Columnists
Yet Another Dueling Banjos Moment
Daniel Ruth
Published: October 16, 2008
It is perhaps unwittingly fitting that the massive Confederate flag fluttering in the breeze is situated at Interstates 4 and 75, a proper reflection of the combined IQs that came up with this hickville idea in the first place.Published: October 16, 2008
By odd coincidence, the newer, bigger, weirder flag made its appearance at about the same time National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell was arriving in town to tout the benefits of having next February's Super Bowl in our fair village.
Goodell estimated 100,000 visitors will descend on the Tampa Bay area for the weeklong festivities. And what will many of these folks see as they pull into Tampa - aside from the topless/lap dance/hoochie-coochie salons?
Courtesy of Marion Lambert and his Sons of Confederate Veterans In Dire Need Of Getting A Life, they'll be treated to a symbol of hatred, racism, oppression and treason blowing in the wind.
Doo-dah, Doo-dah.
Clarion Call
Make no mistake about it, just as the Nazi Party had every right to march in Skokie, the heart of the Chicago area's Jewish population, so, too, Lambert and his Confederacy of Dunces have all the protections afforded by the First Amendment of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, a country they so disparage, to express themselves by virtue of this emblem of divisiveness.
This flag foolery isn't about free speech. It has nothing to do with advancing the body of knowledge about the Civil War. It's about good manners. It's about being responsible citizens. It's about fundamental common decency.
By raising their over-the-top flag along I-4, these dumber than a sack of cannon balls revisionist gooberesque historians have done nothing but rub their thumb into the eyes of this community, especially Tampa's minority residents who continue to perceive the Confederate banner as a clarion call to the days of slavery.
Now, by running up an ever-bigger Stars & Bars on the flagpole of prejudice, it's become an elbow into the social consciousness of a city that has struggled for years to come to terms with its racial past.
Juleps And Hoop Skirts
To Lambert and his Sons of Clueless Confederate Veterans, the flag may represent the delusion of juleps on the veranda and maidens in hoop skirts.
But to newcomers to Tampa, black residents, tourists and businesses contemplating making an investment into the economic fabric of the city, this flag says: "We're more backward than Gomer Pyle meets 'Deliverance.'"
Lambert mused the other day that if putting up a bigger flag would get him more national news coverage then that would be just swell. But isn't this a bit like Quasimodo wishing if only he had an even bigger hunchback, it might improve his chances of getting lucky with Esmeralda?
Well, sure, Lambert and his Sons of Confederate Veterans From The Planet Kalidnoid Seven may well get their wish and attract some national news face time. But what's the point if that exposure only serves to portray one as a complete insensitive boob?
Doo-Duh, Doo-Duh!
Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog.