0531blog
American Patriotism: 2021
I drive around and see very few American flags posted outside of houses, in fact, I still see more trump 2020 flags, though the election was seven months ago, which is sad, just as sad as over the past few years, when people flew the two flags on the same pole, with the trump flag on top and American flag below. Until now, I never recall people ever flying banners or flags for a candidate or even for a sitting president, it was always that the flag should stand alone, apart from any politics and that is the way it should be. Statements of political support belonged on lawn signs.Quaint.
My mother used to put out the flag every morning and take it in every night and by the time I moved away, that old flag was awfully tattered but my mother was making a point, especially because my brother was fighting in Vietnam at the time. She was patriotic, proud to live in the U.S., simply and straightforward and for her, there was no reason to feel any differently. And then there were the Memorial Day parades with the kids waving tiny American flags and the patriotic, marching bands and people saluting and standing at attention when the members of the VFW or American Legion marched by, which one year, included my brother as the grand marshal. It felt good to be proud, it felt healthy, it was fun, even if it was for ideals and a country that haven’t been realized yet. It feels like a thousand years ago. Putting up a flag or waving a flag wasn’t a political statement back then, it was simply a statement of patriotism to the principles of the country, certainly not a statement of support for any particular elected officials. It was a time when we generally put aside our differences for special days, like Memorial Day or July 4, because those were celebrations for us all and strange as it may sound, we looked around and saw Americans, not Republicans and Democrats and we lit fireworks and had barbecues and felt good. These days, you’re just as likely as not to see veterans in parades wearing MAGA hats or floats in parades with trump stickers on their bumpers.
I never thought that showing the flag was a statement in support of government policies, to me there was no contradiction to being patriotic to ideas while being opposed to government actions, like the war in Vietnam, support of Israeli policies against Palestinians, military coups or a million other things that have been shamefully done in the name of America. Those things don’t belong in my America, my America is built on striving toward making the country and the world a better, more fair place and I am not embarrassed to say.
trump started this or maybe I should say he weaponized the flag and distorted the role of the president while showing that he was above the law because he said he and only he, knew better. It is a cult of personality the likes of which the country has never seen, this bending down to a false messiah. Before him, nobody hung Obama flags on the flag pole and before Obama, you didn’t see Bush flags or Clinton flags. Imagine seeing a flag with the words “Lincoln 1861” because that would look absurd and plain dumb. Lincoln would see such politicking and abuse of the flag as insultingly, anti-American and I am sure of that. Hanging a partisan flag on the same pole as the American flag is sacrilegious, bordering on blasphemous and these days it is an accepted way to show which side you’re on, while “leaders” like trump fans the fires of disagreement and hostility.
It is a new phenomenon for people to roar down the road in pick-up trucks with an American flag waving from one side and a trump flag waving from the other side, and just as prominently, and in fact, I believe there are many people who would put the trump flag on top, maybe just replace and discard the American flag, and just fly a giant picture of trump. I remember when a car dealership in Paramus flew a huge American flag and then I saw other businesses fly an even bigger American flags and it seemed obscene, like it was a contest, a litmus test for patriotism.
I don’t even know what being proud of my country means anymore because there are so many things that have happened that make me feel ashamed. And people seem so divided and so reluctant to come together as a people or just to agree on common goals, common ideals of right and wrong. If I was young and was called to serve the country, I would find it very, very hard to go because I would see too many things that are not worth fighting for, right here, in our country.
The flag represents the ideals that we want to in America, not any particular person and when a cult of personality like trump takes over patriotism, we are in trouble and we are in trouble. Memorial Day used to be a time when we honored those who have died in combat or otherwise in defense of the nation. They weren’t Republicans or Democrats, we didn’t care if they voted for one president of another. That message seems to have been muffled with the fog of partisanship where it’s more important to stand up for a politician than to remember the veterans who have fought and died. Sad.