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June 14, 2006
Wave the Flag
By THOMAS HUDSON REEVE
June 14 is Flag Day in the USA. That’s very nice. It’s a nice flag. It is one of the symbols
of this great republic. We’ve got a few other nice symbols and that’s handy because some
work better than others in certain situations, but flags, and pictures of flags (called “flags”)
can go almost anywhere. You can carry them into battle, put them on a car, a coffin or a
bag of chips. You can wear a flag on your shoulder, or on your shorts.
Wherever you find our flag, it means that we the “United States of Americans” are here.
That is all it actually means.Here we be. That’s it. In my way of thinking the more
important question is: What does the “United States of America” mean? The Flag stands
for the United States, so now, what does the United States stand for?
The way you enhance respect for the flag is to honor the republic for which it stands.
That republic is actually described in another important symbol, The Constitution.
The Constitution is really more than a symbol, because it actually is the idea itself,
the plan, the recipe for a great republic carefully written down to guide generations
of Americans through good times and bad. It talks a lot about the freedom of the
individual to speak, to worship, to live as they like, and it carefully delineates protection
for each citizen from the abuse of power by the very Government being formed. It protects
the common citizens rights and freedoms from their own leaders, and it makes those
leaders beholden to the common citizens.
Just stop there for a moment - That is an amazing, almost miraculous thing to have
happened. How often in history do you find the powerful limiting themselves out of
humility? The wisdom of it is astounding.
It was part of something called “The Enlightenment” for a reason. It deserves a good flag.
Done.
But this week – with all the extraordinary problems facing the U.S. Government (let’s just
leave it at that) The Congress is debating a constitutional amendment to protect the flag
from the citizens, limiting their freedom and criminalizing their discontent. They also gave
themselves a raise.
When a symbol becomes more important than the thing it is meant to symbolize then it
is a fetish. Originally used to describe magical charms and idols, a fetish is an inanimate
object seen as so imbued with mystical power that it is worshipped in and of itself.
Well, that is one explanation. Not too enlightened, but there it is. Another possible
explanation is best expressed by the famous Dr. Samuel Johnson in the year 1775 –
“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”
Wave your Flag proudly, but remember that’s the easy part.
Posted by photocartoonist at June 14, 2006 10:48 PM