I agree entirely with the outstanding opinion piece written by Diane W. Mayfield regarding the appropriation by the right of our national flag. (“I am a patriot,” Jan. 28.) For me, exhibitionist display of the flag became a symbol of political opinion that I did not share during the Vietnam War. We were told that we should “support our country, right or wrong” and that we should leave if we did not support the pursuit of an imperialistic war essentially begun by Democrats John F. Kennedy and LBJ and then fanatically pursued by Republican Richard Nixon. In fact, I did leave the country to do research on my doctoral dissertation in Austria. We were literally on the boat during the Chicago riots surrounding the Democratic National Convention of 1968, and our disillusionment fed a semi-serious contemplation of not returning. Despite being very comfortable with the language and culture of our host country, my wife and I came to realize that despite our revulsion with our country’s foreign policy, we were in fact Americans who loved our country. We did not then, nor do we now, voice the frequently expressed platitude that the U.S. is the “best country in the world.” Rather, as Americans, we treasure it as the best country for us.
Ms. Mayfield recalls that a former German exchange student commented to her that a pledge to the flag like one required in U.S. schools would be regarded as a “second coming of Hitler” if conducted Germany. A German friend of mine, a school principal and history professor, reacted similarly when he visited us here. Noting the ubiquitous display of the flag, he said he was chillingly reminded of his youth in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.
Recently, I was likewise chilled when I saw a young man walking on Pismo Beach carrying a large American flag. It was the week after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Now, this young man may not have had the intent of saluting the sedition of those thousands of flag-wavers. I suspect however that he did, because of what Ms. Mayfield accurately describes as the flag being “the exclusive symbol of the far right.”
I, too, want my flag back as a symbol of the entire country.
Max Riedlsperger
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Feb 4-14, 2021.
Thank you Mr. Riedlsperger (and earlier, Ms. Mayfield), and, yes, we are right to worry that Trump’s white nationalist and christo-fundamentalist base and their aggressive displays of “supersize” US flags, Gadsen banners, and Trump flags are harbingers of an American variant of fascism. Indeed, historical photos of Nazi rallies show militaristic events that were always arrayed with numerous flags while emotional orators demanded fealty to the swastika banner.
Flag worship, as unfortunately encoded into the Pledge of Allegiance, actually is forbidden as idolatry in various American religious traditions. Whenever you see angry groups/mobs of caucasians brandishing flags and bearing arms, you need to remember that you are observing white supremacists, christo-fascists, and right wing authoritarians who are poised to commit violence against their perceived enemies and destroy the democratic foundations of the United States. We are indeed living through perilous times. Stay strong and resolved against this menace!
Wow ..once again liberal dribble on the web site of the new times!!!….how predictable….after a whole year of watching the marxist ..violent bla k live matter…antifa…destroy large sections of american cities…kill police…kill business owners trying to save their businesses…leftys are once wetting their pants over what happened at the capital…now if you love the flag…libbys get all in a lather….the bottom line is you all started this hate…four years of slander…lies…youve made all republicans finally realize just how evil you democrates really are…you will anything to take power…install your marxist ideas on this country….we are not asleep anymore!!!!!
As a 51 year old American Flag waving caucasian, with a bald head and a core belief in the constitution with 2A being a lifestyle, I am judged by these divisionists, self anointed, virtue signaling, tolerant if you agree with me, mono-visionaries, in the worst of ways. Somehow they know me. Hell, I am the picture of a racist nationalist, hell bent on preserving far right ideologies and on and on and on and on. This guy opining this laughable definition of what he thinks he sees, just isn’t so. Read a book. A history book. Not just the ones in the wheelhouse of the day. Listen to great minds like Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell. Much of the learned beliefs are parroted as fact whilst simply being untrue and without care of any impiracle evidence nor is any asked for. It feels right so it must be right. Whatever your day job is, stick to that. Don’t try to be some woke,philosophical, social morality guide. Telling people what you think of them from your horse of high, without knowing much of anything other than your bubble, is a fools game. The kind played on me regularly. Leave my flag alone. My wife of 30 years, naturalized 6 years ago from Los Reyes Michoacan wants you to leave both of her flags alone. Unless of course you just shut the hell up and let Americans do what we have always done. Think for ourselves. Be ourselves. Protect ourselves. And do it with the courage and resolve that allows you to vomit your pseudo-intellect and point your crooked little fingers at what you don’t understand as evidence of your make believe reality. Brush your teeth Tiger, it’s ti me for bed and let the adults talk. Shoot low sheriff, he’s riding a Shetland.
This sudden affection for the flag professed by the Left is merely “political marketing” to disguise what they really think. They have come to the realization that demonstrating their contempt for national symbols offends many of the moderates who they need to attain power, so they make showy displays purporting to embrace those symbols. This is similar to their reversal of the contempt for soldiers that they openly displayed during the 1960’s and 1970’s ( “baby killers”, etc), before realizing that these self-indulgent displays offended many voters. Their true affection is for the “leftist paradise” they wish to turn the country into, not for the country as it really is.