About the American Flag - Ponder this

By: teacherken
Published On: 7/6/2006 5:29:50 AM

Yesterday I received an email, which I posting with the knowledge of the author, who lives near the Quaker Meeting House we both attend.  Our building is on Old Georgetown Road, very near the CIA.  

The title line of the email was simply "Ponder this."  Below I have offered unedited (except) for the name of the author, replaced by the xxxx) the entire email.  I will then offer the substance of my reaction, which I sent to him.

I invite you to keep reading, and then, if you are so inclined, to share your reactions, to his email and to my response.

Ken,

I sent this yesterday to family and a few friends.  What I get back was anecdotal confirmation that McLean wasn't unique.  There might be something going on -- a kind of short-circuit from patriotism overload.   Perhaps your friends at Daily Kos might be interested.

xxxx

____

Here is one for your frontal lobes to work on. 

There are 17 homes on the cul-de-sac where we live.  People who live in them are a good cross-section of 'inside the Beltway' folks of McLean -- active and retired government managers, lawyers, professionals.  Today is July Fourth.  It struck me as I walked the dog this afternoon:  not one house had a flag. 

Curious, my wife and I hopped in the car to explore... and drove around for a full hour.  Not a scientific survey, but still a conscientious -- and revealing -- one.  Our neighborhood first:  18 streets, maybe 300 homes ... 32 flags. 

Then over to the tonier part of McLean.  Bigger houses with more space between, owned by people one would suspect might want to show gratitude for bigger opportunities and rewards in some visible, patriotic way.  Seventeen flags. 

Then past several blocks of parked cars belonging to families of fireworks-watchers hobbling off with their burdens of picnic coolers and lawn chairs.  One car flag.
 
A year ago, such non-display would have been unheard of.  And two years ago, unpatriotic.  Especially in McLean, which for a couple of years after 9/11 seemed to bristle with house flags, car flags (BIG, in-your-face ones), bumper stickers (flags and slogans) and flag decals. 

Today?  Well... times, they appear to be a-changing. 

For the record:  there was a flag atop a pole outside Hickory Hill, home of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, and now for sale by Ethel.

Peace.

I wrote back that I thought that it might be in part because we have always had something of a libertarian streak in Virginia.  I informed him what had happened recently on George Allen's official Senate website.  he had put up a poll with a question designed to influence the outcome of the poll.  It was asking people about the proposed flag amendment, even AFTER it was defeated by the Senate, and Allen's campaign manager had accused Jim Webb of being influence by John Kerry, with the implication Webb lacked sufficient patriotism, and on behalf of Webb Steve Jarding had fired back at Allen.  By the time Allen took the poll down the vote was over 75% AGAINST the amendment.

That was the substance of what I wrote.  I have posited to a few other people that pushing the flag amendment now may be a mistake like the bill on Terri Schiavo.  I wonder if - given the current context of the failure of the occupation in Iraq, tne continued deaths of Americans there and in Afghanistan, the additional news about the government spying on Americans, and so on, if the American people are beginning to see through the amendment for the attempted political manipulation we here know it to be.

What was your anecdotal observation?  What are your reactions.  I hope you will share them with us.

Comments



this is crossposted from dailykos (teacherken - 7/6/2006 5:31:08 AM)
because it is about Virginia.  I look forward to any responses here as well.  I will be looking in on this until I go to seminar in several hours, and will check back several times later during the day as well.  I do look forward to your reactions.


hmm -- the reverse of dailykos (teacherken - 7/6/2006 6:30:16 AM)
where I was getting plenty of comments, but until fairly recently few recommends (Thanks Loudoun Dem for helping change that), while over here several recommends but no comments.

What has been your observation about flags?

To what if anything would you attribute responsibility for what my friend encountered, and what you yourself may have encountered?



I feel that people are becoming more aware... (Loudoun County Dem - 7/6/2006 7:01:56 AM)
...of the rove driven manipulation of patriotism in general (and the flag specifically) and are less inclined to make overt displays as a result.

What I have noticed is a greatly reduced amount of peer pressure to show how patriotic we are, replaced by a growing sense of malaise with Bush and the republican congress fiddling while America burns.



