I’m one of those rare liberals who live in southwest Warren County, in a suburb that’s almost certainly one of Sarah Palin’s "pro-America" areas of the country. On primary election day, when I announced my party affiliation, everyone looked up and laughed.
Yet, shockingly, few American flags fly in my neighborhood on a daily basis. And not many find their way outside on holidays like Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day or Independence Day. Well, this Monday is Flag Day, another prime opportunity for everyone across the political spectrum to express their passion for America’s ideals by flying the old Red, White and Blue.—-
According to the website USFlag.org, way back in 1885 a Wisconsin schoolteacher named BJ Cigrand came up with the idea of celebrating the flag’s June 14 birthday. (That’s the date in 1777 on which the Stars and Stripes was officially adopted as America’s national flag.) The idea caught on, and President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation recognizing the celebration in 1916; the date was eventually designated a National Holiday in 1949 by an Act of Congress and ratified by President Harry Truman.
In recent years, it's become popular for politicians of various stripes to wrap themselves in the flag and sometimes even doubt the patriotism of their opponents who fail to ostentatiously wear a flag pin on their lapel. Clearly, it’s time to take the flag back, to reclaim it for all America. After all, this country might not be perfect but it’s still a beacon of freedom, hope, fairness and equality for much of the world.
You can get started by joining local veterans at the New Richmond Branch of the Clermont County Public Library at 6:30 p.m. Monday for a flag ceremony and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Staff from the Cincinnati Museum Center will then give a presentation, "Remembering Our Veterans." Pre-registration is required.
If you can’t make it, you can still display your flag on Monday (whether it’s on your home or on your lapel) in honor of the worthy ideals that it represents and for which we should all continue to strive — regardless of the area of America in which we happen to live.
