the South and traveled all over the South and my observations are that the people who live in the South are warm, law abiding, smart, community oriented and very decent. Of course there are exceptions but those exceptions do not speak for the Southern Heritage that I know. I have read many books about the soldiers in the Civil War on both sides. I was immediately drawn to the Confederate Soldier who had so much less than the Union Soldiers. The conditions that the Confederate Soldier lived in was inhumane. My sensitivities are very high with anyone who dishonors and disrespects the Confederate Soldier. Our history books are generally inaccurate when it comes to the Civil War. There can be no accuracy in history if written with bias. I understand that bias but as I live and learn I see that people (primarily liberals) try too hard to distance themselves from that part of our history. In order to justify their own prejudices and biases AND history they began to trash the South, the Confederate Soldier and Southern Heritage as the root cause of racism in America. It is unfortunate because those who respect and honor our Southern Heritage are being attacked with hateful rhetoric which of course leads to confrontation as Southern people are just as proud as anyone else. So both sides gets carried away with emotions as this thread has proven. Is it even possible that humans are able to overcome bias and prejudice? My opinion is that it will happen with or without civil discussions as people are generally good. However it happens a lot faster if we can have discussions and debates with civility with intent to compromise our opinions and ideals no matter how strong they may be. So the point of your question is the problem. Why would decent people fly the Confederate Flag? The question is filled with self righteousness. Why not assume that people are decent and find ways to compromise? When we allow politics and self righteous behavior and anger to control our ability to co-exist we ALL lose. Please don't be offended as it has been accurately pointed out that I have self-righteous opinions as well. We are ALL imperfect and trying to be better humans. All we can do is keep trying. We make civility harder than it needs to be. Our principles are not always perfect as we live on a big round planet of diversity. Uniformity will always be a challenge. I think my Granny Pearl had it right when she taught me to always clean around my own back door when I became so frustrated with what other people do or don't do. The question for both of us is whether or not we are able to tolerate, accept, compromise and generally live with each other without judgement...

 

[mputnal]

I am not sure why my last post was tripled. I apologize as this thread is already too much.

Bob Bob, Kurt believed that I had nothing good to say in this forum so he blocked my posts. I think he said something to the effect that "there is nothing worse than a troll". I try to read as much as I can about our community so I keep up with what is happening on Sowal, The Walton Sun, The Defuniak Herald-Breeze. The Confederate Flag issue is important to me. I posted a comment just to see if I was still being blocked and was surprised that it went through. I believe that I speak with civility and offer an opposing perspective to many in this forum. I am glad that you know me well enough to my sports teams but apparently you are not reading my post and just trolling around posting your disapproval of someone you don't know. No worries I am use to it. If you want to know me I do not hide my name and you can probably find me rather easy. When I am not busy (like right now) I enjoy conversation and you are always invited to my place. I have no problem with someone with a different sports team or political candidate but you might be surprised by my voting history or my life history. Probably not much different than yourself but of course that is just a guess. Again I invite you to share a coffee or whatever beverage you prefer. I prefer human contact over these dang computer screens anyway!

 

[Tyrone Magnanimous]

Yep, I was right the whole time....

"I can't be a racist because of my extended Mexican family" hilarious and clichè

 

[Kaydence]

Yep, I was right the whole time....

"I can't be a racist because of my extended Mexican family" hilarious and clichè

Are there any other offhand remarks you want to make ? Get them all off your chest because I am not going to continue to respond to this kind of ignorance!