Flying the Flag

Cement Brunette posted a great article about his history as a gay man and his reaction to the above image. One part stood out:

The basic problem for me is that I find the American flag embarrassing and to see it flying in the same picture as the Pride flag really nauseates me.

I used to feel the same way. But, a year ago, I decided to start flying the American flag on certain holidays: Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Veterans Day. I don't go overboard. One is supposed to fly the flag every day between Flag Day and Independence Day, but that feels more like a liturgical calendar ("The Third Sunday after Flag Day") than healthy patriotism, so I don't bother.

But I do fly it for those three holidays. The reason I do so is that I want to fight back against those on the right that have made the flag a symbol of right-wing values.

I'm trying to take the flag back.

I'm a Democrat. Definitely center-left (more left than I used to be before six years of George W. Bush and twelve years of a Republican Congress). But this is my country. And it's my flag. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let people like President Bush, Tom DeLay, or even brownshirts like Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin try to claim the flag as their exclusive symbol.



That's my flag. Happy Fourth of July Everyone.