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TechnoratiAn article in Sunday's New York Times reports on conservative hostility to Obama. He doesn't wear a flag pin, they complain, and he doesn't put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem. In Monday's Times, William Kristol added insult to injury with a hyperbolic ad-hominem attack on Obama, calling him "grandiose" and accusing him of "moral vanity."
I remember when Americans weren't obsessed with outward shows of patriotism. People only flew flags at their homes on Flag Day or the 4th of July. Now every day is Flag Day, and private homes can be hard to distinguish from government offices. I've fantasized knocking on doors and asking for a packet of stamps.
We didn't fly flags in the past because our country is so large that there's no question where you are. You don't have to check out the nearest flag to make sure you haven't wandered out of Luxembourg into Belgium.
Flag pins and patches are an even newer phenomenon, dating back to 9/11. If two police officers stop you in Kansas or New York City, are you going to look for a flag to make sure they're not Mounties? Should flag pins really be a form of national ID? Maybe we should each wear one with a DNA sample and a thumbprint embedded in it.
You know who used to wear little patriotic pins on their clothes? The Commies. I have a flag pin that dates back to the 80s; I sometimes wear it as a puzzle, to ask people if they can identify it. It's the flag of the German Democratic Republic. East Germans and Soviets were wearing flag pins long before Americans decided they were necessary signs of patriotism. Perhaps if you were bedecked with tiny metal badges, it protected you from the KGB.
Most Americans are not descended from the Pilgrims or the First Families of Virginia. Their ancestors came here more recently and faced discrimination. I'm thinking in part of the Irish who fled the potato famine; they arrived in New York to find signs that read, "No Irish Need Apply." Now some descendants of these potato-famine Irish (Bill O'Reilly? Sean Hannity?) and those of other, later immigrants, feel free to attack Senator Obama, because his father wasn't an American citizen.
The flag fetish strikes me as a case of Protesting Too Much. If you're confident in your possession of something, you don't have to wear it on your sleeve, your gable, your bumper, or your T-shirt. In fact, the latter used to be considered disrespectful, a kind of desecration.
Americans live surrounded by other Americans; there's no need for a show of defiance. We're not like the English and the French, who fought one another for centuries, still have cultural misunderstandings, and can see each other's countries on a clear day. So why this bravado, even insecurity, which I think must lie beneath gratuitious, context-free displays of patriotic devotion?
Wearing a flag pin doesn't make you a patriot any more than wearing a cross makes you a good [i.e., compassionate] Christian.
Carol V. Hamilton has a Ph.D. from Berkeley. Her articles and poems have been published in Oxford German Studies (England), the Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, C-Theory.net (Canada), The Paris Review, The North American Review, and many other literary and scholarly journals. She has also written for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and a number of alternative papers.
48 Comments so far
Show AllAlthough I'm a 15-year veteran of two of the armed forces of the United States, here's my take on the flag debate - it stopped being MY flag when it became abundantly clear to me others felt they had the right to dictate what I could and couldn't do with a piece of cloth banner I purchased with the money I earned while serving to protect their liberty to exercise such poor thinking skills. I no longer stand in solidarity with those who gave waving their colors about like some holy relic. I DO, however, stand in solidarity with those who are dedicated to the principles in the U.S. Constitution, most notably freedom and liberty for all. It has never made sense to me to praise a symbol of freedoms and liberties while soiling what it stands for in one's behavior toward other people - and not just toward other Americans.
Use whatever banner you like, or none at all. You're a patriot only if you have empathy, compassion and respect for other human beings and restrain yourself from interfering in their liberties when they have accorded you the same. Your flag waving is beside the point. Don't muddy the term "patriot" if you're unwilling to grant the respect given by those who used the term originally.
Here in Western Maryland, our largest U.S. flags are on top of banks and churches. The local online chat board contains entire threads dedicated to in-depth discussion of how great America is. Some if the posters to this local board use U.S. flags as their screen-name icons. This is home to the 372nd Military Police Company and proud of it. These local jokers, who often refer to themselves as conservatives, still haven't figured out that their own NeoCon establishment shat on them. They blame all the torture photo fuss on the "liberal media."
