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Is there room for reality to intrude on this conversation?

There's a very big First Amendment problem here. That's because what is being proposed is that the government (in the form of the County Board of Commissioners) should declare that one side is right and the other is wrong. Of course, the Confederacy IS wrong, and a horrible war was fought to prove it. But that's for private individuals (or corporations) to say, and not for the government.

The specific legal problem is that if we simply outlaw Confederate paraphernalia, we'll get sued. And when we lose, we'll get stuck paying attorney fees, because the statute that will be applied (called Section 1983) allows for the court to order us to pay their attorneys. That's exactly the series of events that has tormented East Lansing, ever since they tried to kick an anti-gay farmer out of their farmer's market. The guy probably sells $100 worth of apples on a good Sunday. But East Lansing is on the hook for $200,000 - and counting.

Anything the Board ends up doing will have to be very general, such as applying to ALL war memorabilia, and even that may not be legally safe. Articles like this one, quoting specific Commissioners taking positions which are clearly beyond our legal powers, will further reduce our room to maneuver.

I wonder - did the First Amendment become unpopular?