Springboro Confederate Flag Waving, League of the South Defender Says He Was Misunderstood

This is why it is good to shine light in dark places.
Defending the indefensible often leads to backpeddling.
In actuality, Sonny Thomas, the fellow who showed up at the Springboro School Board meeting and defended the Constitution course written by a League of the South board member didn’t back off much. He now says he was trying make a point about symbolism. I guess in a way he did what he set out to do. However, the symbolism which most people associate with the Confederate flag is repulsive.  He acknowledged that most people viewed it as racist, a sentiment which was confirmed in the Cincinnati.com article by Cincinnati area minister, Damon Lynch.
Not sure how Sonny’s reframing of the situation will sit with his ideological peers. On at least one white nationalist blog, he was getting cheers for his efforts. Occidental Dissent posted a link to the Daily Caller article on the subject with the headline, “Go, Sonny, Go.” According to the blogger, Sonny was in attendance at the unabashedly white nationalist Council for Conservative Citizens 2013 conference.
Kelly Kohls, president of the school board, told me in an email that she was surprised by Thomas’ remarks. She told me that board policy allows prearranged speakers to talk about whatever they want to talk about for three minutes. She said she felt between “a rock and a hard place” because she disagreed with his message but also worried about a free speech lawsuit if she shut him down.
Looking into Thomas’ background, it is hard to see how his remarks were surprising. This is not his first national media rodeo. In 2010, he was in the news for making disparaging remarks regarding Hispanics via twitter.  There were ripples throughout the tea party world; for instance, James Traficant and others pulled out of a Springboro tea party event due to Thomas’ involvement.
 
 
 

19 thoughts on “Springboro Confederate Flag Waving, League of the South Defender Says He Was Misunderstood”

  1. A quick Google confirms that liberals are far more interested in the League of the South and the Conservative Citizens Council than actual conservatives are. They make for deliciously convenient bogeymen.

      1. Because they make for convenient bogeymen, Warren. Seeking out the worst of the other side is a cheesy tactic.
        The League of the South and the Conservative Citizens Council have no measurable appeal to “conservatives,” just as the “God Hates Fags” Westboro Baptist Church freakshow doesn’t represent Christianity. It’s a bogus riff.

        1. Tom – If the League and CCC were analogous to Westboro then I might consider your point. However, they are not. As I have been demonstrating the League is attractive to one Michael Peroutka (at least) and David Whitney who are spreading a course throughout the evangelical church. There is measurable and obvious appeal.

          1. That requires some sort of proof, Warren, that white supremacy is “sweeping” anywhere. When the KKK march, there are far more whole people spitting on them than supporting them.
            And per Patrocles below, I say this as someone who was thrown off as a contributor to the Southern Appeal blog for calling to an end to flying the Confederate flag, not because it was necessarily racist, but because of what it represents to our black fellow citizens.
            I get it.
            But this Southern Poverty Law Center tactic of painting everyone to their right as haters is BS. This “League of the South” couldn’t get a dogcatcher elected. They’re a freak show, just like the Westboro Baptist Church.

  2. A quick Google confirms that liberals are far more interested in the League of the South and the Conservative Citizens Council than actual conservatives are. They make for deliciously convenient bogeymen.

  3. Thomas is right insofar as the connexion between a symbol, a meaning and an emotion is conventional, not essential nor natural.
    And even if conventions can be enforced to a degree, they cannot be enforced completely. You can point your gun at a man, but you can’t enforce him this way to feel that the Confederate flag stands mostly for slavery (instead for the right to secede) and to be repulsed by it. (And that all the more because the right to secede is a very present problem and slavery a problem of the past.)

  4. Thomas is right insofar as the connexion between a symbol, a meaning and an emotion is conventional, not essential nor natural.
    And even if conventions can be enforced to a degree, they cannot be enforced completely. You can point your gun at a man, but you can’t enforce him this way to feel that the Confederate flag stands mostly for slavery (instead for the right to secede) and to be repulsed by it. (And that all the more because the right to secede is a very present problem and slavery a problem of the past.)

  5. I agree with you Warren and really it’s not about Liberals and Conservatives but about the controversy over the Confederate issue.

  6. I agree with you Warren and really it’s not about Liberals and Conservatives but about the controversy over the Confederate issue.

  7. A quick Google confirms that liberals are far more interested in the League of the South and the Conservative Citizens Council than actual conservatives are. They make for deliciously convenient bogeymen.

  8. A quick Google confirms that liberals are far more interested in the League of the South and the Conservative Citizens Council than actual conservatives are. They make for deliciously convenient bogeymen.

      1. Because they make for convenient bogeymen, Warren. Seeking out the worst of the other side is a cheesy tactic.
        The League of the South and the Conservative Citizens Council have no measurable appeal to “conservatives,” just as the “God Hates Fags” Westboro Baptist Church freakshow doesn’t represent Christianity. It’s a bogus riff.

        1. Tom – If the League and CCC were analogous to Westboro then I might consider your point. However, they are not. As I have been demonstrating the League is attractive to one Michael Peroutka (at least) and David Whitney who are spreading a course throughout the evangelical church. There is measurable and obvious appeal.

          1. That requires some sort of proof, Warren, that white supremacy is “sweeping” anywhere. When the KKK march, there are far more whole people spitting on them than supporting them.
            And per Patrocles below, I say this as someone who was thrown off as a contributor to the Southern Appeal blog for calling to an end to flying the Confederate flag, not because it was necessarily racist, but because of what it represents to our black fellow citizens.
            I get it.
            But this Southern Poverty Law Center tactic of painting everyone to their right as haters is BS. This “League of the South” couldn’t get a dogcatcher elected. They’re a freak show, just like the Westboro Baptist Church.

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