All this talk about the flag and nary a whisper about US Code Title IV (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode04/usc_sup_01_4_10_1.html), the federal laws regarding how to and how not to display and honor the colors. Its really a short read and will point out that most current displays of the flag are wrong! Especially about how to display it on moving vehicles and clothing. I would argue that flag lapel pins are disrespectful and a violation of the spirit of Title IV. The flag is meant to fly freely, not be posted on little plastic sticks in car windows or used as a graphic element or in advertising or covered with words. Just take a look at all the presidential debate backdrops or how the news networks routinely slice and dice the flag or put text and advertising over it for their graphics.
Having been raised religious, I decided on my own that saluting and pledging allegiance to the flag was a form of idolatry. The flag is America's "Golden Calf". Back in my elementary and HS days in the 60's I was the recipient of significant hostility when I refused to place my hand over my heart or recite the pledge. As an American I love my country as it was conceived by our founders..... a truly great vision by courageous men... but our flag has become a symbol of something I regard with contempt. It has become a military standard.... the symbol of a nation bent on domination of the world by military and economic aggression. It no longer represents the vision of the founders, and their courage in establishing this nation, and it no longer represents the constitution. I do not own a flag..... not even a little one, nor will I ever join hands with my fellow Americans in paying homage to this pretty piece of cloth that is so freely used to try to drive us to herd behavior. No flags for me thanks..... American or other.
> I never understood why we pledge allegiance to the flag and not the Constitution
In grade school I refused to stand for the pledge for a week. I used the time to ponder that question. I decided the reason it is a flag is because the alternatives can be wrong. President. Could she/he be wrong? Um. Yeah. Congress - same. Constitution? Yes. It denied women the vote.
The Flag is all that is good. It is never wrong, but people's understanding of it can be. Not even the Constitution always measures up, that's why there are provision to add Amendments. It is also likely an impossible ideal because it is many things and anytime you have more then one thing, the problem of conflicting priorities comes up.
"Everytime I see an American flag I feel fear."
Then it's working.
I suggest that the real patriots wear a CONSTITUTION pin on their lapels. I've googled and found that they do exist. Also, to remind us about the principles our country was founded on, perhaps the Constitution should be posted on shopping bags & gift-wrapping paper ...the latter would also be ironic since the bushies think that shopping = patriotism!! The "patriotic" Greed & Profiteeering Complex (Haliburton, Blackwater, Raytheon, etc. etc.) have only one flag: $$
As long as we're on the subject of atavistic jingo symbology, let's not leave out the wretched tradition of compulsory standing and singing our awful national anthem at sporting events. Combining sports and jingo nationalism was a natural marketing move for wingnut schlockmeisters, of course.
Wasn't it Steinbrenner who ordered that concession stands be closed during the 7th inning stretch to keep people from avoiding such tedious childishness?
In my lifetime patriotism was a call to go to some questionable conflict to be cannon fodder so the ruling elite could make more profit. Patriotism should come with a warning label. All "patriots" can take their displays and stick them where the sun don't shine.
Everytime I see an American flag I feel fear.
ONE MORE THING:
A few years later after vandalizing a school with my gang... I tore a HUGE flag down over the stage in the auditorium. I told my friend it was an accident... that I'd been too enthusiastic. But now that the flag had been accidentally sullied... touched the floor... it had to be burned to do it honor.
They all followed me out to the Railroad Docks... I put the flag up on pole on the dock... with all my gang down on the ground. I'll never forget the look of horror on their faces... with the reflection of the flag burning in their eyes... when they realized this had NOTHING to do with "respect."
