Andy Hall (Again) -- Lying or Grossly Exaggerating?

Andy Hall, taking another unnecessary dig at Southern heritage folks (are you surprised?) sez, "Southron hearts have been all a-flutter in recent days because Russian separatists in the Ukraine have adopted a banner that looks a lot like the Confederate Battle Flag. Like so many other “heritage” arguments, though, this one requires a certain ignorance of actual history and a willingness to believe pretty much anything that sounds good."

In typical Texas Scalawag style, Andy makes no attempt to substantiate this claim. He doesn't say how many "Southron hearts" have been all a-flutter. He doesn't identify a single person making this "heritage" argument, or where it is made.

Um, my heart is about as Southron as a heart can get, and it hasn't been a-flutter because of the Ukrainian separatists' banner. Several months ago, I did mention somewhere (Facebook, probably) the Confederate battle flag seen in Kiev's city hall, but my heart wasn't "a-flutter" when I did that. (To clarify, I support self-rule for Ukranians -- and most everone else.)

News outlets have attempted to make this connection, though. Here are just two:

The Moscow Times.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/ukrainian-rebels-channel-us-confederates/501789.html

PressTV (Iran's state media; now THERE's a reliable, "balanced" source for ya)
 http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/03/07/353575/antirussians-display-controversial-us-confederate-flag-in-kiev/

There are more. You can find them by Googling.

Now, let's further test Andy's claim of "Southron hearts" being all a-flutter as they make this "heritage argument."

You will note right off the bat that he doesn't quantify this claim, as I've already mentioned. "Southron hearts" is plural, so it would be a true statement if only TWO Southron hearts got all a-flutter making this "heritage argument." But as usual, Andy uses imprecise language in an attempt to smear many/all heritage supporters. So, Andy, how many Southron hearts are you referring to here? (An example of Andy's "plausible deniability" is in his wording -- he's not really trying to smear people [heritage folks, Southrons], only their arguments, their ignorance and their willing dupability.)

It may that some Southrons have referred to this, but the number of Southron references to it that I've encountered is vanishingly small. James Rutledge Roesch writes about it at The Abbeville Institute's blog, but it's a short, rather dry piece that references media reports. Roesch's heart does not seem to have been all a-flutter when he wrote this. (But perhaps heart a-fluttering exists mostly in the eye of the beholder, so Andy "sees" it where other folks don't.)

The SCV doesn't appear to have anything about in on their national website, blog, or Facebook page. Neither do the Virginia Flaggers.

The only thing about it on Facebook's Dixie News and Talk is a reference to the Roesch piece (and Andy's smear attempt itself).

I scrolled through many posts, comments and images at Southern Heritage Preservation Group (FB) without finding any fluttering-hearts references (or any other kind) to the issue. Ditto Southern Heritage News and Views. Ditto Southern Heritage, Fight for It or Lose It. There may have been mentions of this issue on these groups and others, but they've appear to have been overwhelmed and left behind by posts about issues that ARE important to heritage folks.

Of course, these are not all Southern heritage groups, FB groups, blogs, etc., and I don't have time to visit them all. I don't think Andy does, either. I think he probably visits those which are not nearly representative of the community as a whole, but that he thinks are most likely give him ammo to smear the entire Southern heritage community with.

So, does Andy know his smears are not true or, at best, are gross exaggerations, but his hostility for heritage folks outweighs his esteem of truthfulness? Or has his hostility convinced him that his lies and exaggerations are truth, and he sincerely believes them?

I invite Andy to identify the "Southern hearts" that are "all a-flutter" over this, and post links to their references to it in the comments following this post. I mean, presumably, Andy found this "heritage argument" online. If he found it otherwise, he can still identify who, where and how, so that we can attempt independent verification. If he doesn't want to do it here, why not on his own blog?

Of course, hell will likely freeze over first, so if any of my readers run across references to the Ukranian flag issue by Southrons, post links so we can judge for ourselves how "all a-flutter" they are, and how ignorant and gullible are their arguments.