Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

Categories


All categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Add to Google

Subscribe with Bloglines

Tuesday, June 3. 2008

Flag Day

June 14th is Flag Day. Got your bright shiny new one?

I love our flag, but remain quite fond of the old Gadsden flag.

Posted by The Barrister in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 18:23 | Comments (15) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

This was my father's favorite flag. My mother sewed one up for him back about 1969. Many fond memories of him putting up with local political foolishness for so long and then raising 'the rattlesnake'.

A number of extreme events precipitated the raising of the Stars n Bars in a white field. He was a believer in States' Rights, although slavery was odious.
I believe the neighbors were careful around him and I don't think local politics were mentioned when the Stars n Bars flew.
#1 Ed from Westslope on 2008-06-03 18:33 (Reply)
Here are the lyrics to a lovely song by The Cro Mags called "Don't Tread On Me". It's almost as old as the Dylan stuff you post so maybe it's relevant here. Oh, and they're from NYC which is nearby youse all, so I hear. The sentiment is terrific and so is the song.

Lie to all your friends
The trouble never ends
You're gonna take a fall
And I don't care at all

Stabbed me in the back
Somone I trusted
Let's get things straight
Don't tread on me!

I thought things were cool
But I guess I was a fool
And now I know
All about you

Stabbed me in the back
Somone I trusted
Let's get things straight
Don't tread on me!

You crossed me once,
Don't try it again
You didn't learn,
I'll show you again
What goes around,
Comes back around
Revenge, revenge is sweet
Don't tread on me!
#2 Phil on 2008-06-03 19:46 (Reply)
Flag Day has always been very important to me, because I was born on June 14, 1928, and I was six years old before I found out that all those lovely parades and high school bands weren't playing for me. My first great disillusionment, and even worse than finding out shortly thereafter that there was no Santa Claus. Childhood is full of disillusionment.

At any rate, Flag Day is a wonderful time, a time to remember how great our country is, and how wonderfully it has been defended through the years by our brightest and best young men and women.

Marianne
#3 Marianne Matthews on 2008-06-03 23:09 (Reply)
Marianne,

I was going to highlight the line about being six and learning the band wasn't playing for you, but then I read the rest of your comment. What a terrific comment. All lines should be highlighted. You write such lovely thoughts of your life that it is uplifting to read them.

Thank you!
`
#4 Meta on 2008-06-04 00:53 (Reply)
I don't get flags. I'm as right wing as anybody, but really.

The function of flags is identifying post offices, and identifying embassies abroad where you can find people that you can find your feet with.
#5 Ron Hardin (Link) on 2008-06-04 08:06 (Reply)
Flags are symbols. Symbols are good things.
#5.1 BD on 2008-06-04 14:54 (Reply)
Here's a way to under stand the American flags.

Our earlier generations fought and died for those flags because of what the flags represented. It was an honor to carry or guard the flag whether in battle or not. If for nothing else we should honor the flag for those that defended them to keep the American ideal of freedom for all alive in a dark world.

There is a segment of the population that either have no idea what these symbols really represent or have been deliberately educated to believe just the opposite. It is our job to educate those who do not know the rich history and meaning of our flags as it is our job to confront those that despise and trample our flags, whether foreign or domestic.

(Played to the tune of Rally around the Flag)
#5.1.1 Tralfaz on 2008-06-05 11:46 (Reply)
The Bennington Battle Flag is our fave in these parts. It's the one with the traditional red and white stripes and 13 white stars around a white '76' on a blue field. This flag is perfect for Independence Day and also nice for many other patriotic holidays.

My idea to begin the "citizenship restoration" begins with our Independence Day celebration: Each town has a fife and drum band in period dress led by a color guard parade through town to the town hall or village green where the townspeople assemble at noon for a reading of the Declaration of Independence by the town moderator. Local and state politicians could follow with brief patriotic addresses just as in old time America. Then a big barbecue on the village green and a town band concert.

Townspeople meet and greet their fellow townspeople in this patriotic celebration and share in the common bond of being an American at least for one day of the year! And then it is reinforced by being the same ritual, the same tradition every year, the townspeople assembled. Right now Independence Day- called the "4th of July" by most- may as well be called "National Barbecue Day" for all of the patriotism and citizenship involved in most celebrations.

Call me old fashioned but we have lost our connection to traditional patriotism and citizenship and it has done great damage to our great nation. This could be one simple step toward restoring tradition and respect for our heritage.
#6 Green Mtn Punter on 2008-06-04 10:21 (Reply)
A flag flies at our home every day of the year. The same is true of probably at least a third of the homes in our area. It was closer to 80-90% just a few years ago.

Between Memorial Day and Labor Day and on all national holidays it's the US flag we fly. On family occasions and holidays we have special flags that replace Old Glory. All other days we fly our beautiful state flag-- the Moultrie flag with palmetto tree and crescent on an indigo field-- its history dates back to the American Revolution. All other days but one that is. There's one day we fly the Gadsden rattlesnake: September eleventh every year. And no Ron, we don't live in a post office. In fact, our P.O. is 12 miles away. There are hundreds of US, state, and even a battle flag or two flying at homes between here and our post office.
#7 Monkeydarts (Link) on 2008-06-04 11:10 (Reply)
I love the Gadsden flag. I have a small Gadsden flag and a Bennington flag on my desk.
#8 wph on 2008-06-04 11:32 (Reply)
I'm remembering the day after 9/11. We had been flooded out of our home [temporarily] by Tropical Storm Allison and I was driving from the little apartment we had rented into the subdivision where we live. Along each of the streets, from the largest to the smallest, American flags were hung, on flagpoles or from the houses themselves. Almost all the cars I passed had flags attached. It was one of the most moving sights I've ever seen, and I remember thinking "look at this, you invaders, and don't count America as down and out, or easy prey. Don't tread on us, you fools, don't even try."

Marianne
#9 Marianne Matthews on 2008-06-04 12:06 (Reply)
A friend of mine, I'll just call him "H" really likes the "Don't tread on me flag" He is a man with guts and principles., like the fllag represents.

But in our free country there are those who have principles and those who don't. Those who have a credo, a mission statement, values, that they stand by. Others just wing it, and others are just intolerant. It's America.

Now I'm a new poster but I've lurked for years. Will I be taken down for using a reference to the "H" person? I've already been taken down once I was just wondering how quickly the ban goes into effect?
#10 Jody on 2008-06-04 12:56 (Reply)
Gimme a break. While I'm not crazy about singling H out as the only poster to be banned, it's rather tiring seeing these references to the principles in Maggie's credo. I addition to the oft-quoted "try my best to be just like I am," and "Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for." There is also the part about "inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist", which H either did not subscribe to or did not respect from others (at times). Such picking and choosing of rights and responsibilities is typical of what is wrong with our cry-baby culture. And taking this little dust-up with H and making it personal to oneself reeks of victimhood.
#10.1 The real Sparticus on 2008-06-04 22:03 (Reply)
"The real Sparticus"

Hahahaha.
#10.1.1 Luther McLeod (Link) on 2008-06-04 22:51 (Reply)
You were taken down? I don't think so. Not on purpose, anyway.
#10.2 BD on 2008-06-06 09:55 (Reply)

Add Comment
(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)

By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email
addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications.

Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u],
[url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here.

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

BBCode format allowed
 
 
A Chris Southern Consulting website.