In 1960, I transferred to a middle class school from my blue collar, barrio. I had a new teacher... big beefy guy, Korean Veteran. He showed us a black and white film about Communist Russia... children all in uniform with bald heads... marching into class... left face... saluting the Icon of Lenin. It was a silent movie... he narrated. He told us all the little children, even the girls had to shave their heads. They were "brainwashed" with "propoganda" to be like robots, determined to kill all all good Christian Americans. They worshipped their dictator as a god. They weren't allowed to go to church. They didn't get to decide what to be when they grew up... they had to be what the Dictator told them to be.
This film was probably produced by the CIA in South America or something, I don't know.
I was from a Kennedy liberal, blue collar family... the "new kid." At question time I asked "What's the difference between their salute and our own flag salute? Is that "brainwashing?" and... "Isn't this film itself "propaganda" to make us hate the Russians?"
He turned purple... dragged me from the class by my neck... slammed me against a wall in the hall and began hitting me with his fist in the bottom of my chin. Every time he hit me my head banged the wall and the whole building shook, terrifying ME, and all the children inside the room. They told me later they could here him cursing. I don't remember what he said but he told me to "keep your filthy tongue in your head." I guess he didn't want to chop off my tongue with my teeth. He beat me like that until I passed out, unconscious on the floor. When I came to he was spitting on me... yammering to go to the Principles Office.
I ran out of the class and that was my first hookey. It was a month before the school called my parents.
There is no point. If you read that, thanks for hanging out with me.
I never understood why we pledge allegiance to the flag and not the Constitution as it makes a lot more sense to me.So how about a new pledge: I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ONE NATION,UNDER GOD AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS,WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
Let me ask:if you were a terrorist that hated America, wouldn't you be the biggest flag waver in the room? That is exactly what we have folks, chickenhawks that are guilty of treason to our Constitution and the Bill of Rights pretending to be patriots by wrapping themselves in the flag!Our government,like Ron Paul says, has become a form of soft Fascism.The real terrorists must love these guys!
My husband and I live out in the country, and we have a flag pole out in front of our garden. We used to fly the American flag. We have not put up the flag since the United States invaded Iraq. We may never fly the flag again. How can I possibly say I am proud of my country? It's sad.
Thomas More is unworthy of the name "Thomas More." He can't even understand what is written in this essay (where does it say that the author does not love her country?). He can't even spell "Berkeley."
The article he attacks isn't anti-flag. It's a critique of those who say that Senator Obama's failure to wear a flag pin proves that he's unpatriotic.
What did you make on the SAT reading exam, Thomas More? 400 for filling in your name?
"So what EXACTLY does the US flag "stand for" then?"
Good question. I think, ultimately, it's a personal thing. For me, the current use of the flag stands for the continuing version of the illusion that we are a free people and a nation of laws. What this country has done under this flag is in the eye of the beholder. Certainly, the people of Iraq wouldn't see the flag as a noble symbol. Nor would the people of Nicaragua or Guatemala or Vietnam or Panama or Haiti.
While no country or people are perfect, we seem to be the ones who tout our "democratic principles" the most, yet use our bankers and army to quash democratically elected governments around the world.
Those who have given their lives for this country certainly have my respect. However, I will not desecrate the flag by wrapping it around myself and claiming moral or any other superiority to anyone else. Those who wear flag lapels during this time of oppression and neo-fascism are doing just that.
Thomas More Said: "If you don't love our country, love what our flag stands for as you enjoy the freedoms they represent, you need to move to Berekley as thats where you belong."
So what EXACTLY does the US flag "stand for" then? It can't be freedom because the US jails more of its citizens per capita than any other country. It can't be liberty because the government spies on its own people. It can't be justice because justice is denied for all but the rich. It can't be respect for human rights because the US is an aggressive warlike nation that sponsors human rights violations world wide. To me, all I can see that's left that the US flag stands for is CORPORATE PROFITS and GREED.
