I have a very good sense of humor and can easily and readily laugh at myself with no problem at all. I really tried to find something resembling humor in this and it simply wasn't there. This wasn't funny in any way. It's an obvious pile of garbage intended to insult and denigrate people based upon a stereotype.

"That bit in our American Holiday Video where we were attacked by the rednecks in the Alabama petrol station: I realise now that I should have seen it coming.

We'd been warned by some American modernists - i.e. Californians - that the southerners wouldn't take kindly to any of our light mockery of the things they hold dear - Bush, heterosexuality, NASCAR, Country and Western, short hair...

But I never really believed they would take it quite that badly.

But then, earlier that day I had stopped at another petrol station and looked at the selection of T-shirts on sale to the locals. One proclaimed 'God, pick-ups and beer' with a picture of a Dodge like Hammond's on it. Another sported some legend about the right to bear arms.

And yet another depicted the Confederate flag and a picture of, er, General Stonewall Jackson. I think this may have been a vital clue to the mentality of the hicks.

Wasn't Jackson a general from the civil war? And didn't he die from complications resulting from the amputation of his arm after he was inadvertently shot by his own men?

And, more importantly, wasn't all this rather a long time ago? And what's with the confederate flag? Do they still lament the abolition of slavery or something?

It's been pointed out to me that the old flag, rather than standing for a discredited set of social and political values, is now just a fanciful graphic.

The Dukes of Hazzard, after all, had one on the roof of their car, and no one thought it was in any way distasteful. It was just the good ol' boys from the South being sentimental about their roots.

And that seemed like a fair comment. I like a sense of history as much as anyone. But then something else occured to me.

I've never met anyone in Europe wearing a swastika T-shirt.

"You've never laughed at someone with a mullet, a fightin' attitude and an intolerance towards gays and NASCAR-haters? What DO you laugh at?"

It's been pointed out to me that the old flag, rather than standing for a discredited set of social and political values, is now just a fanciful graphic.

The Dukes of Hazzard, after all, had one on the roof of their car, and no one thought it was in any way distasteful. It was just the good ol' boys from the South being sentimental about their roots.

And that seemed like a fair comment. I like a sense of history as much as anyone. But then something else occured to me.

I've never met anyone in Europe wearing a swastika T-shirt.

They obviously went there to bait people into anger, and they got so little they had to edit the video heavily to show it. It's sad. What is saddest is that the REAL act of intolerance was the one you are calling funny.

Right there it is. Southerners vs... soccer louts. Southerners vs... skinheads. You take tens of millions of people and compare them to a small slice of miscreants in another nation. Like I said it is the difference between "freedom fries" and actually going to France to threaten people and watch them run.

No, the confederate flag only symbolizes slavery to the ignorant. It would be like me saying the British flag symbolizes imperialism or the Australian flag symbolizes the slaughter of indigenous people. You'd think I was an ass if I went to australia and compared the flag there to the swastika.

No, it's funny because it tags one of the last cultures that it is fashionable to be hateful to. Paint up your cars and go just about anywhere else in the world and the response would be outrage. In the American south it is "humor". I don't find it funny.

"Don't be a dick."

That's probably because it's illegal to display the swastika in many European countries.

Here we have a little thing called 'freedom of speech.'

That was DEFINITELY the goal here, not humor. If you don't believe it had that reaction, go read the comments on other sites in response to the video. Over and over people saying they are ashamed of the south, afraid of the south, southerners are stupid racists, blah, blah, blah.

No, this will be seen as funny because it is self-congratulatory to demean my culture. It makes people feel smart.

Well that makes sense to me. Have you ever seen a non-skinhead German wearing a swastika? Americans

Unless, of course, you preach support for terrorists. And then you have a nice chat and a relaxing seaside holiday in sunny Cuba. Or some fun with water in the plush comfort of one of your security force's interrogation chambers.