Exactly why we no longer fly the American flag —
Excerpts:
I’m always happy to put my hand on my heart and listen to the ode to our flag and this “heav’n rescued land.” My father always had an American flag flying and took it down at sundown as a sign of respect, which was the custom then.
But it felt tinny to be force-fed “The Star-Spangled Banner” by our solipsistic president and his creepy sycophants, who show nothing but disdain for the Constitution and American values. It was our country’s destiny to reflect ideals that made us an incandescent beacon for democracy. But Trump has pulverized those ideals. We are now seen as sinister, selfish, unruly and at everybody’s throats.
It is heartbreaking that on the cusp of our 250th anniversary, we have a president who is perverting all the values our country was founded on — looking out for one another, respecting one another’s rights.
America is not supposed to be a place where an angel-faced 5-year-old named Liam, with a floppy-eared hat and a Spider-Man backpack, gets seized and taken to a detention center by men in masks.
The American leader is meant to be a unifier, a strong and soothing presence in the world. Trump is an anarchic toddler, constantly causing upheaval across the globe, transgressing and remaking everything in his helter-skelter image. He has no interest in fireside chats; he wants to set fires.
He’s more about droit du seigneur than noblesse oblige. He feels entitled to whatever he wants, from Greenland to Canada to the Kennedy Center to a Nobel Prize he didn’t win. Unlike previous presidents, he isn’t countering Russia; he’s catering to it. He disparaged the NATO troops who died for us in Afghanistan and belittled our nicest neighbor, claiming that “Canada lives because of the United States.”
Demanding Greenland, which he kept calling Iceland, he whinged to global leaders at Davos: “All I want is a piece of ice.”
The depth of his shallowness is infinite.
It is clear the Trump crowd sees no difference between a criminal who crossed into the country illegally and a family that has applied for asylum and is doing everything the right way to stay here.
My parents inculcated us with patriotism and gratitude for this country. I grew up surrounded by men in uniform. My mother carried around a pocket-size Constitution in her purse, along with miniature bottles of Tabasco. She did not want to see us on July 4 if we were not in red, white and blue. I know what America is meant to stand for.
Trump has made America un-American.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/opinion/president-trump-ice-immigration.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Replies to: Exactly why we no longer fly the American flag —
Maureen Dowd - such a tiresome Karen. Mrs. TDS
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Are you aware that Trump’s Stasi intimidation campaign is failing?
Americans have had enough.
Maureen Dowd’s piece echoes the sentiments of the overwhelming majority of Americans.
It’s going to take work to enforce the law and get rid of the parasitic illegals Biden imported.
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The American flag has been replaced by the Pride and Hamas flags.
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It’s not as though this new trumpian America isn’t obvious to all, it’s the applause it receives
that says it will continue for some time to come.
As noted below, a MAGAhat wants to dispute how a child was used by an armed group of stylized masked stormtroopers to endanger his parents lives so they may be captured for deportation even though they as immigrants had done what was required of them to be in the US.
The discussion for them isn’t about who we are as Americans.
It’s a sad and shameful day for all of us. We no longer wave a nations flag with pride and promise but wave it as a cudgel device for fear and retribution.
Well stated, jb.
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“An armed group of stylized masked stormtroopers”. “Stylized”?
Whatchoo talkin’ ‘bout Willis?
In the words of the Nature Boy - Stylin & Profilin’
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Your dearly NYT are lying to you about the 5 year old.
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Yes. Per State TV, the child was “abandoned.”
Now imagine you have 36 years of experience involving scenarios where a parent is arrested by law enforcement. The children are NOT taken into custody. They are given to a loved one, or a neighbor, or a school official, or a social worker.
Think Like An American Today
Link: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/23/witnesses-say-they-begged-ice-agents-not-to-detain-minnesota-5yearold-after-fathers-arrest
Nice article. Witnesses said they didn’t see the dad run although we know the kid was abandoned. Kid
was given McDonald’s and reunited with dad. Oh the cruelty.
Why did the mother refuse to take custody of the child?
Are you saying it was better to leave the child unattended or entrust him to someone who is not his legal guardian?
BTW, ICE reunited the child with his father.
Nobody cares what flag you fly. Ridiculous article.
"This little boy was abandoned by his own father. His own father was being approached by ICE agents when he darted, ran, and abandoned the child," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "Our law enforcement in these frigid temperatures stayed with the child, tried to bring him into custody with the mother, who actually would not take the child into custody, which is so sad, so horrific”
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