Fly Your Flag!
24 March 2014
– by Jack McLain, Constitution Party of Florida –
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As I raised our American flag this morning, as we have done for over 33 years at our house, I was saddened to think that at the majority of American homes there is no flag flown today. Yet we have been at war for over a decade and our country and our freedoms are severely under attack today. Why don’t Americans fly their flag? Most folks would profess that they love their country. Is it just neglect? Is it because they don’t feel it necessary, or just too busy? Too busy to even fly their flag on national holidays? |
On Independence Day in another State and another year, my wife and I did an “unofficial survey/count” of flags flying. Covering several streets in two towns, we concluded that only approximately 25 % of the houses had flags flying—on our major national holiday! It was very disappointing.
How much do you love your country? Enough to even display that love with the Stars and Stripes? Can Americans forget that we have been sending our finest men and women overseas for all these years to dangerous places often to be injured or die, supposedly for the cause of freedom for us American citizens to enjoy?
At our former home on a suburban street we treated national holidays special by also lining our driveway with small flags (we now live in a country setting). It was Veterans Day and our neighbor asked me, “Why all the flags?” I told him it was Veterans Day. He was surprised and said, “I didn’t even know that and I’m a veteran!” I went on to say that there may come a day when we can no longer fly our American flag, that the United Nations would have control and you’d be required to fly no other flag. His surprising reply has stuck with me down through the years, “It will never happen here!”
Many will say “It can’t happen here!” but will not raise one finger to prevent it happening here. Others, enemies of our country and freedoms, will spend time, energy, and money (especially taxpayers money) to make certain their coveted dream of a socialistic world order does come true. Many Americans are fast asleep to the dangers we face, much less to an understanding of what they can do.
Think of all the 50 stars on our American flag. Each one represents a State. (I can remember when we had only 48 stars and then when Alaska and Hawaii were added). Each State was endowed with individual rights provided by the 9th and 10th Amendments to our United States Constitution. These rights have been challenged, severely limited, or stolen by a supposedly limited federal government gone out of control. Yet many Americans regularly forget their rights and bow to an overbearing federal government.
It costs something to fly your flag daily. It requires dedication. It requires that you love your country and flag enough to raise and lower it daily. It costs money to keep a fresh flag flying—in the South with much heat and sunlight, we must replace our flag every couple years, as a faded flag is a poor example. It may even cost you disrespect from a few non-patriots who may call you a “flag-waver,” which to my mind is a compliment. Do you like to wave a U.S. flag at a parade?
Don’t we all love the old song, “You’re a Grand Old Flag”? It was written by George M. Cohan in 1906 for a stage musical and became very popular in a day when I’m sure patriotism was much more pronounced than today. The lyrics went:
“You’re a grand old flag.
You’re a high-flying flag.
And forever in peace may you wave.
You’re the emblem of,
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.”
Why not decide today to fly your American flag? If you need to purchase one, there are several old flag companies in America—flags made in the U.S.A. And please don’t buy a flag made in Communist China where freedom is unknown.