The Farce of July
Jul. 3rd, 2005 08:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lurkittyJust why the heck is it (she said, ascending her soapbox with a dramatic flair) that we have allowed the Right to define Patriotism so narrowly? Let us set aside for now the question of whether nationalism is appropraite in the age of the internet; that is too large a debate for this tiny brain. But I do consider myself a patriot, just not cut from the same cloth as say, Bill Frist and his buds.
I was a Girl Scout. I know flag ettiquette to a tee, up briskly, down reverently slow, to set at half mast, you must first run it all the way up, then down, but not halfway down, as one might think -- no -- 1/3 down, and no other flags above Old Glory, mind you. I even know how to retire a flag from service -- by burning. One must cut the stars away from the stripes first and burn from the striped narrow end up to the stars... Lots of stuff in my little pea brain. I get kind of upset that people leave flags out so long they get tattered and faded don't do anything about it. I don't fly one because I don't have the time to properly maintain one. And, here's the important part, if someone has an *important* point to make by burning a flag, I will defend their right to burn the flag. My constitution guarantees free speech.
But I can sing the Canadian National Anthem from memory, as well as God Save the Queen. I know how to carry the Canadian flag -- close to the side with a straight right arm. Hey, we expect everyone else in the world to honor our flag, why don't we give the same? Why is is patriotic to be the ugly American? I speak more than one language (no, not including PASCAL). There's an old joke -- what do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. One language? American. Sheesh. I think it's patriotic to put on our best face and show the world we can get along.
I support our servicemen and women, and I think the best thing we could do for them right now is bring them home. No one recalls how much heat Clinton took for not clearly defining his exit strategy in Kosovo -- it was Bush asking for timetables back then. But, hey, we all know Americans have short memories...
I was a Girl Scout. I know flag ettiquette to a tee, up briskly, down reverently slow, to set at half mast, you must first run it all the way up, then down, but not halfway down, as one might think -- no -- 1/3 down, and no other flags above Old Glory, mind you. I even know how to retire a flag from service -- by burning. One must cut the stars away from the stripes first and burn from the striped narrow end up to the stars... Lots of stuff in my little pea brain. I get kind of upset that people leave flags out so long they get tattered and faded don't do anything about it. I don't fly one because I don't have the time to properly maintain one. And, here's the important part, if someone has an *important* point to make by burning a flag, I will defend their right to burn the flag. My constitution guarantees free speech.
But I can sing the Canadian National Anthem from memory, as well as God Save the Queen. I know how to carry the Canadian flag -- close to the side with a straight right arm. Hey, we expect everyone else in the world to honor our flag, why don't we give the same? Why is is patriotic to be the ugly American? I speak more than one language (no, not including PASCAL). There's an old joke -- what do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. One language? American. Sheesh. I think it's patriotic to put on our best face and show the world we can get along.
I support our servicemen and women, and I think the best thing we could do for them right now is bring them home. No one recalls how much heat Clinton took for not clearly defining his exit strategy in Kosovo -- it was Bush asking for timetables back then. But, hey, we all know Americans have short memories...
