I am offended that everybody is offended..I'm even offended by the word "offended".
Why would somebody be offended by a fictional tv show?
Because one character(or however many) is a bumbling idiot, does not imply that an entire group of people are bumbling idiots...just that guy. Idiots are EVERYWHERE...north, south, east, west and all points in between and beyond. Ever seen "Escanaba in da Moonlight" (Jeff Daniels)...does that make everybody from Michigan look like idiots? Should I be offended? I think not...I giggled and even laughed at it (I like stupid, nonsense comedy!).
(Not intended as a jab at ya G...just my perspective!)
If I were to wear a t-shirt that said "Straight, White, Meat eater...and PROUD"...everybody wearing a "rainbow pride / black pride(any race for that matter) and/or "meat is murder" t-shirt would be offended, and that's perfectly acceptable..but, if I was offended by their shirt, I'm an a-hole bigot. STUPID! Tell me I'm wrong???!!! My shirt doesn't say I hate anybody, for any reason.
As for the flag...to the victors goes the history. Anything can be written, taught, suppressed and/or omitted from the pages. Had the tables turned, and the Confederate flag been the flag we recognize today, would the Union Flag represent hate??? When I was little, we had a confederate flag hanging in the living room. My Dad was born and raised in Michigan (5th generation, in fact)and was Huey pilot in the U.S. Army...we have relatives who fought (and died) for the North. For him (and myself), it simply represents a people, standing up for their beliefs, values, ideals and freedoms, not willing to be dictated to what they can or can not do. To them, their flag represented the same things our flags today represent to us.
I see the flag a lot, around here...mostly on trucks. Usually, some punk "redneck" kid, flying it to say "I'm a little rebel, aint nobody gonna tell me what to do, cuz F-you, that's wahh....BEER....'MERICA" .
Whatever!
Seems to me, that the ones always trying to find offense and point out hate and hate groups are the biggest hate group of all. Sad.