Tag: Flag

Posted on

Flags Half Mast

When I was young it seemed to be an extraordinary event when the United States flag was flown at half mast.  It was especially so back then as it did not happen that often.  It is still a big deal to fly the flag at half mast, but it seems to be happening all the time now.  Often it seems to be for victims of yet another mass shooting incident which are  an absolute pandemic in this country.  After the recent FedEx shooting in Indianapolis, there were two more of ONLY 3 or so people, one in Wisconsin and one Texas, this past weekend.

I am going to suggest that it would be easier and saner to leave the flags at half mast all the time until we do something about the availability of guns in this country – especially assault style rifles – and gun laws in general. The fact that we have failed to act on gun legislation, that guns have become so prevalent in our society, that mass shootings are so common, that guns are especially problematic in inner cities (there is nearly a gun death a day in St. Louis), is reason enough to be flying the flag at half mast.  I am not so sure that we should not be flying it upside down as a signal of dire distress.

And so it goes.

Posted on

The American Flag – Hijacked by Conservatives?

American flagDon’t get me wrong, there is no other country to which I would want to be a citizen. If I were to move to another country, I could not imagine giving up my United States citizenship. It would be an impossibility for me. Having said this it feels to me that this country currently has so many problems that are not being addressed it saddens me. Our general attitude of exceptionalism is one of them. It can be debated if our country was ever exceptional, but I certainly do not feel like it is at this time. Unless, of course, you consider hogging most of the world’s resources and bullying countries around the globe with our military as being exceptional. Another significant problem seems to be that as a nation we are becoming more and more splintered along economic, religious and political lines.1

I live in the Second Congressional District of Missouri. I mention this because this district is ultra conservative. They have elected a couple of the lamest politicians to ever walk the face of the earth let alone take the oath of office. Specifically that would be the incumbent, Ann “there is no climate change problem” Wagoner and Todd “legitimate rape” Adkins.

I bring up  the conservatism of this district as Continue reading “The American Flag – Hijacked by Conservatives?”