Following the social unrest over Confederate flags, statues and symbols in 2015, a lot of southerners and their supporters around the country were rather unhappy with the results. (Regular readers already know you can count me among their ranks.) One of the most high-profile battles in that struggle took place at the capitol in South Carolina. There, the Confederate Battle Flag was finally lowered for the last time on July 10th of that year.

Now, three years later, the flag is flying again… at least for a few hours. Some sons (and daughters) of the South are raising a temporary flagpole to fly the colors as a reminder that they are still there and not going away any time soon. (Associated Press)

A group still angry South Carolina removed a Confederate flag from the Statehouse lawn is again temporarily raising the rebel banner at the capitol.

The South Carolina Secessionist Party says it will fly the Confederate flag on a temporary pole for several hours Tuesday.

The day marks the third anniversary of the state removing the Confederate flag that flew on a pole on the Statehouse front lawn for 15 years. Lawmakers’ decision was prompted by the killing of nine black worshippers in a racist attack at a Charleston church.

Three years ago when that flag and its pole were brought down I wrote a lengthy essay on the value of tradition and southern culture and how the forces of political correctness had abducted the flag for their own purposes. That essay wound up resulting in one of the largest floods of emails I’d ever received, primarily from southerners who seemed amazed that a born and bred Yankee like me could actually “get it” and expressing their gratitude. My opinion on the subject hasn’t changed since then.

I do want to bring up a few points about the folks organizing this event, however. I wasn’t previously familiar with them. The group raising the flag is the South Carolina Secessionist Party and they plan to keep repeating this demonstration every year on July 10th “so a year won’t pass without the Confederate flag flying.”

I looked into the SCCP’s website to learn more about them and found a few surprises. First of all, they’re a registered political party, albeit not one of the larger ones. If you read the various planks in their platform, you’ll find some predictably conservative views. They stand up for southern traditions and values. They’re pro-life, in favor of entitlement reform, opposed to political correctness and against racial discrimination. They support school choice, the Second Amendment and strong borders. In short, this could be the “about” page for any number of conservative think tanks around the country.

Do you know what the one thing they don’t seem to mention is? Secession. There’s not a single thing I could find on their website about seceding from the nation. (Well… aside from the word being in their name and all.) Actually, they just seem to want to improve and defend South Carolina as part of the United States. So what’s with the name? People not wanting to secede but calling themselves the Secessionist Party seems like founding a beagle rescue group aimed at people who don’t own or particularly like beagles.

All jokes aside, best of luck to them. Fly the flag and stand for the goodness, pride and traditions of the South, ladies and gentlemen.