The pledge of allegiance is nothing but a brainwashing tool. The kids have to say it everyday in order to turn them into good little consumer sheep.
wilmoor said: "It remained there until I realized thieves had stolen America's beautiful flag,"
Barf. To everyone but Americans, the US flag has stood for oppression, murder and exploitation for a very long time. You people were just raised with the lie that the US is a "good and noble country". The evil that is America started long before George W Bush.
militantliberal said: "I would go further and say that people who take their Christianity or Judaism seriously ought to object to our flag idolatry"
EXACTLY! The flag has become an Idol that Americans must worship. Failure to do so means you're with the terrorists or some kind of godless commie. It's all part of the slide into fascism... Stiring up Nationalistic sentiment.
"An article in Sunday's New York Times reports on conservative hostility to Obama. He doesn't wear a flag pin, they complain, and he doesn't put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem. In Monday's Times, William Kristol added insult to injury with a hyperbolic ad-hominem attack on Obama, calling him "grandiose" and accusing him of "moral vanity."
The William Kristols, Sean Hannitys, Bill O'Reilly's and all the other neocon(victs) of this world are very much scared of Senator Obama because they are seeing a growing wave of anger among Americans supporting Senator Obama, that they know will overwhelm their diabolica agenda.
These neo-thugs also know that they are in the minority. This is why they yell so loud and speak so tough to compensate for diminishing credibility.
It is not a flag fetish that we're dealing with here. They'll find "anything" to conjure up fear and patriotism to alarm the public into doing their bidding. Let's not forget that Samuel Johnson once said, "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Indeed, the William Kristols, Sean Hannitys, Bill O'Reilly's and all the other neocon(victs) of this world are the poster boys for scoundrels!
They know full well that their time is up.
Thomas More;
Are you implying that a hunk of cloth is an acceptable trade for a human life?
In all honesty, what people are decrying is not what the flag symbolizes, it is the use to which the flag is now being put. Wearing the flag is the ultimate way of demanding that one's patriotism is not to be questioned. A symbol is one thing, but turning that symbol into an object of worship is idolatry. Other symbols that can and have been turned into idols include the 'holy bible', the 'qu'ran', a 'crucifix', etc.
Telling someone to move - and expecting them to do so - is not going to cut it here. Only cowards flee - well, families too, but in the case of families one can't really expect kids to fight can we?
canuckchuck: I've never worn a flag pin at home or abroad, but your comment reminded me of my first trip to Central America. I only half-jokingly taught myself and my traveling companions to say "I'm Canadian" in Spanish. When it came right down to it, we 'fessed up to our origins and hoped for the best.
Now I live in Central America. Because my last name is recognized world-wide as being British, thanks to Agent 007, people ask me where I am from, and even though they are too polite to say anything, I can sense the disappointment of some when they learn that I'm just another yankee who has invaded their turf.
Speaking of patriotism, here is a little difference between US and Canadian ex-pats living here. On the 4th of July, the US expats throw a shindig for themselves, where only US citizens can attend, passport ID required. When the Canadians celebrate their national day, they throw a party for anyone at all who wants to attend, and they sell stuff (food, crafts, etc.) and donate the proceeds to organizations here that help poor communities.
Sure doesn't make me want to boast of my national origin.
DavidGrayling: Loved your comment about that bottle of wine--I have felt such allegiance myself at times.
I have a little medal that my father took off a dead nazi officers' uniform in Europe around 1945....it is the only medal these false-flag lapel pin people should be wearing. The nazi medal was awarded by the nazi party to members for 25 years of loyal service to the party.
Besides is an American flag lapel pin really American if it is made in china?
A folded flag lies on our table this morning, nothing but blue with white stars to be seen. It was given to my mother for my father's service to our country in the Marine Corp on Guadacanal, Iwo Jima, Bougainville and a few lesser islands.
The things you speak of above have absolutely nothing to do with opposing the war in Iraq and the foreign policy of the current administration. Absolutely nothing. I oppose the war. My family opposes it. My father opposed it Some Marines serving there oppose it. They have nothing to do with anything as far as I can tell.
