Once again, my house is the only one on the block

[MineralMan]

that is flying the flag on this Memorial Day weekend. It was the same last year and on July 4. I'm always puzzled by that, since there are a number of people on the block with prominent teabagger "patriotic" bumper stickers and the like on the backs of their cars. No flags, though, out on patriotic holidays. It's a puzzle to me. While they claim to be the true "patriots," it apparently doesn't extend even as far as displaying a flag.

My grandfathers, my father, and I all served in the military during wartime. So did my father-in-law, whose grave we'll be visiting at the National Cemetery at Fort Snelling tomorrow. That service was done voluntarily, and because it was the proper thing to serve. We all took some time out of our lives to do that, in the belief that service was a means of repaying the service of previous generations. That's why the flag is flying outside my door.

I just think it's interesting...

[PCIntern]

1. It wouldn't even occur to them - they're not Teabaggers for 'patriotism',

they're Teabaggers for 'racism'. They just don't have the guts to fly the Stars and Bars.

[geckosfeet]

2. Isn't memorial day tommorrow? Give them another 24 hours to get it together.

semi - :sarcasm:

[MineralMan]

3. Yah, well, it didn't happen last year, either.

I'll check again tomorrow, but it will be the same, I'm sure.

[Motown_Johnny]

4. they might not want to show support for that Marxist Kenyan President of ours

since they don't really understand what the holiday is actually about.

[MineralMan]

5. Don't understand. Yes, I suppose they don't.

How sad...

[TransitJohn]

6. Not everyone has a flag fetish.

Or an abundance of jingoistic nationalism.

[MineralMan]

7. A flag fetish?

No, that's not why I display it on days like this one. I have no fetish for the flag. Good luck to you.

[pipi_k]

12. "Jingoistic nationalism"...

har!


Both Mr P and I aren't above complaining about the things that are wrong with this country.



"flag fetish"

I dunno....I just like the pretty colors.

:+

[Snoutport]

14. The flag represents service to the nation to some people.

That is not a fetish or a political agenda. It is using the flag of a symbol of what the OP was discussing. Service to the country.

I think your problem, i.e. flag fetish/jingoistic nationalism, is that you've confused using the flag as a political tool with using the flag as a symbol of the country.

To think the flag means the same to everyone is pretty short-sighted and probably pretty insulting to people who have served, or who use the flag as their symbol to remember the war dead.

Mineralman handled this nicely. I probably wouldn't have been so nice.

[mn9driver]

22. Really?

Your understanding of the meaning and purpose of the flag for many people seems as limited, albeit in a different way, as those who make a habit of wrapping themselves in it.

I love our flag because of all of the ideals it symbolizes. When Governor Dayton was senator, he pushed hard for an anti-flag-burning amendment; I lost a lot of respect for him over that since it showed that his understanding of what our flag should symbolize was as poor as yours.

[shireen]

24. that's a pretty rude insensitive comment to make

considering what the flag symbolizes to most of us here. Low on empathy?

[NNN0LHI]

8. Recommended and thank you, your grandfather and father for your service to our country

Sorry, but I don't have a coherent answer to your question.

I will definitely give it some more thought though.

:patriot:

Don

[MineralMan]

16. No thanks needed...

[Taverner]

9. I'll put up my flag

As soon as I figure a way to drill into stucco

Did I mention I'm lazy?

[MineralMan]

11. Carbide-tipped masongry dril bits are available at any hardware store, and

they're very inexpensive. Simple lead screw anchors will handle the attachment of the bracket for your flagpole. Also under $1. Or, you can use the carbide-tipped masonry bit to drill a pilot hole, and use regular wood screws that will penetrate into the wood studs behind your stucco. The bracket will simply always be in place, and will be ready to use whenever needed.

Easy peasey lemon squeezy.

[Taverner]

13. You do realize you are leaving me with no options to be lazy

How can you sleep at night????


:P

[MineralMan]

15. Grin....

:shrug:

[pipi_k]

10. I'm pretty sure my house is the only one too...

We fly it all year long, along with a POW flag beneath.


And then there's a Scottish flag (for Mr Pip) and a Canadian flag (for me) on the barn.


We're multi-flagual

:7

[Scuba]

17. Got mine out, along with my POW and Wisconsin State flags. New neighbors are...

...righties and they have a giant flag out today.


Hopefully all Americans remember our service men and women who have perished defending our country. Their intents were pure, even if the politicians who sent them to die can't claim the same.

[MineralMan]

18. +10

Thanks!

[LAGC]

19. They're only patriotic when a Republican is in the White House.

"Anti-government" the rest of the time.

[truedelphi]

20. What's the eweather like there? I thought of putting out

Our flag, as a patriotic gesture to the holiday tomorrow, but the rayon crap that the flags are made out of now would be shredded in six hours by the 20 to 309 mile an hour winds we are having.

