RE: The Confederate Flag...
First of all, I adamantly oppose anyone flying that flag, let alone in the frickin' North. It saddens me deeply that many culturally conservative and/or rural Northerners have felt alienated enough to adopt a flag of a group that their own culturally conservative and rural ancestors fought and died to defeat. Primary sources are quite clear that there was no "urban-rural divide" with one's support for the Union ... heck, if anything, the rural areas of the North were more fervent about fighting the war to preserve the Union than cities like New York or Boston.
With that said, the flag sadly has come to symbolize "country life" or something of that nature to many, and I would hypothesize that the areas in which it is most popular in the North are in states with huge urban-rural divides? I could see someone from rural New York who hates the influence NYC has on the state falling for that traitorous rag moreso than someone from rural South Dakota.
Lastly, let's remember that there are small regions of Illinois, Indiana (has been mentioned) and Ohio (has been mentioned) that probably historically felt more in common with the South than their own states. Southern Illinois had segregated schools WAY past the rest of the state in the Twentieth Century, for example. So, I would be less surprised at somebody in Southern IL flying that flag than I would at someone from rural Central IL flying it, though the latter does depressingly exist, too.
Yeah screw Yankees who fly the flag 100%. I think Beaver 2.0 a few months ago did have a good post defending the use of southerners flying the flag and although he may disagree with it, they aren't deserving of extreme contempt.
It's times like these that I am thankful to have had a summer home in Virginny so that I can claim my exemption.
