A triumph of symbolism over substance | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Brant Clifton keeps it real in his "bare knuckles" Conservative online publication known as The Daily Haymaker.

    We've got rampant unemployment. We are accumulating debt faster than our economy can produce value. Our borders are being overrun by illegal immigrants. ObamaCare is crippling the economy and killing what has been the greatest health care system in the world. And the drivebys and the politicians are focused on the Confederate flag.

    Yes, a 150 year old historical symbol - an artifact, if you will - is being blamed for all kinds of modern day crimes and other assorted social ills. All kinds of southern states are being brow-beaten into purging the flag from within their boundaries. Retailers are banning the sale of items with Confederate imagery, while continuing to sell Black Panther and ISIS paraphernalia. (They've even banished 'The Dukes of Hazzard' from the airwaves!) Graves and statues of Confederate figures are seriously being considered for removal from their long-time official placements. Republicans in Congress have even voted to ban placement of Confederate flags - one day per year at no government expense - on the graves of actual Confederate veterans. In North Carolina, Gov. Pat McCrory suggested ending the production of Confederate flag license plates - which likely led to the on-going run on them.

    Yes, the left is trying to relive the Reconstruction and Civil Rights eras of our history. And not one bit of this will do anything to help with the problems afflicting our nation. Not one.

    Symbolism is all leftists have to go with. Their signature agenda accomplishments have all been nightmarish failures. FDR's New Deal has resulted in a bloated federal bureaucracy and a mountain of debt. LBJ's Great Society has resulted in our longest war ever for this nation - The War on Poverty. The family structure - for blacks and whites - has been ripped apart. Poverty and literacy and crime are worse than when it all got started.

    Leftists tried to distract blacks from the overall failure of their agenda by coming up with this African Pride and whole African-American thing. (Thanks to the sorry nature of our public schools, we now have a significant portion of a whole generation believing Africa is A COUNTRY.)

    If ONLY we had this much passion about repealing ObamaCare and securing our borders. The scary thing to think about is - Now that the left has won this one, what will they go after NEXT?