I Want My Flag Back

Today is the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It was a shocking day that had us all reeling from the pictures pouring from our television sets. No one realized at the time that this day would change so much in our lives. Nor did we realize that what happened that day would bind us all together in a way that we hadn't seen in a long time. That day we were all Americans, there were no Democrats, Republicans or Independents. Just Americans. We flew our flag proudly in defiance of those who had attacked us. Because it truly was a symbol of all of us.

I want that flag back.

 

Lately it seems that the flag has been co-opted by those who follow Donald Trump.  They somehow seem to think it is his flag.  You will see it waving at his rallies and billowing behind pickup trucks filled with his supporters.  Yet democracy is not on Trump's agenda.

 

Lately you see some Republicans who are intent on marginalizing segments of our population cloaking themselves in the flag even while they are repudiating the basic principles of a democracy.   They are supporting the banning of books which depict things they don't agree with.  They are harassing elected officials for doing their jobs.   They are doing everything in their power to force people to ascribe to their religious beliefs by curtailing women's reproductive rights.  We have Senator Tuberville of Alabama single handedly holding hundreds of military nominations hostage, threatening our national security,  because he opposes the Pentagon's policy of paying for service members to travel to states where abortion is legal for health care. By supporting this behavior Republican loyalists are leading our country down the path to an autocracy.

 

On 9/11 we stood as one against the external forces that would try to tear us apart.  It is time to realize that there are internal forces that are trying to do the same.  

Robin Williams said it right.

I want my flag back.