from Bill Moyers' new book, Moyers On America --
I wore my flag on air tonight. Until now I hadn'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 part to raise our kids to be good Americans, as they are. 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 with my tax returns on April 15.
So why wear it? 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 were the Good Housekeeping Seal. During the State of the Union address, 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.
Most galling are all those moralistic ideologues in Washington sporting the flag in their lapels while writing books, running Web sites, and publishing magazines attacking dissenters as unAmerican. They are people whose ardor for war grows disproportionately to their distance from the fighting. They belong to the same league as those swarms of corporate lobbyists prowling Capitol Hill with flags in their lapels, trolling for tax breaks even as they call for more spending on war.
So I put on the flag as a modest ripost to men with flags on 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. I put it on to remind myself that the flag belongs to the country, not to the government; that one is not unAmerican to see war--except in self-defense--as a failure of moral imagination, political nerve, and diplomacy. Come to think of it, standing up to your government can mean standing up for your country. (February 2003)
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