[redwitch]

To me, the Stars and Bars is a symbol of brother fighting brother, of the unnecessary slaughter of so many young men, of people that lost a war but still haven't accepted that fact. Slavery was a very small part of the issues causing this war. If you read the Emancipation Proclamation carefully, you'll see it really freed no slaves. Even counties in Maryland that were pro-North were exempt from freeing their slaves. It really was a war of land and economics.

And, again, what people choose to display on their private property is their right and privilege. What our government, whether local or national, displays should be limited to state and national flags, not symbols of beliefs. It is one thing to honor heroes of a war, regardless of who won, or those who died, even if on the losing side, it is another to fly a flag claiming to represent a region (the "rural South" in this case) which is not legally recognized as such, on government land.

As to the U.N. displaying flags of all member nations, that is, at best, an extremely specious argument. Next you'll use embassies flying their national flags on their sovereign ground as an argument to justify flying rhe Stars n Bars.