Back in the Old Days, flags were made of hemp, and lasted through a lifetime of weather.

[MineralMan]

35. Not windy, but a bit sprinkly. My flag, though, is under

the eaves of the house, and I keep my front porch light on, so I leave it out. If the wind came up, I'd take it down to prevent damage to it.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FreeJoe]

23. Practically everyone in our neighborhood flies the flag

The local scout troop has a fundraiser every year in which they commit to flying a flag on your yard on every major flag holiday. It's a popular fundraiser. The only thing that makes me uneasy about it is that people that opt not to donate stand out like a sore thumb. After seeing some terrible United Way abuses a couple of decades ago, I'm a bit uneasy with socially coercive fundraisers.

[Viking 1]

25. But your neighbors are right there with the lapel pins, I'll bet

:puke:

[Urban Prairie]

26. Are there very many US flags that are actually being made in the US nowadays?

Seems like most of them I have seen for sale in many stores, are US flags mfg outside of the US, esp. in Taiwan (China).

Kind of ironically appropriate, considering what has happened over the past 30 years, with so many of our now ex-jobs going overseas or to Mexico.

When the multi-national corporate capitalists have finished steamrolling flat through global wage-leveling, off-shoring and outsourcing most of what remains of the jobs still being held by the middle and lower class in the US, along with using the Wal*Mart model/method to wipe out any/all remaining "competition" from small business, they better hope that "emerging" nations like China and India will pick up much of the economic "slack" and their newly "flush" conspicuous consumers will buy the non-essential, poorly-designed, and especially the flimsy, non-functioning/operating electronic crap-ware that they make out of ever-cheaper materials, as the future generations here may and likely will no longer want nor be able to afford very many "luxuries", since the ever-rising costs of essentials like food, clothing, medical/dental treatment, transportation, energy, and shelter will gobble up most, if not all of their income.

I could even see bartering for products and services coming into vogue in the US during the latter-half of the 21st century. Get some decaying teeth pulled and/or cavities drilled and filled by a dentist in exchange for painting his garage, for example.

[Obamanaut]

31. Here's one. I have no financial or other interest in this company, other

than to note that I checked the origin of the flags on sale in our local WalMart, and it was this company.

Yes, I go to WalMart. There are some things that are not available in my small town except at Walmart. The next closest town is 26 miles to the east, 30 to the north to another smaller town, then further north another 30 miles to one of decent size. Similar drives the other directions.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

33. Mine was made in the USA, by Annin & Co.

Here's a detail:

[Pubs_R_Racist]

27. As a Vet, I don't fly the flag

and it does not bother me one way or the other, your choice, I cast no judgement either.

That is what freedom is all about and flying a flag or not flying a flag has nothing to do with freedom or how one chooses to celebrate Memorial Day.

[kickysnana]

30. +1

[NNN0LHI]

36. I think you had the best answer

Welcome to DU.

Don

[ZombieHorde]

28. I rember when some people were upset Obama wasn't wearing a flag pin. nt

[david13]

29. I see a big difference between substance and symbolism. dc

[GoCubsGo]

32. I bought my house in Sept. 2000.

I FINALLY had a place to fly the flag I got for making a donation to the Disabled Veterans of America. I hadn't gotten around to buying a flag pole in November. After Shit-for-Brains stole the election, I vowed never to fly that flag while he was in office. Unfortunately, by the time he left, I had been laid-off for seven months. No UE extensions at that point. A flag pole wasn't exactly high on my list of things on which to spend my money, and given that my situation is even more dire now, it still isn't. I may try to find a way to hang it from my porch without a pole.

Interestingly, the only one flying a flag this week on my block is a Democrat.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

39. If the flag has grommets, try cup hooks in the porch

roof/frame. I do that sometimes when the roll-up shades are not installed - like for the Veterans Day parade in November. Town parades come down my street, so we all have our flags flying.

[oldlib]

34. I display the flag on occasions

such as Memorial Day. The only one else in the neighborhood, with a flag, lives across the street from me and his tattered flag is up the year around. I served honorably in the USAF and I am a Korean War veteran, that being said, I don't have a strong attachment to the military and I only display the flag as a symbol for the occasion.

[xmas74]

37. Someone stole our flag last fall.

I'd planned on running to the newspaper office to buy a new one but other bills came up first.

[csziggy]

38. Thanks for the reminder

I have not been able to find our flag since we moved, but I need to remind my hubby to hunt for it in the attic and upstairs. The one we have was flown over the US Capital - my parents ordered one for each of us nearly thirty years ago.

For anyone who wants to order a flag that was flown over the US Capital, this site gives some information about how to do so: http://www.usflag.org/capitol.flag.html

[krabigirl]

40. I never fly the flag, sorry to disappoint everyone,