The Odious World of Flagger Opponents

A Challenge for Brooks Simpson.  Defend these vacuous, history-deficient, hate-filled comments from Flagger opponents posted to Style Weekly.

I'll never understand why cranks like these choose a flag from the Confederate Navy....  Posted by Pro-America, Anti-C.S.A.

____________________

One can never persuade conservatives that they are acting stupid. They revel in their stubborn idiocy. When they are called on being numbskulls, they not only don't care but double down on their numbskullery. It's the way they are.   Posted by kazoo

____________________

I wish the Media (sic) would STOP giving publicity to these idiots. That's what they want. They are just bullies and no amount of reasoning will ever get thru to them. They will make all of us look like a bunch of backward-a$$ rednecks. Flaggers need to go away!  Posted by Dianne Shaunessy 

____________________

The poor white trash that's angry about others (especially persons of color) making inroads in the community are the ones who want to wave this relic that belongs in a case in a museum and not on our highways. Of course, most decent people see this symbol for what it is - the remant (sic) of a lost cause, a pathetic last-ditch effort to repress others that was thankfully, by the Grace of God, put down once and for all by the army of the United States (aka Union). Yes, folks, God wasn't and isn't on your side or the south would have won. Get over it. Leave the library which is the only place you can use the computer to post your hatred, go back to your trailers and crack open a cold one, and spend some time with your half-wit, inbred children.   Posted by City taxpayer

Notice there's almost no attempt to make an objective case for not flying the flag -- it's mostly hurling insults -- probably because such arguments are easily refuted. In fact, you can read my refutations in the comment thread at Style Weekly.

I like City taxpayer's comment best. Poor white trash? But Simpson would never see that as racist (in fact, it's right up his alley) because City taxpayer is talking about WHITE SOUTHERNERS, who deserve such a hate-laced moniker, just for being white and Southern, even if they aren't poor and trash. And we know from past observation that evilizing white Southerners is a huge motivation for floggers/

Exactly why the "inbred hick" accusation is flung at Southerners is a mystery to me, since inbreeding is no more prevalent in the South (not even in Appalachia) than any other section of the country. But it is a common epithet that tells more about the hatred of the person using it than the person(s) they're aiming their hatred toward...

And besides, City taxpayer exhibits about as much knowledge of the subject as some of her posting cohorts exhibit about history, which is very little.

Re: his/her lovely invective, "half-wit," per WebMD, the following are the most common causes of intellectual disability. (Note: "inbreeding" is not among them. The most common cause of Down syndrome, for example, is the age of the mother):

 ~~Genetic conditions. These include things like Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome (neither of which is caused by inbreeding --cw)
 ~~Problems during pregnancy. Things that can interfere with fetal brain development include alcohol or drug use, malnutrition, certain infections, or preeclampsia.
~~Problems during childbirth. Intellectual disability may result if a baby is deprived of oxygen during childbirth or born extremely premature.
 ~~Illness or injury. Infections like meningitis, whooping cough, or the measles can lead to intellectual disability. Severe head injury, near-drowning, extreme malnutrition, exposure to toxic substances such as lead, and severe neglect or abuse can also cause it.

Here's some information that City taxpayer could use, if his/her interest in inbreeding was genuine, and not simply an invective to hurl at people he/she doesn't know

In 1980, anthropologist Robert Tincher published a study titled "Night Comes to the Chromosomes: Inbreeding and Population Genetics in Southern Appalachia," based on 140 years' worth of marriage records. He concluded that "inbreeding levels in Appalachia … [are neither] unique [n]or particularly common to the region, when compared with those reported for populations elsewhere or at earlier periods in American history."

And...  From io9, a daily publication that covers science, science fiction, and the future: Why inbreeding really isn't as bad as you think it is

But, of course, it's easy to tell from his/her comment that City taxpayer is far more interested in using words to hurl abuse than he/she is in using them to learn truth and facts. So who is really exhibiting intellectual disability?