kelley:
> i'd like to reiterate this: please explain what's wrong with
> reappropriating the flag to symbolize another aspect of "american-ness"
Did you read what I wrote?
How can Chuck "reclaim the flag" if he doesn't believe in the goodness of the nation-state? There's nothing for him to reclaim.
In any case, the present flag displays don't come out of anything positive. The reason people are waving flags is that they -- we -- are a troop of primates trying to encourage the alphas, who, instead of defending the troop and leading the way in a crisis, are staggering around like zombies. It'll be years before they can be replaced, unless there's some kind of coup d'etat. So it's a bad scene for the troop. That's why most of the scripts associated with flag displays are about courage, fortitude and solidarity, qualities which Americans in general have not been called upon to display communally for a long, long time, and which they may need to recover to bear the tragic necessities of the future. It's evident that they're not going to get much help from their leaders.
I'm not faulting them for using what means they have and understand to get through, but on the other hand it's really, really important for those who are properly alienated to be true to their school.