Flagging

   For all the current noise from the president about respect for the U.S. flag, it's time to consider some of the ways Americans fail to follow the guidelines for doing just that.
   One prominent way is leaving the Star-Spangled Banner waving from the flagpole of a school, home or government building 24/7 until it is ragged, dirty, faded and generally so weather-worn as to sorely need replacement.
   But does that happen? No.

   Or small flags are handed out during parades for people to carry and wave, but when the parade is over the 4 x 6 inch banners are simply dropped in the nearest trash can or left on the sidewalk.
   Or someone sticks several of these small banners in the grass along their front yard during special occasions to show their "patriotism," but then leaves the flags to be rained on and blown over into the dirt.
   A momentary display of "patriotism" satisfies some inner need, but respect is soon forgotten.

   Or a flag is sewn onto the seat of a pair of jeans, ostensibly to "prove" the wearer's "patriotism." How patriotic it is to sit on the flag then becomes an open question.
   
   Or a Stars and Stripes motif is woven into or printed on some fabric that is then made into a garment of some sort. How this shows respect for the national emblem and the many people who have died defending the principles it represents is a puzzle.

    Several decades ago there was a major flap in America when demonstrators burned flags as their way of protesting the Vietnam War. Conservatives objected, claiming this showed disrespect for the flag. But every guidebook on the appropriate way to dispose of an old banner is to burn it. Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that burning the flag during a protest was a constitutionally protected right of free speech.
   Similarly, professionally athletes these days who kneel during the National Anthem are showing solidarity with minority groups who have been abused, in violation of the principles for which this republic stands, as represented by the flag.
   Those who disagree with the kneelers call this disrespect for the National Anthem and the National Emblem. But the reality is that by kneeling they show more respect, not less.
   The critics, led by the president, confuse disagreement over one issue with disrespect for another. 
   
   One wonders how it came about that one side shows such monumental concern over how others treat the flag, yet they themselves show such apathy and ignorance over appropriate treatment of the national emblem.
   The guidelines are not hard to find, in print or on line.