If you don't love our country, love what our flag stands for as you enjoy the freedoms they represent, you need to move to Berekley as thats where you belong. The people there are certainly ready for you.
cranky_chatter February 26th, 2008 1:45 pm writes:
"Obama says he'll re-instate Habeus Corpus. If true, that makes him and Uncle Ralph the only two candidates for President."
cranky_chatter, there are other candidates who want to restore habeas corpus. See Section 3 in this bill by Paul/Kucinich/Welch.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.3835:
No one says a word that when the pledge is recited, that bush will NOT bring his hand up to his heart (well, probably because he doesn't have one), but instead lays it down on his intestinal area.
"I pledge allegiance to my gut(instincts) and the shit I got for brains."
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
-Sinclair Lewis
I pledge allegiance to nothing! It's too dangerous because most things are not what they appear. For example:
God doesn't exist but lots of human shamans do; a Constitution is just a collection of words and some of them are entirely irrelevant in the year 2008 (the U.S. Constitution for example); no human deserves allegiance because they are all flawed (in Bush's case, badly); a country deserves no allegiance because it is an inanimate thing, a physical thing that can't reciprocate adoration, etc.
But I do profess to having an occasional allegiance to a good bottle of wine!
www.dangerouscreation.com
Flag pins are being worn mostly by folks wanting to signal that they are proud conservatives moreso than that they are proud "Americans". I like the flag on the Post Office pole. I don't need to wear it, and I'd just as soon others didn't wear it either. Doing so is actually a diminishment of its symbolism. It ought to be special--something we might even want to salute when no one is looking or expecting us to, not a fashion accessory for the smug. Why haven't the writers of flag protocol figured this out? The flag doesn't belong on people. Never did.
I pledge allegience to no flag, no country, no god and no man.
I pledge allegience to the Constitution of The United States of America. That is my bible. My only bible. I hold no other text equal to or above it. It is the preservation of that document to which I pledge my fortune, my sacred honor and, if necessary, my life.
George Bush keeps saying his job is to protect the people and that he can't allow any laws to tie his hands in his role as Commander in Chief.
But he's wrong. His job, according to his oath of office is to "perserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, forigen and domestic." All other duties and obligations take a back seat to that oath. NOTHING, no person, no corporation, no state, no soldier, no political party supercedes the Constitution.
This short article appeared on CommonDreams almost six years ago:
Published on Wednesday, April 3, 2002 by Common Dreams
What the American Flag Stands For
by Charlotte Aldebron
The American flag stands for the fact that cloth can be very important. It is against the law to let the flag touch the ground or to leave the flag flying when the weather is bad. The flag has to be treated with respect. You can tell just how important this cloth is because when you compare it to people, it gets much better treatment. Nobody cares if a homeless person touches the ground. A homeless person can lie all over the ground all night long without anyone picking him up, folding him neatly and sheltering him from the rain.
School children have to pledge loyalty to this piece of cloth every morning. No one has to pledge loyalty to justice and equality and human decency. No one has to promise that people will get a fair wage, or enough food to eat, or affordable medicine, or clean water, or air free of harmful chemicals. But we all have to promise to love a rectangle of red, white, and blue cloth.
Betsy Ross would be quite surprised to see how successful her creation has become. But Thomas Jefferson would be disappointed to see how little of the flag's real meaning remains.
Charlotte Aldebron, 12, wrote this essay for a competition in her 6th grade English class. She attends Cunningham Middle School in Presque Isle, Maine. Comments may be sent to her mom, Jillian Aldebron: aldebron@ainop.com
###
cranky_chatter:
"These traitors wrap themselves in the Flag while wiping their asses on the Constitution."
Exactly what I've been saying for a few years now. But, hell, isn't it just so much easier to mindlessly affix a pin to your coat than to read and understand the constitution?
And what exactly does any government official pledge, under oath, than to "Uphold and defend the constitution ..."
In the words of Ambrose Bierce:
Patriotism, n. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first.
