John Kerry On Taking Back The American Flag.

[Beloved Citizen]

"The flag of the United States of America that I fought under, that streamed out behind my gun turret, that has covered the coffins of friends, that flag doesn't belong to the president, it doesn't belong to a party, it doesn't belong to an ideology. It is a symbol of the strength of a nation of diversity and tolerance, of a democracy that has dissent, alternative ideas, and we are going to reclaim that flag for the Unted States of America."

- John Kerry, July 12, 2004.

It is going to be one hell of a convention.

[Worst Username Ever]

1. Can't wait to see this man in action.

on edit: Damn he is eloquent. The things that he says are going to one day end up engraved in monuments.

[derby378]

2. Memo to Kerry: Start flying flags now

Gotta appeal to all those LCD Americans out there, y'know.

[candy]

3. What do you mean,take back the flag?

I have a flag decal on my car and I'm a Democrat and have been one for many years.

I live in a heavily Democratic city and there are few flags around.

Why? Nobody is stopping anyone from displaying a flag.

[jean]

5. candy - Bill Moyers explains what we're talking about - - -

http://www.pbs.org/now/commentary/moyers19.html

Bill Moyers on Patriotism and the Flag

2/28/03

I put the flag in my lapel tonight. First time. Until now I haven't thought it necessary to display a little metallic icon of patriotism for everyone to see. It was enough to vote, pay my taxes, perform my civic duties, speak my mind, and do my best to raise our kids to be good Americans. Sometimes I would offer a small prayer of gratitude that I had been born in a country whose institutions sustained me, whose armed forces protected me, and whose ideals inspired me; I offered my heart's affections in return. It no more occurred to me to flaunt the flag on my chest than it did to pin my mother's picture on my lapel to prove her son's love. Mother knew where I stood; so does my country. I even tuck a valentine in my tax returns on April 15.

So what's this flag doing here? Well, I put it on to take it back. The flag's been hijacked and turned into a logo - the trademark of a monopoly on patriotism. On those Sunday morning talk shows, official chests appear adorned with the flag as if it is the Good Housekeeping seal of approval. And during the State of the Union, did you notice Bush and Cheney wearing the flag? How come? No administration's patriotism is ever in doubt, only its policies. And the flag bestows no immunity from error. When I see flags sprouting on official lapels, I think of the time in China when I saw Mao's Little Red Book on every official's desk, omnipresent and unread.

But more galling than anything are all those moralistic ideologues in Washington sporting the flag in their lapels while writing books and running Web sites and publishing magazines attacking dissenters as un-American. They are people whose ardor for war grows disproportionately to their distance from the fighting. They're in the same league as those swarms of corporate lobbyists wearing flags and prowling Capitol Hill for tax breaks even as they call for more spending on war.

So I put this on as a modest riposte to men with flags in their lapels who shoot missiles from the safety of Washington think tanks, or argue that sacrifice is good as long as they don't have to make it, or approve of bribing governments to join the coalition of the willing (after they first stash the cash). I put it on to remind myself that not every patriot thinks we should do to the people of Baghdad what bin Laden did to us. The flag belongs to the country, not to the government. And it reminds me that it's not un-American to think that war -- except in self-defense -- is a failure of moral imagination, political nerve, and diplomatic skill. Come to think of it, standing up to your government can mean standing up for your country.

[Beloved Citizen]

6. Great article!

Thanks for posting!

I keep my flag up on my house all the time. That plus a big
Kerry/Edwards sign in my front window.

To hell with the Right. This is our country and we're not going to let them take it away and sell it to the highest bidding foreign economic power.

[jean]

4. Yes! He was wearing a huge flag lapel pin on 60 Min - bigger than bush's

[manic expression]

7. I've never felt like the flag was mine

to begin with. Since I am relatively young (please don't hold it against me), and therefore I only first entered into politics after seeing "Bowling for Columbine" (Post-9/11). Everywhere I have turned, the so-called "patriots" were the flag-waving, hateful warmongers who praised President Bush and just about everything he did for the past 3 1/2 years. The flag, to myself as of now, IS the label of ignorant fools who caused all of the terrible situations we see today. This is what the flag means to me. I have only seen the flag used by Bush and his gang, therefore it seems to me that it is THEIR flag. Throughout U.S. History I seen injustice after injustice, this is what the flag means to me.

This must change. My generation (how apathetic they may be) has only seen the flag used as means of murder and hate. I will try my best to see the flag not for what it is being used for, but the potential for positive change that it gives us. America should not be thought of as a country and nothing more. America is an idea. Always moving, always changing. I feel it is time for that very change to continue.