I have no winning alternative to offer, but well over a decade ago, I stopped voting for the “lesser of two evils” and cast my vote for Constitution Party candidates. I would ask that you take another look at the post titled, “Lost Causes” when considering what you will do on election day. Is your one vote really going to make a difference in the outcome? No, of course not. Then why would you be willing to give your vote to anyone other than a candidate who you truly believe is the man best qualified to lead the nation in the way you believe it should be lead?

A Southern gentleman does what is RIGHT – not what is expedient. Our ancestors fought for the Lost Cause because it was the right thing to do. We have a noble heritage to uphold. Voting should be a moral decision not a political decision.

Edited to add:
For another perspective on why voting your conscience makes practical, real-world sense, read “Voting Strategy 2004 – When the Lesser of Two Evils is No Longer An Option“. Although this was written for the 2004 election, the principles still apply. In the interest of disclosure, I played a major role in writing this document.

Today, of all days, is when the Confederate flag should be proudly on display. We fly a large 4′ x 6′ Confederate flag (the “standard” flag is 3′ x 5′) year-round at our home. Today is when we will replace the now-faded flag with a new one, and respectfully dispose of the old flag that has served so well. It will be neatly folded, placed on concrete paver, and burned. Cremation or burial are honorable ways of disposing of a flag that is no longer in presentable condition. If burning or burial cannot be done for some reason, another way of disposing of a tattered flag is neatly folding it, wrapping it in something, and then placing it in a trash container. It should never just be tossed in the trash as though it were just a scrap of cloth.

For the past several years, we have hosted a Confederate Independence Day dinner for friends. Unfortunately, we had to call it off for this year due to my wife having surgery on her hand. Next year though, we will resume our annual Confederate Independence Day dinner.

Is the repudiation of the Confederate flag reason enough to reject a candidate for something as important and all-encompassing as the presidency? On its face – no, it is not; while it is important to many of us, given the problems that this nation is facing, the Confederate flag is pretty low on the priority list even for those of us who actively support The South. It is, however, grounds for crossing a candidate off the list if things like honor and dependability and reliability have any meaning. If he is willing to throw the heritage of Southerners under the bus in order to try to win additional support from the Left (and that is extremely doubtful), then what else is he willing to do? Will he stand up for what is right when faced with vocal opposition? If his flip-flop on the Confederate flag is any indication, he will not. That kind of political pandering to Cultural Marxism is clearly a deal-breaker for me as it should be for anyone who considers the character of a man to be more important than the details of his position on a particular issue. Even those who despise the Confederate flag would do well to consider the full ramifications of what Rick Perry has done. Their cause might be next.

Where is the NAACP? Why are they not demanding an end to slavery now? The answer: they are too busy being “offended” by the sight of the Confederate flag. Apparently, being “offended” is quite appealing when it comes to fund-raising and political pandering. Real slavery just isn’t very interesting to those who are busy claiming to be oppressed because some people of their race were slaves in America over 150 years ago.

Slavery Timeline created by Connie Chastain of the blog 180 Degrees Due South. Reprinted with permission.

If we don't respect our Flag, then how can we expect others to?

This photo is said to be from the 2011 Reunion, South Carolina Division, SCV. Now, I understand that there is some historical precedent for writing on a Confederate flag, and I am certain that this was done from a lack of knowledge and not from malice. That being said, we should know better than to treat our flag this way – but we don’t because we have not been taught.

The Confederate flag is not just a piece of cloth that one would write on to commemorate something. That is just a short step away from graffiti. The Confederate flag is not a cheap table cloth that one would set a Styrofoam coffee cup on.

When I say that this was done not with malice, but from a lack of knowledge, we really have only ourselves to blame. Without a set of rules and guidelines, we cannot expect people to know what is and is not acceptable use of the Confederate flag. There no widely-accepted code of etiquette for the Confederate flag as there is for the united States flag. The key phrase here is “widely-accepted”. There IS such a code, but it is largely unknown.

