While we still may be at odds about this particular matter concerning the flag, for what it's worth, I agree 100% the sentiments you expressed above. Although I was conceived in Texas, when life begins, circumstances were such in the early 1940s that I was born in Yankeeland (like Hank Hill in the "King of the Hill" cartoon) but moved back to Dixie by choice after I became of age. So, I always considered this home in spite of what the official record of birth says. :)
The South has always appealed to me and even as youngster growing up north of the Mason-Dixon line, I had a longing to return to the land where my life began. Virtually everything about Southern culture and values appeals to my sensibilities. And on those rare occasions where I venture up north, I too am sick of the mockery that this region and I take. There truly are those (especially in liberal New England) who have an irrational seething hatred for this region and its people.
And I'll close by posting one image that I frequently use here on Free Republic:
The "Solid South" does indeed exist nowadays. The states of the Confederacy are now ironically those that most oppose slavery, the yoke of Big Labor's union thugs. The South is now the foremost region when it comes to individual freedom and genuine economic liberty. The region once known for its abolitionists are now shackled by the liberal tyranny of forced unionism. There's no need to wait for the South to rise again. The map vividly shows that indeed it already had!
Ping to a few other FReepers on this thread to make my thoughts clear and to show that in spite of what may perceived by my other posts, I'm by no means anti-Southern but absolutely love it here! Thanks to all for interesting and civil dialog in this thread. That's what I've come to expect from FR even when our views vary a bit.