I fled the Fourth this year. I've been in the Mendocino parade every year, but in '07 the stench of hypocrisy is just too great. My husband and I took off down the coast and saw what there was to see.
Small towns hung out Old Glory in the hopes of attracting tourists and making money. Bands played "The Star-Spangled Banner" with its "bombs bursting in air". Fireworks celebrated shock and awe and a million deaths in Iraq. Peace signs were few, Stars and Stripes were abundant and hard to avoid. We wondered how many of these towns would have hung out swastikas in Hitler's Germany.
When questioned on what they were supporting with their flags, people got defensive and protested, "It's the Fourth of July!". One merchant got irate, yelling, "I paid good money to rent this bunting and it helps my business. It has nothing to do with patriotism!"
The norm, even in progressive Northern California, is going along to get along. Money trumps morality. The flag has come to stand for genocide, imperialism, torture, ecocide- the ugly emblem of a rogue nation- but it continues to be flown proudly and thoughtlessly.
Are we so dulled, so depressed, so in need of cheer, that we don't question what the flag has come to represent? Whatever happened to the Spirit of '76, the spirit of independence and revolution? Have we forgotten that our Founding Fathers put their lives on the line to overthrow King George and tyranny?
We the People are sovereign, the ultimate authority, under the US Constitution. It includes an impeachment clause. All our public servants have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. Most have violated their oath of office.
ALL public officials should be fulfilling their oath of office by supporting impeachment of the archcriminals, Bush and Cheney, who have stolen our government. Those who don't are derelict in their duty.
Let's not forget our heritage.
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