Oh, please…

ABC News’ Christine Byun Reports: As GOP presidential hopeful Fred Thompson wrapped his South Carolina campaign visit, he had a small handful of protesters outside his event at a Lexington, South Carolina restaurant.

About four men held confederate flags and signs that said “Honk for Dixie” and “The South Does Not Want Fred Thompson.”

The men said they were part of the South Carolina League of the South and speaking out against Thompson and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for recent remarks about something dear to their hearts. At the November 28 CNN/YouTube debate, both candidates said they did not believe the Confederate flag should be flown in a public place. The two Republican hopefuls, who are among the leaders in Palmetto State polls, also said the flag wrongfully divides the country.

“When a Southerner goes bad, we call him a scallywag. Thompson’s a scallywag – he deserves no respect,” Jim Hanks, who identified himself as a registered Independent, said. A scallywag is a white southerner who supported the federal government during Reconstruction…
“Most people think the flag is a racist symbol. I would say not in South Carolina, we don’t. Not in the South, we don’t. We don’t vote for people that say negative things about the Confederate flag,” Don Gordon, a protestor who wore a Confederate flag tie, said.

“Yesterday, we were at Mitt Romney’s headquarters because Mitt Romney insulted our flag,” Hanks said. “We’ll try to be everywhere they are.”

The group was at one of four Thompson campaign stops today. Thompson spokesman Jeff Sadosky said they will pay no attention to the protestors.

“South Carolina voters know where Senator Thompson stands on the issue, and that’s what’s important,” Sadosky said.

If Southern voters (of which I am one) make their decision based on what Fred Thompson said about the Confederate flag, they deserve what they get as an electoral outcome. And, I’m sorry, but the American flag is my flag.

I intentionally left one sentence out of the story, BTW. Here ‘ya go:

Hanks also said he was interested in Thompson, but now supports Ron Paul.

Heh.