Woah, no way am I calling for a ban on political symbols. You should be free to display whatever you want on your personal method of transportation provided it isn't something outright profane. Freedom of expression is one of the central principles upon which our country was founded, and I stand by it wholeheartedly.

Now, having that said, I guess I don't understand the usage of the confederate flag in the modern-day context.

Sure, the Civil War was brought about by more than just slavery. (States rights, nullification, etc)  But when you peel back the layers of politics surrounding the conflict, the root cause was essentially slavery. The states that seceded first were ones with the highest concentration of plantations, the ones that would stand to loose the most economically from an abolition of slavery in the territories. The exploitation of others was so deeply intwined in the economy, those in the south sought to justify it in any way possible, glossing over the moral contradiction between legalized slavery and "all men are created equal" in favor of their own economic stability.

I say that as a northerner, and perhaps I'd feel differently if one of my relatives, for instance, was on the Confederate side during the American Civil War. After all, most people who fought for the south in the Civil War were not racist scumbags, but people who were simply fighting to defend their homeland.

But when I see a Confederate flag, it symbolizes for me the racist oligopoly of plantation owners who were the manipulative driving force behind the war. I'm not saying it should be banned. I just personally think it's a stupid symbol to emblazon on the back of your truck.

Now, as for the method of transportation, I'm not really "offended", but I do find certain vehicles just incredibly obnoxious. Take the Hummer for instance.  There are people in military, industrial and commercial occupations who genuinely need a powerful vehicle for hauling/towing/etc.

But to market what is essentially a military vehicle to soccer moms and average joes is irresponsible. Not only is it an incredible hydrocarbon black-hole, a vehicle engineered without any concept of efficiency in mind, but the vehicles themselves are huge (more of an issue for big cities than in suburbs.)

Plus, (this will make some people mad, but they can pound sand) owners of Hummers tend to have a greater chance of being egotistical arrogant assholes. Take this picture for instance that I snapped at the Michigan sand dunes:

They park their Hummer in the handicapped spot (no visible handicapped tags, mind you) and each one of the able-bodied occupants walk straight up the front of the dune to the peak. A fairly steep climb, I might add.

So yeah, it's that kind of person that I do find offensive.