Note to Reader: As usual this post is edited by my life-long friend and professional journalist, Fitz McAden. However I am constrained by honesty to add that he should really be viewed as the co-author of this particular piece. 

 

As the much-ballyhooed 250th anniversary of the United States draws near, the landscape of the country is ever more festooned with American flags. Anyone who ever thought of themselves as patriotic seems to feel that it’s time to fly the flag. Here in New England I see displays all over, including flags like those flown in the early days of our republic. We’ve been at this for 250-plus years, a long time indeed. Unless, of course you compare our history with the nations across both oceans. 

 

Perhaps only an old leftist scrooge would find anything wrong with this eruption of flag-waving. After all, this is how we begin every sporting event, from a high school baseball game to the Super Bowl. It’s become part of our collective DNA to openly proclaim devotion to the flag. What could be wrong with that?

 

Here’s what: All the hoopla distracts us from the hard work of actually becoming a country that deserves flag waving. Think for a moment about the ideals on which this country was founded, articulated in the very document now being celebrated: Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness; equal justice under the law; all men created equal; unalienable rights. And if you read further down into the Declaration of Independence, you’ll see a statement that nearly jumps off the page: “A Prince, whose character [marks him as] a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” 

 

Tragically, a majority of Americans who cast ballots in 2016 and 2024 didn’t care about the governing principles in the Declaration. If they had, we wouldn’t be in the fix we’re in now. They gave us Donald Trump and an administration that has committed immoral and illegal offenses too numerous to enumerate. They’re OK with Trump’s outrageous behavior, most recently the barbaric event staged on the South Lawn of the White House. A what-hath-Trump-wrought spectacle if ever there was one, fit for MAGA knuckle-draggers. Mixed martial arts, once described as “human cockfighting” by the late Sen. John McCain, thrills Trump. Other presidents have entertained guests with performances by accomplished musicians. Not Trump. He held a bloody slugfest in the nation’s front yard under a grotesque metal “claw” that displayed big-bucks sponsors like Morgan & Morgan, Ram trucks and Crypto.com.

 

Hold on there, Trump’s people will say. It was only a single moment in his long and successful presidency. No! It was the latest evidence of Trump’s disturbed mind and the bizarro notions that float out of it when he’s not nodding off. It showed his inclination toward brutality, money-grubbing and vulgarity. Until we’re rid of him, the country will never achieve the humility, self-awareness, decency and benevolence we so desperately need, so I won’t be waving a flag on our 250th anniversary. 

 

But, you may ask, will you ever be satisfied that we have achieved humility and self-awareness?

 

Yes. My attitude would be different if our present state of moral decay were incurable. I’ll give the country a pat on the back once we address some of our failings. Here are a few:

 

• Racism — We live in a period when the country’s ruling party is turning back the clock on our racist history. Republicans are literally changing the teaching of history to whitewash the history of slavery in the U.S. They’re reversing decades of gains for Black Americans by effectively repealing key portions of the Voting Rights Act. Too many Americans tolerate racist memes used by Trump to attack the Obamas. When they decide they’ve had enough of this, they’ll stop sanitizing it by calling it “anti-wokeism;” instead, they’ll elect women and men who forcefully oppose it. New representatives of the people will set a different course. I’ll wave the flag when I see it.

• Demonization of Immigrants — When I see a Republican Convention dominated by signs reading “Mass Deportation Now,” it’s clear that millions of Americans are opposed to immigrants as a class of people. When the same people support increased immigration of white South Africans, I smell a racist agenda. Fact is, the whole issue of immigration is shot through with racism. If this country ever elects a Congress serious about enacting comprehensive immigration reform devoid of obvious racial prejudice, it will be an occasion for waving the flag.

• Militarism — This is pretty simple. We spend more on our military than the combined amount spent by the next 8 countries with large militaries. We can kill by remote control. We do so with regularity, especially in the Middle East, where people’s skin color is generally darker.. Dwight Eisenhower cautioned us 65 years ago about the dangers of the military-industrial complex, but we’ve dismissed his advice. If we ever elect representatives who will reverse course on reckless military spending and adventurism, I will wave the flag. 

• Gun Laws — We stand alone as a nation that encourages the possession and use of all sorts of firearms. We deem it a sacred right to own, and in some states openly carry, weapons designed for the military to kill enemy combatants. The death rate from mass shootings here is astronomical compared to the rates in other nations. We alone defend the indefensible.  And we all know why: Money and its influence on our representatives in Congress. As long as this is true, I’m not waving a flag. 

• Income Inequality — We live in the age of billionaires. We even have a newly minted trillionaire, the one hired by Trump to take a chainsaw to our government’s work force. Our tax policies and regulatory policies favor the wealthiest among us on a scale that’s hard to exaggerate. And while our tax  policies make living here a dream for billionaires, they wipe out our middle class and keep our poor poor. It’s been this way since the Reagan administration nearly half a century ago.  If we can’t elect a majority that will reverse this trend, we don’t deserve to congratulate ourselves on our 250th birthday. 

 

These are the issues that matter most to me. Progress on them would raise my hopes for the country’s future. I could also rejoin the ranks of proud, flag-waving Americans. Will it happen before my demise? I’m not too optimistic, but we must at least begin the hard work. 

 

November 2026 looms large. The stakes could not be higher. We have the  opportunity to strip Trump of his congressional majority and render him the lamest of lameduck presidents. We can’t afford to fall short.

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