The Code of Confederate Flag Etiquette was a project of the Confederate Colonel forum in 2008. Confederate Colonel has since changed from a web forum to the current blog format, but at that time, we had a large pool of dedicated Southrons who took this on as a group project. I started by writing the basic document based on several existing flag codes. That was published on the forum, and members added their comments; we finally ended up with something we felt would give our flag the respect it deserves. It has been amended based on suggestions from reenactors, and I am confident that it will continue to be updated as we learn more.

We started with the basic idea that the Confederate flag is not merely an historical relic, but the flag of a nation. Not a nation that used to exist over a century ago and was defeated, but a real nation that, while defeated militarily, never formally surrendered or dissolved as a governmental or (more importantly) a social entity. Some may argue against that point, and we acknowledge that there are reasonable arguments against it; however, we decided that given the choice, we would err on the side of respect for a people and the flag that represents them. The Confederate flag still represents the Southern People.

In the previous post, A Southern Nation, I presented the case that The South is a nation. As such, the symbols of that nation are due the same level of respect as the symbols of any other nation. With that as a basic premise, we began with the regulations concerning the flag of the united States of America. Part of that basic premise includes the idea that the Confederate flag is of equal stature with the flags of other nations when displayed within the borders of the united States. When displayed at the same time and place as the united States flag, the Confederate flag should be treated in the same manner as the flag of other nations such as England or Canada or Australia. I will point out that, in the interest of not causing undue controversy, I never display both at the same time. That is my own personal decision though.

The Code of Confederate Flag Etiquette is a resource that I hope will be used to prevent the unintentional dishonoring of the flag of the Southern people – the flag that our ancestors fought and died under, and the flag that the Southern people live under. It deserves to be treated with respect.

As an example, here is the entire contents of a thread posted yesterday on a forum for Michigan State University sports fans. In the entire thread, there is exactly one post that shows some small measure of understanding. The slanders continue until the thread is finally closed by the moderator. Anyone who does regular searches on the web on terms like “Confederate” or “Southern” will know that this is not the least bit uncommon.

June 1, 2010
Michigan State University forum

http://www.spartantailgate.com/forums/msu-red-cedar-message-board/447217-what-does-confederate-flag-mean-you.html

What does the Confederate flag mean to you?
Spent Memorial Weekend on the Muskegon River by Hardy Dam – there’s a very nice RV resort on the water we stay at every year with another couple and their kids. We went out on their boat on Saturday and pulled up onto this beach/cove area to have a picnic lunch – lots of other boats there – I’m guessing locals. Three different house boats were flying the confederate flag – I just don’t get it. And I saw several beer coolers with confederate flag stickers all over as well.

Nothing (not even rusted out cars in front of a trailer) says Redneck White Trash to me like the confederate flag.

And I’ve never seen a finer collection of tramp stamps in my life –

I would have sworn we pulled up to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert.

I’m getting old!
__________________

It represents treason since they actively took up arms against their own nation. Now off to Wells this goes.
__________________

Racists, inbreds that think blacks should still be slaves and that we should return to the “good ole days” when the south was king because they owned other people.
__________________

It is a sign of treason, racism and the person being an ignorant moron.
__________________

The flag of a country that lost a war and is no more.
__________________

Confederates=losers
__________________

It’s hard to know what people are thinking when they fly the Confederate flag but to me it symbolizes every bad stereotype about the south. Rednecks, slavery, racial prejudice, the KKK, isolationism, etc.
__________________

rednecks, racists, mouth-breathers, knuckle-draggers, nazis, skinheads, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of right wing hate radio..
__________________

I think to some it has come to represent general rebellion. To me it represents a link to part of our history, and part of this countries mindset that is not the most honorable.

Should the “South” and everything the “stars and bars” represents be remembered…yes, should it be honored…no.
__________________

There is no way this thread can turn out well.

Closing it. Take it to Wells if you wish.
__________________

While I will have to agree that a beer cooler with Confederate flag stickers is hardly a respectful display of the symbols of our heritage, at least these folks were doing something. That is more than most Southerners ever do to promote the culture and heritage of The South.