"The Confederate flag is one of those symbols that should really only be seen on T-shirts, belt buckles and bumper stickers to help the rest of us identify the worst people in the world," John Oliver said Sunday on Last Week Tonight.
Republicans (15 percent) were twice as likely as Democrats or Independents to view the flag favorably. But even among Republicans, negative sentiment outweighed positive feelings. The only group to feel more positively than negatively toward the flag was white Southerners -- 22 percent said they had a positive reaction to the flag, versus 13 percent who had a negative one.
But the overall ambivalence toward the flag -- 88 percent of Americans either dislike it or feel nothing at all -- hasn't stopped it from being a potent political issue in Southern states. As Oliver notes, some states still include the Confederate battle flag or references to it in their official state flags -- something South Carolina hasn't done since the Civil War.
In the wake of the Charleston shootings, many observers have called on South Carolina to take the flag down. Or, as Oliver puts it:
Lower the flag down to half staff. And then, when its at half staff, why not keep lowering it all the way down and once you're holding it in your hands, take it off the flag pole completely, fold it -- or don't bother! -- put it in a box, label it "Bad Flag," and put it somewhere no-one can see it.
The fight over a Confederate emblem
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