The flag waving a necessary part of the nationalism associated with a fascist regime.
militantliberal
Pictures of our children are very important. Those who lose children will have only those pictures. When we grow up, our childhood pictures are a tie to that childhood, and reminders of who we were at the different stages of growth; and when we're old and our children are far away and busy living their lives without us, those pictures may become the only thing we have to make our lives worthwhile.
Yep, just another form of idol worship... Didn't they use to burn idolators?
On another note, taking the pledge of allegiance every day debases the pledge. Just another daily dump in school, say it by rote and after a few years you don't think about what it means anymore. How many adult yanks will stand every morning before going to work and recite the pledge they spoke each day at school? Would you like it if your place of employment asked you to take the pledge before you started your shift?
"Wearing a flag pin doesn't make you a patriot any more than wearing a cross makes you a good [i.e., compassionate] Christian."
Like so many did on 1/11, I put up the only flag I had - a small decal that went on the window. It remained there until I realized thieves had stolen America's beautiful flag, and turned it into the mantel of warmongers and antichrist followers. That's when I took my little flag down.
I used to love looking at our big beautiful flag flowing in the breeze. It always caused a lump in my throat and brought tears to my eyes because I wasn't just looking at an object, I was seeing history and all this country had gone through, and all that our flag stood for.
Love for my country, love for all humanity, remains strong in my heart, right there with my God.
History shows that enthusiastic nationalism signals the downfall of a society. Flags suck.
Thanks, cranky_chatter, for the John Prine reference. I was at one of his concerts in a small southern town not long after 911. When he sang that song, I thought some people were going to storm the stage in rage! But his word are still relevant:
"Your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore. It's already over-crowded form your dirty little war..."
Brings to mind another song...Harry Chapin's "Remember When the Music":
"Remember when the music was the best of what we dreamed of for our children's sake..."
As always, "i am constantly awaiting a rebirth of wonder..."
"These traitors wrap themselves in the Flag while wiping their asses on the Constitution."
Good one, Cranky Chatter!! You said it right.
No one says a word that when the pledge is recited, that bush will NOT bring his hand up to his heart (well, probably because he doesn't have one), but instead lays it down on his intestinal area.
I guess in some minds, its OK to torture, rendition, spy on US citizens without a warrant, intentionally mislead our nation into a war of aggression against a sovereign state for bogus reasons, and sh*t on the Constitutuion....so long as you're wearing a flag lapel pin while you're doing it. Because, as everyone knows, the only way to be certain that someone is truly a patriot is by their fashion accessories.
Now I understand how we managed to elect this incompetent dolt....twice.
I would go further and say that people who take their Christianity or Judaism seriously ought to object to our flag idolatry. It's also idolatry as to a true love of country because it replaces the reality of the thing--American--with an image of the thing. Which is more important? Your children or pictures of your children? Applying the superduper patriot test, I guess parents who refuse to wear pictures of their children on their lapels or sleeves just don't love them.
What if we just abolished the flag? Then Americans would have only their country and each other to be loyal to.
Are these the same 'patriots' who wanted to change the eligibility rules to allow a President Ah-nold?
I was in a small Arizona town the day of 9-11. Within a few days they were offering American Flag decals for free at all the convenience markets. Every time I declined they looked at me like I might have personally been involved in hijacking those aircraft.
Old flags came out and were hung, willy nilly from cyclone fences like old sheets... with no respect for tradition at all. Apparently, shameless jingo-ism was a new experience for them.
At a poetry slam the following week, I made a small cadre' of local college students listen to John Prine's "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore." They looked at me like I'd just walked out of the 1947 Roswell crash and said "Take me to your Leader."
These traitors wrap themselves in the Flag while wiping their asses on the Constitution.
Obama says he'll re-instate Habeus Corpus. If true, that makes him and Uncle Ralph the only two candidates for President. Everyone else is running for Dictator.
When I reflect on the persons responsible for sending our brave young men and women to an illegal and unnecessary war in Iraq, who denied them proper health care when they came home mentally disturbed and missing limbs and allowed them to be homeless and sleep under bridges at night, I realize that they were people who wore flag pins on their coat lapels.