I love our flag, but I do NOT love it when (Lowell - 7/6/2006 7:28:20 AM)
political partisans - mainly right wingers - hijack it for their particular agenda.  The great thing about the stars and stripes is that it's for ALL Americans, not just for Republicans and not just for Democrats.  And, beautiful though the flag is, let's not forget that it is just a SYMBOL of our freedom, our Constitution, our country.  Sometimes, people get really confused and think that the actual, physical flag is what's special, when in reality it's the values underlying it, flowing from our great Constitution and Bill of Rights, that matter.


Doonesbury on the flag from Nov 2001... (Loudoun County Dem - 7/6/2006 8:13:11 AM)
(click image to open in a new window)

...It didn't take rove long to try to grab the flag back.



I noticed the same (Bubby - 7/6/2006 7:58:19 AM)
We headed out on the 4th for a day hike to a favorite mountain overlook - a chance to get up and savor the natural beauty of  America and the Blue Ridge.  As we rolled past homes and farms on our way we noticed the near total absence of flags.  We also noticed that few people had gathered in yards and porches to enjoy the holiday.  It looked like another work day with homes empty and folks off at work.

I don't know what is going on but I do know that my neighbors voted overwhelmingly to return George Bush to the Whitehouse and thought that Jerry Kilgore would make a swell Governor.  I do notice that unsolicited enthusiasm for the War over at the feed store has dropped off.  In fact, uncle Earl has stopped talking about Iraq entirely.  Can't say anything good, don't say nuthin'...

Earl wants me to forget about Iraq.  Like some bad real-estate deal that will work out with time. He keeps bringing up this talk about Democrats not standing for anything.  The notion, I suppose, is that Bush is a failure, but Democrats are rudderless.  I doubt he will vote for George Allen or anyone that looks like him.  And according to mom, he didn't bother to get his flag up on the 4th.



The rain (pitin - 7/6/2006 1:01:19 PM)
Could be as simple as that.  My girlfriend's father is a Lt. Colonel (ret) Air Force, he flies his flag everyday of the year.

However, when I went over to his house on the 4th, it was down.  This is just after the torrential thunder storms.  I can only assume this happened through out NoVa



Don't know about the amendment.. (Kathy Gerber - 7/6/2006 11:05:39 PM)
Leading up to Iraq I had a few long discussions with a Republican relative who has since passed away.  She ultimately concluded that they - meaning the Bush administration - must be making decisions based upon information that we ordinary citizens did not have.  In short, she threw her support behind the administration based on faith.  And once she came down on that side of the fence, she was indeed supportive to the point of attending some event 50 miles away from her home.

This country will never be the same again. Maybe you listened to songs like "Wake Up Everybody" by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, or "Love Train" by the Ojays from the 70's, and heard them from time to time over the years.  They are optimistic and generous and so very innocent.

Listen to them now.  For me they are a cruel reminder of what we were, and what we are.  And they are a reminder that no matter what, we are headed somewhere else entirely.

Now imagine that you were someone like my relative, who chose to stand behind this administration.  You supported the troops with flags and stickers on your car.  You knew it would be difficult, you expected to be criticized so you were ready to hold your ground and keep the faith in the face of that criticism. That is, until you just couldn't do it anymore.  Maybe it was WMDs, or Abu Ghraib, maybe Katrina, or maybe it was the accumulation of indictments and lies.

Wouldn't it become almost unbearable to look at a flag much less fly one?  And if somehow your religious faith became intertwined with your faith in your government the betrayal is nearly incomprehensible.

Yes, we have our Webb/ Allen and Weed/ Goode sign war going on out here.  But lately we have seen not one single Bush or W sticker.  The signs are drawn back, and I don't know how people who are waking up to this debacle are managing to process it.

I think if my relative had lived (she died suddenly), at several points in time, being dead honest, I would have been tempted to call her up and say - look at this!  Are you happy now, goddammit??  Is this what you wanted?

I'm glad you wrote this diary, because I do know some Bush supporters who are really former Bush supporters, and it is possible to have a conversation with them on these topics. I have been so defensive and angry that I have not acknowledged that it is my responsibility to take the lead in finding common ground.

And who knows what will happen with Goode? For many people in this district, that is just one more betrayal. 

Just maybe the timing on the flag amendment was a good thing.