New Jersey Governor Murphy should worry about his own state’s flag, not Mississippi’s

The Star Ledger of Newark ^ | 05.01.19 | Paul Mulshine

[Coleus]

Can somebody tell Gov. Phil Murphy that the voters elected him to run the state, not to start another civil war?

Apparently not. Last week, our governor opened up hostilities between New Jersey and Mississippi over the issue of state flags.

One from each of the 50 states flies in Liberty State Park – or did so until Murphy declared Friday that Mississippi’s flag must be removed. It seems that Mississippi’s flag incorporates elements of the Confederate Battle Flag. That’s the flag known mainly for drawing people into long, boring arguments about exactly what it signifies.

Fortunately, we here in New Jersey do not need to engage in these arguments. The Civil War ended 154 years ago. Our side won.

That saves us from having to discuss just what the flags of the various states on the losing side of that war signify. Since it’s my job to figure such things out, I called a couple of my friends who actually care enough about such minutiae to have participated as re-enactors of Civil War battles.

These re-enactors can have endless debates over such thorny questions as the difference between a rifle and a musket. All I know is, you’d have to threaten me with one of them to get me to run around pretending to have been in one of those battles.

To each his own, however. One of them explained to me that if Murphy is trying to purge the country of state flags that contain remnants of the Confederate era, he’s got his work cut out for himself.

It seems the flags of several states, including Alabama and Florida, incorporate that sort of squashed “X” pattern known as a “St. Andrew’s Cross,” that appears on the Confederate battle flag.

[Ace's Dad]

This could be the new state flag for Minnesota, Or Michigan...(nazi/muslim flag)

Over my dead body! And I'm not alone!

[beelzepug]

“...more political pandering to hide his disaster as governor.”

This will no doubt be the most important decision he’ll make as governor. /s