CSotD: Whose flag is it, anyway?
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Clay Bennett (CTFP) marks Flag Day with a display of US flags flown respectfully over the years, contrasted with the improper display of the flag currently practiced by the New Confederacy.
Respect for the flag is a tradition, not a law, but if you read the current United States Flag Code, you’ll find all sorts of ways people violate it.
There was an interesting blow-up around 1970 when the flag became a symbol of loyalty to the war and to the Nixon administration generally. As police and fire departments added US flag patches to their uniforms, some veterans objected, saying it was inappropriate for state and local agencies to display the national flag they’d fought under.
Their objection failed to gain support, particularly from the folks who now support states’ rights and consider the federal government oppressive, but who festoon themselves with flagware.
Asking for consistency is foolish. I spent a week staffing a booth at the Washington County Fair in New York, across from a VISA booth that was handing out American flag beach towels with each application for a card, and next to a US Army booth staffed by recruiters.
There was a constant line at the VISA booth of young people who wanted a flag towel, but who then cut a wide circle past the place they could have talked to other young people who served that flag but who they treated as if they had cholera.
Let me know when you’re surprised.
What the heck, I’ll even throw in this You Damn Kid from 2015, since newspapers enjoy a constant flow of furious letters to the editor from folks like Grandpa Harv.
What I remember from being a damn kid myself was that the flag was like a crucifix or the palms from Palm Sunday: Not only did you have to fly it correctly, but you couldn’t let it touch the ground and, if you went to a parade and someone gave you a flag, it meant you had to behave as if you were carrying a religious item
Today, plastic and paper flags are part of the litter strewn in the gutters after a parade. It’s not that I feel the flag should be worshipped, but maybe somewhere in between would be nice, particularly since it’s become such a symbol of politically-correct patriotism.
Even in the Sixties, the only people who burned the flag were boneheads like Slim. And he screwed it up.
Bill Bramhall brings us back to the present day with another reminder of how to properly display the flag.
It does seem strange that the Americans who boast of their patriotism are so willing to ignore the Flag Code, but, then again, they also pride themselves on being Christian and look how they express what he preached.
Ann Telnaes offers some alternative banners more in keeping with traditional American values, but she’s shoveling water with a pitchfork.
The Upside Down Patriots have just passed a resolution condemning Merrick Garland for preserving separation between the executive and legislative bodies, a move that RJ Matson expresses using one flag as a symbol of respect and others as disrespect for the system.
And, of course, it goes without saying that the same people who believe they should have full access to the president’s documents today felt quite differently when it was their boy in the White House. For that matter, they don’t think the government should have had access to the documents in the ex-president’s bathroom.
To repeat, at least Jeff Davis and John Tyler and that crew had the integrity to secede and set up their own government.
Juxtaposition of the Day
Two visions of the flags we fly.
Britt may be a little harsh in applying the swastika, though Martha Ann has put herself on the side of white supremacists in declaring who she hates, and in her odd statement about German heritage.
But if she hasn’t specifically endorsed the Stars and Bars, she has certainly lined up on the side of disloyalty. You can nitpick his choices, but his opinion is not unsupported by her words and actions.
I am considerably more disturbed by Whamond’s cartoon because his flags are specific — one up, one down — leaving nothing to dispute, while the situation he uses them to depict is also beyond dispute.
I had a conversation the other day in which a group of people spoke of being somewhat afraid to put Biden bumperstickers on their cars because of the danger that some screwball will decide to take exception. Even if it doesn’t erupt into armed violence, it could involve a hateful encounter with potential for things like vandalism of your car.
I haven’t seen that sort of thing in the news yet, but it’s telling that, while jurors who found Trump guilty have remained incognito, those who voted to convict Hunter Biden are giving interviews.
Nobody is doxxing them or sending them threatening letters.
We did have a case locally in which Woodstock, Vt. gave a group permission to display pride flags on town lampposts, only to have a local merchant take the one in front of his business down and replace it with a US flag.
It’s an attitude that fits Kevin Necessary’s accusation that MAGAts consider sexual orientation to be an issue of patriotism: They believe that the country is divided into Real Americans and Those People.
And the cartoon goes beyond that, contrasting the Pride Flag with the often vulgar hostility of the MAGAts.
If you want to raise a religious issue, try this one: If Noah and his family emerged from the ark and saw a rainbow (as the Bible tells us), then either (A) those remaining humans stopped having heterosexual intercourse or (B) looking at rainbows doesn’t turn you gay.
Since Noah and his family repopulated the planet, I’m going with (B).
Happy Birthday, Mister Ex-President!
Michael Ramirez (Creators) celebrates Donald Trump’s 78th birthday with this reminder that the sands are running out.
He chose an example of a guy who is three-and-a-half years older than Trump, but that’s less than 5% and inconsequential: In a foot race, I’ll bet Dear Leader would win the silver medal, while Sleepy Joe would finish next to last.
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