Liberal New York Times reporter turned liberal nytimes.com blogger, Timothy Egan, posted "Capture the Flag" on Thursday, on how heartening it was to see American flags pop up in liberal domains. The post was ostensibly a plea for people of all political views to have faith in the future good of America. But Egan excused liberals for their lack of public patriotism during the Bush years, citing "years of sanctioned torture and war built on deceit."
Traveling in California and New York over the last couple of weeks, I noticed something in the summer landscape of these two deeply blue states that is more reminiscent of rural America this time of year -- a surfeit of American flags.
Among the offerings of street vendors in Harlem and outdoor stalls near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the flag is often fused with the image of President Obama, a burst of color against a bleak wall, sometimes with a Superman motif. In California, I saw Old Glory on bicycles in the Bay Area, on backpacks in Yosemite and at campgrounds under the redwoods.
It's not unusual to see a flag in liberal provinces, of course. But in the Bush years of sanctioned torture and war built on deceit, many Americans withdrew from overt displays of patriotism. Some said they were ashamed of their country.
....
I wondered whether urban Americans, overwhelmingly Democratic, had something against the flag, or if they felt the country was no longer theirs. Now you can ask the same question of the other side of the political spectrum.
After giving Obama a pass on the flag-pin controversy, Egan insisted that a fringe secessionist movement in Texas matched the unrelenting Bush-hatred shown by the left for eight years (while ignoring Texas's unique entry into the Union, which makes talk of secession less odd than it would in other states).
At the same time, in deep red states like Texas, where secession talk heated up in the first months of the Obama presidency, there has been a passionate public embrace of the vaunted Lone Star flag, symbol of independence dating to the days of the Republic of Texas. Incidentally, the blue in that flag stands for loyalty, as defined by state code.
—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.
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I guarantee there are more
July 2, 2009 - 14:50 ET by mattmI guarantee there are more Americans ashamed of their country now than there ever were during Bush.
It's not even America any more. We live in a neo-socialist dictatorship, headed up by a pinhead in a suit who is surrounded by crooks and clowns.
My flag is in storage until America comes back (if it ever does).
Egan is an idiot, a liar, or both
July 2, 2009 - 14:59 ET by IamTinmanIf Egan had bothered to travel 30 miles east of the pacific ocean he would have found the rest of California to be solidly conservative (except for Sacramento and they need to put a fence around that place).
Maybe Egan should try to do some real reporting instead of huddling in a closet, spewing out useless anecdotal drivel!
too true, tinman.
July 2, 2009 - 15:50 ET by puredmashiebut the trouble is that he has a gig where he can opine, rewrite history the way he wished it was, and get paid for it. fortunately, sites like this allow a self-policed forum to expose him for the liar he is. there's even a way to cite references, trolls and conjecturers are exposed with a flaming that sets off my house smoke alarms. we truly are lucky to have this, and i'm typing this and watching tiger woods play golf in our nation's capitol.
meanwhile, the ny times loses readers by the hundred with every day's printing and tries to improve their balance sheet with the only tactic a liberal knows: raise prices. yeah, go ahead. stick that head of yours deeper into the sand. there's nothing wrong with your product, it's fine.
life is good.
swing hard in case you hit it.
This is pure tripe. Our
July 2, 2009 - 15:00 ET by bigtimerThis is pure tripe.
Our flag is still flying in Spite of O and his crew.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Yep us too
July 2, 2009 - 17:16 ET by general companyIn-fact that is what I love about living in a very Red state, I dont care what any liberals opinion is.
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Some said they were ashamed of their country.
July 2, 2009 - 15:29 ET by jdlybrandAnd that would include our current First Lady.
Perhaps,
July 2, 2009 - 15:30 ET by xcor057but now we have learned our lesson and look upon those as the glory days where the America was safe, the economy was healthy and the fundamentals of our daily lives weren't threatened to be taken over by a underqualified control freak of a president.
Liberalism is fiction
Then Vermont, Now Texas
July 2, 2009 - 15:34 ET by slickwillie2001When Texas secession comes up, remind your liberal friends and trolls that during the President George W. Bush administration, talk of secession in Vermont among the liberals seemed to be politically-correct to discuss. The Vermont secessionists, poor babies, were driven by shame of their country over the war in Iraq.
When Bush Was President, Secession Talk Was Cool: http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com
I dont fly my flag
July 2, 2009 - 15:37 ET by 411for any politician. I fly my flag in honor of the great men & women who have served and who currently serve our great country. I fly my flag because I am proud to be an American, never stopped. Obama will come and go and we will get our country back.
RB/411acrossamerica.com
What to make of it?
July 2, 2009 - 16:40 ET by BuffNBoneI'm not sure how much of a national chain Hastings stores are (mostly books and music) but they also sell other stuff. The cover on last Sunday's advert supplement offered a tee shirt with a peace symbol. Though I disagree with peaceniks, I recognize my years of military service included their right to free speech and expression included theirs as well as mine.
Here's my problem. The colors that made up the symbol were the stars and stripes. Initially I took offense at it because I really don't like any clothing based on the flag. Then I noticed that the colors appeared to be inverted. When the flag is flown upside down it is a distress signal.
So what is the message the symbolism was supposed to convey? Peace is in trouble? The country is in trouble because the peaceniks think they are patriotic? We're all in trouble because of the present administration?
Let me be the first to say "Happy Fourth" and "Let Freedom Ring".
"Fighters are fun but bombers make policy"
"Americans withdrew from
July 2, 2009 - 16:49 ET by nolotrippen"Americans withdrew from overt displays of patriotism"
But I thought we weren't supposed to say liberals lacked patriotism, even when we never actually saw any patriotism, overt or otherwise.
Liberalism is a moving target. Somebody please shoot it.
unreality
July 3, 2009 - 00:26 ET by m1xramNYT needs to close their parallel dimension wormhole and stick to news from this universe. OR, send their papers through the wormhole. Don't really care which.
He has already failed... his country.
the big lie
July 3, 2009 - 02:35 ET by sudmufOnce again the marxists use the big lie technique. The truth is there just isn't very much difference between President Bush's and Barry's Iraq/Afganistan war policy. Everything President Bush said about the need for attacking Iraq was also true. There was no talk of secession in Texas either, but if the cap and tax bill passes and/or the government controlled health care passes there very well may be call for secession in Texas an elsewhere. I personally don't plan to put up with that kind of Marxist tyranny.
jessieH
July 3, 2009 - 11:39 ET by jessieHjessieH How dare the NYT say "We're ashamed of this country. The only thing WE are ashamed of is the hacks who write this s--t. I am ashamed of our elected officials, who blatantly steal from the people. I am ashamed of the govt., for blatantly staging these idiotic infomercials on healthcare.