Honk for Confederate Pride

I can't believe I beat Walton GOP to posting this. Enjoy ...

from tampabay.com/buzz

Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, has filed legislation to create a new license plate featuring the Confederate battle flag.

But the controversial nature of the flag and failure to establish a plate before makes for a difficult road to approval.

The plate, featuring four Confederate-era flags as well as buttons worn by soldiers, was designed by the Florida division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group pitched the idea last year and got nowhere. Proceeds would be used for education programs and graveyard restoration.

Florida, like other Southern states, has struggled over the image of the Confederate flag and the plate will surely stir controversy. In 2001, Gov. Jeb Bush discreetly removed the flag from the Capitol. His successor, Gov. Charlie Crist, has made inroads with the African-American community that sees the flag as an enduring symbol of racism.

"A lot of people are making a big issue out of it," Brown said. "But all we're doing is giving individuals the right to choose to make a statement about their heritage." That's no different, he said, than people who want to see Martin Luther King Jr's name grace street signs. Browns says he is one of them and has sponsored a bill to rename part of Highway 90 in Walton County after the slain civil rights leader.

A handful of other states have Confederate heritage plates, including Georgia, Louisiana and North Carolina.

Doesn't Don Brown (R) have anything better to do up in DeFuniak. Don't we currently have enough vanity plates already..I guess he is up for re-election in Nov? ....enough said.

On the positive side, I like the graphics of the plate, classier than car flags or a plastic bumber sticker. Unfortunately, the message that flag sends still remains misconstrued, and always will.

Doesn't Don Brown (R) have anything better to do up in DeFuniak. Don't we currently have enough vanity plates already..I guess he is up for re-election in Nov? ....enough said.

On the positive side, I like the graphics of the plate, classier than car flags or a plastic bumber sticker. Unfortunately, the message that flag sends still remains misconstrued, and always will.

Re-election has never played a role in Don's representation of his district. But he does get re-elected at some of the highest rates in the State of Florida, and has been rated an A+ legislator by several non-partisan organizations.

I also believe that we have way too many vanity plates in this State, but in a country with a 1st amendment, is it fair that we allow some to have plates for their causes yet others are not allowed because as a majority we do not care for their cause? If the plate is allowed, one can just choose not to purchase it if they do not support the message.

The bill was submitted at the request of a group of constituents. Do we want someone in office that represents everyone, or just represents people that they agree with?

The plate does look kind of neat, imho.

good point, WGOP, I do buy the vanity plates for all my vehicles. You know that plate would look GOOD on my beach Bronco...

Re-election has never played a role in Don's representation of his district. But he does get re-elected at some of the highest rates in the State of Florida, and has been rated an A+ legislator by several non-partisan organizations.

I also believe that we have way too many vanity plates in this State, but in a country with a 1st amendment, is it fair that we allow some to have plates for their causes yet others are not allowed because as a majority we do not care for their cause? If the plate is allowed, one can just choose not to purchase it if they do not support the message.

The bill was submitted at the request of a group of constituents. Do we want someone in office that represents everyone, or just represents people that they agree with?

The plate does look kind of neat, imho.

How long will it be until someone calls "it" the "War of Northern Aggression?"

Re-election has never played a role in Don's representation of his district. But he does get re-elected at some of the highest rates in the State of Florida, and has been rated an A+ legislator by several non-partisan organizations.

I also believe that we have way too many vanity plates in this State, but in a country with a 1st amendment, is it fair that we allow some to have plates for their causes yet others are not allowed because as a majority we do not care for their cause? If the plate is allowed, one can just choose not to purchase it if they do not support the message.

The bill was submitted at the request of a group of constituents. Do we want someone in office that represents everyone, or just represents people that they agree with?

The plate does look kind of neat, imho.

In this case I would say absolutely, because like it or not, the Confederate flag has become a divisive and inflammatory symbol to the vast majority of Americans.

When so many prominent and not so prominent hate groups have adapted what once was regarded as a symbol of pride, well, to quote The Princess Bride: "I do not think it means what you think it means."

The swastika for thousands of years was used to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck. But in our post-Nazi Germany world it is IMO the most repellant symbol known to man.

I would not rate the Confederate flag as being quite so repellant -- but there are some that would. The Confederacy was not the same as Nazi Germany, but there are people who have used the Confederate flag as a symbol of their own evil, and while those people did not have the power that Hitler did, some of them had just as much evil in them. The KKK comes to mind.

Displaying the Confederate flag may not make you a racist, but it undoubtedly symbolizes racism to many. And it HAS been used as a prop or cover by some. Consider this story, from Infoplease.com:

In 1956, Georgia adopted a new state flag that, like Mississippi's, incorporated the Confederate battle flag in its design. The flag, introduced two years after Brown v. Board of Education (1954), represented the Georgia legislature's protest against forced integration. Although some claim the new flag was adopted in anticipation of the Confederate Centennial in the 1960s, this argument was largely dismissed as disingenuous. In fact, the very sponsor of 1956 flag, former Georgia House floor speaker Denmark Groover, openly admitted forty-five years later that defiance of segregation was the motivating force behind the new flag, not historical sentiment.

And in Feb. 2001, in Tallahassee:

"Renovations required the removal of the four flags flying above the capitol. The flags, each representing a part of Florida's history, included Spanish, French, and British flags as well as the Confederate "stainless banner," the second national flag of the Confederacy. At the request of Governor Jeb Bush, none of the flags was again raised above the capitol. A spokesperson for Governor Bush commented that, "the governor believes that most Floridians would agree that the symbols of Florida's past should not be displayed in a manner that may divide Floridians today."

#1 is problematic because a "balance" plate was never offered- some sort of reproductive freedom theme.

IMO- there should not be a license plate for either side of the choice issue- personal matters do not belong on license plates.

Some people are calling for the end of vanity plates altogether. It will never happen -- they raise lots of money for major universities, and a bit of money for the minor ones. Also the Florida panther and the manatees.

FY 2007 revenue report

Where the money goes
(you might be surprised)

1) This has been the most controversial one by far but the most offensive thing about IMO it is it could be construed as "anti-privacy". I don't think it evokes an emotional reaction like the Confederate flag tends to do.

2) I don't know how this one could be offensive. I am offended by the pretend cops organizations that call and ask me for money all the time.

3)

4) MLK: He did play around on his wife, but otherwise? An inspirational, not offensive, figure.

Maybe if more people had purchased the Family Values plate, then so many people would not have had to buy the Choose Life plate.

($56,625 raised vs. $805,380)

Gotta have my FSU plate. I'd feel naked without it. Some people buy specialty plates to match their car; I buy cars to match my plates.