Flying The Flag
When I got up this morning I went to my front patio and hung out my flag. My grandfather did this on every national holiday. He flew the flag on Mother’s Day, mindful of the original pacifist impulse behind that celebration. His great grandson is now the keeper of the flag. It has only forty-six stars.
I do not fly the flag to make some limited propaganda statement…not to "support the troops" or to "Get Behind Our President!"…I fly it simply to acknowledge that I am, irrevocably, in all my bits, bones, and pieces an American. I accept responsibility for all the nation does, even when I don’t approve of it, and I take pride in the men and women who were or are my fellow citizens.
On Memorial Day both Lee and Grant; on July 4th Thomas Jefferson; on Labor Day, Joe Hill; on November 11th those who survived and those who didn’t.
I fly it as a confession of my political faith. And a promise to keep that faith.
