Heading north on I-95, north of Baltimore, Maryland, one travels over the Millard Tydings Bridge, an unimpressive structure that circumvents the path of the Susquehanna River. Tydings, from Harford County, Maryland, was a House Representative and Senator of Maryland during the first half of the twentieth century. He battled Joseph McCarthy's blind anti-communist witch hunt.
Just north of the bridge is a sign that reads "Fuck You Gov Ehrlich" tied on what looks like a crane, with four confederate battle flags and one Maryland state flags surrounding the sign. I reject the words of the sign, but I concur with the sentiment. Somehow, Governor Robert Ehrlich has managed to piss off confederates- such as the purveyors of the sign- liberal wackos- such as myself- and everyone in between in the state of Maryland.
The problem that I have with the sign is that it makes no sense. "Fuck You Gov Ehrlich" makes sense (although I don't remember if they spelled the governor's name correctly, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt). The Maryland flag makes sense. These individuals want the best for their state. The confederate flags make less sense, because Maryland was not part of the Confederacy. But maybe, they support slavery and the Confederacy and moved from the south.
What makes no sense is the combination of the Maryland flag and the confederate flag. It's gotta be one or the other fellas. Certainly there were white people from Maryland that fought for the Confederacy. But the state officially remained part of the union (the Confederacy's enemy, if you remember). The flag is the official symbol of the state's official position. Thus, the combination makes no sense.
Oh, and the confederate flag symbolizes the suppression of black people and enslaving that group, which is fucked up! You can check out my debate about the flag's meaning and origin in, strangely enough, the comments on my post entitled "The Journey," about my thought process in concluding that Kevin Garnett is overrated.
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