I wonder how many conservatives who say 'I will NOT let the liberals choose my symbols for me' are also the ones drinking the "GOP = red" propaganda because the liberal media TELLS them to refer to Republican areas as "red states"?
If you refer to the southern states that voted against Obama as "red states", you're letting the liberal media choose your symbols for you. Any conservative who does that is in no position to complain about the confederate flag being associated with racism. The liberal media will continue to control the language as long as you let them.
I for one have had issues with conservative states being called "red" ... but we do choose our battles. I will however proudly fly the Stars and Bars and relate it to states rights and the right for sovereign states to succeed from a toxic relationship with an overbearing out of control Marxist federal monstrosity