Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation

The current Flag of the State of Georgia1 features the seal of the state which bears the words wisdom, justice, and moderation on the pillars of an arch (Which was the inspiration for the Arch on UGA’s Campus. Go Dawgs!).

All of which is just setup for the fact that I firmly believe the jackasses who rallied at Stone Mountain in support of the Confederate flag this past weekend have zero understanding of the concepts of wisdom, justice or moderation.

Take a gander at the photos of the event, if you’re brave enough. Me, I couldn’t get past the brazen stupidity of this particular ass-hat.

A wise person would realize that a symbol is defined by who adopts it and how they use, not by what anyone says it means.

A just person would realize the extent of injustice wrought under the banner of that flag; it’s very adoption was an act of protest against the cause of justice.

A moderate person would honor the true memory of the past and refuse to fly a flag celebrating the losing side of an armed rebellion against the United States of America.

The current seal & flag do more to honor the full legacy and heritage of the state – the entirety of Georgia’s history PLUS it’s future – as opposed to the any other flag. Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation: those symbols & words have proved to have a much more enduring legacy than that other flag.

If supporters of that other flag in Georgia really cared about their heritage they’d support the current state flag – and the tenets espoused on the seal – and the U.S. flag, instead of cheering for the losing side of a lost rebellion and the losing argument of a bunch of losers who wanted to protest against the policies of the Civil Rights era.

In the words of the elder Jeffrey Lebowski: “Your revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski! Condolences! The bums lost!”

  1. For a better story about how the flag changed from its Civil Rights era form to its current incarnation, here’s a good start. If you’re curious to see & hear Zell Miller argue in favor of changing the flag when he was governor, C-Span has that video.

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