Flag waving on hallowed ground
by digby
So, I took a trip to the Gettysburg memorial yesterday and look who was there protesting:
The Gettysburg National Park does feature some memorials to various Confederate Army units. Like the Union soldier memorials they were paid for by the various states from which the units hailed. But for the most part Gettysburg is about Union soldiers who, as we all know, prevailed in that epic battle on Union soil. Lincoln's most famous speech was all about the "great cause" for which they died. They didn't bury any confederate dead in the cemetery. (In fact, the story of what happened to the confederate war dead is really interesting.)
The fact that these were also carrying the wingnut favorite "Don't Tread On Me" flag shows they were there making a modern political point, not staging a tribute to the confederate soldiers, and frankly they soured the whole atmosphere. It really is hallowed ground.
I don't think any of the other people who were there yesterday wanted to argue in that place --- the 51,112 men who died in those three days of fighting on that battlefield settled the issue in blood a very long time ago. It's obsessive and sick to keep pushing confederate "pride" after all this time. Especially there.
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