Well I have read HK's explanation and I am satisfied he acknowledges he made an error in judgment. I am sure we have all been there before, I know I have. I hope in the future if I made such a boo-boo I get a chance to explain myself.
In my opinion it is time to move on and not attack those who are on the same team as we are.
I agree; we must move on. I am of the opinion that HK gives more to than he takes away from our cause. A black man in a grey kepi carrying the battle flag and speaking intelligently upon the subject is a very large asset indeed - and one that should not be wasted.
However, we should not fail to learn something from all of this. If it makes us all think twice about using any of (y)our flags for anything that isn’t absolutely proper, something good has come out of the whole mess. Let's be real here, as we say in Noo Yawk. It’s the height of hypocrisy to demand respect for the battle flag when Southerners use it on belly rings, thongs, shoes and off-color tee shirts and car decorations. Either the flag deserves respect or it doesn't. You cannot demand from others what you don't give yourselves.
As well, it is time to discard the whole "redneck", dull-witted Ernest-Larry the cable guy hillbilly image. I always loved Hee Haw; it was good clean fun, great music and very smart things were being said, tongue in cheek if one was paying attention. But folks today have very short attention spans. They are extremely superficial and see only the most obvious. So Southerners can no longer afford to make fun of themselves not even a little bit. God knows, there are enough people out there who want to marginalize you as inbred, violent, stupid and bigoted. You don't want to give them any ammunition in their efforts.
This is another reason why when folks respond to columns or articles, they should take especial care to use proper grammar and spelling. Write out the post on a document, run it through spell check, look it over for obvious typos and grammatical "glitches" and then post it. The simple fact is that it doesn't matter if the point you made is much better than their point. They'll laugh it to scorn if you don't present it "properly". It's sad that that is the case today, but you have to function in the times that you're given. No sense trying to do otherwise.
