The American flag

I love the American flag.

It does not belong to Donald Trump.

The flag belongs to the American people, not MAGA.

MAGA has a flag, and it is not the American flag.

The raising of the American flag to full staff during the official mourning period of 30 days following the death of President Carter is an ugly example of disrespect, personal vanity, and no small measure of venality.

Here is what I will do tomorrow in response: my American flag will be raised to full staff tomorrow, but it will be inverted.

The inverted flag is not a sign of disrespect to the nation or the flag.

It is a signal of distress, and it is appropriate to signal distress at the ascension of a lawless man who will take power after trying to overthrow the government.

I will lower my flag to half mast on the 21st of January, and it will remain there until the official mourning period ends.

When it is raised back to full mast it will be done so with enormous gratitude for the nation.

I will not blame the United States of America for Donald Trump.

I will not desecrate my flag because Trump won an election with 49.9% of the vote.

This is a moment to rally to the flag, not away from it.

Do not let Trump’s thugs take this from you.

Do not.

Martin Luther King marched to the Lincoln Memorial under the American flag because he understood it was a symbol of promise.

Here is what he said:

In a sense, we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

I have an American flag that is quite special. It hung on my wall, but I’ve recently donated it to a place where it can be seen and appropriately revered.

Let me tell you about it.

Aesthetically, it’s a mess. The stars are unevenly spaced. The stripes are uneven too, and it is constructed from a hodgepodge of available fabrics from a difficult situation in a most perilous moment.

The red stripes are the remnants of torn-up Nazi flags.

The Blue Canton is made from parachute silk hastily died blue.

The stitching is hurried.

The flag was made sometime on the 6th of June 1944.

It was presented to American soldiers who landed on Utah Beach, and relieved the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne who fell from the sky on top of the crossroads village of Sainte-Mère Église, making it the first place in France liberated by the US Army.

The flag was made by the French resistance, and it was carried to the end of the war by the US Army.

I will never know its full story, but I do not need to in order to appreciate its glory, which is resplendent.

It is the most beautiful object I have ever possessed.

I purchased this flag, but I have never felt ownership of it.

How could I?

I have been a custodian of the flag.

I have been a trustee of the flag, which has been passed down to a school so that the next generation can ponder the sacrifices of the past, while contemplating the work left undone.

The beauty of this flag and its meaning will never be dimmed by a miscreant in the White House. Ever.

Things that are easily taken are not easily restored.

I have written more than 1,800 warnings over the last two years.

The fact that they went unheeded does not make them wrong, nor does it make me despise the American flag.

I refuse to be angry at my country over Donald Trump.

I will save my anger for Donald Trump and his gangsters, who will try to take what doesn’t belong to them, and desecrate what was sanctified by blood, sacrifice and courage.

I will save my pity for the easily conned and manipulated who fell for the MAGA lies because no one gave them anything better to believe in.

I will save my scorn for the broken promises that led to Trump’s restoration, and the feebleness of effort by a small group of Washington, DC, insiders who put their power, privileges and gaslighting ahead of the interests of the American people and abetted the coming disaster with their epic selfishness.

I will continue to love my country and honor the American flag.

There is nothing that can break that faith. Ever.

I hope that all of you will maintain your faith.

I hope that all of you will maintain your dignity and self-respect.

What type of person could ever allow Donald Trump to hijack their patriotism or love of country?

Truly. How weak, feckless and pitiful would you have to be?

The Warning is a place where the American faith is celebrated, and it will be until ”the last dog dies.”

My friends, buck up.

Straighten up.

Stiffen up.

After all, you are an American.

We are tough, not soft, people.

There is a fight coming.

Let me make a final point to those who lament that they have no more to give, and can barely manage the strength to turn on the news, or open a news link.

Stop it.

Nothing is ever over in America, which means that the fight many have decided is over has in fact not yet begun.

Donald Trump has stormed the castle and raised his flag.

Now, he must defend it.

I look forward to the moment that will come after the disaster.

Like always, the spring follows winter.

The American flag has been abused before.

She has always prevailed.

I have no doubt whatsoever that our nation’s greatest days are ahead.

First, we have some trouble to make.

What type?

Good trouble.

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