“OLD GLORY is to be revered, cherished, and flown high … We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag – NO KNEELING!” -President Donald J. Trump, 6/5/2020

It is the night of September 13, 1814. The British fleet are bombarding Fort McHenry in the harbor at Baltimore, Maryland. Francis Scott Key, a 34-year old lawyer-poet, is watching the attack from the deck of a British prisoner-exchange ship. Key had gone seeking the release of a friend. They were told that they had to remain aboard the vessel until the end of the attack. When the battle was over, the following morning, Key had his telescope on the fort and saw the American flag was still waving. The sight of the tattered Stars and Stripes was so moving that he pulled a letter from his pocket and began to write the poem. This poem eventually became the national anthem of the United States – “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight’
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

It does, sir. Regardless of a bunch of little snot-nosed, ungrateful punks.

FoxNews.com reports that

An opinion piece published by NBC News claimed that NFL superstar Drew Brees’ “biggest mistake” when defending the American flag was “believing” that it “means anything.”

Brees unwittingly sparked a national firestorm when he defended the flag when asked during an interview about the kneeling protests that have taken place at football games over the years, insisting it was a sign of “disrespect.”

However, amid the political climate following the death of George Floyd, Brees was widely condemned even by many NFL players. The star New Orleans Saints quarterback later apologized for his remarks.

On Thursday, NBC News’ “THINK” page teased the column, “Drew Brees’ biggest mistake?’ Believing the American flag means anything.” The column’s actual headline read, “Drew Brees’ comments on George Floyd protest prioritize symbols over justice.”

“[Brees] has unfortunately become the poster child for what happens when you venerate a hollow space wrapped up in red, white and blue,” writer Noah Berlatsky claimed. “Brees believed that his comments honored the flag and America’s ideals. But valuing a symbol of justice over justice itself isn’t moral or righteous. It’s the opposite. When honoring the flag is the price of justice, then the flag does not symbolize justice. It symbolizes force, inequality and racism. It’s a flag of conquest for white people, not of mercy or freedom for all.”

Berlatsky then compared Brees’ meaning of the American flag, which Brees said reminded him of his grandfathers who served in World War II, to 1852 remarks made by Frederick Douglass describing Independence Day, “the sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me.”

“Brees wants his interpretation of the flag honored; everyone, he insists, should put their hands on their hearts before the flag to show ‘that we are all in this together.’ But some people, like Douglass, or Floyd, or Kaepernick — banned from Brees’ league for his protest — are not equals in America,” Berlatsky explained. “Brees will not stand in solidarity with them unless they first respect his symbols. You have to say the nation is righteous before the nation will consider whether to stop murdering you.”

He continued, “There is no unity and solidarity centered on the flag, because the flag, and the nation, don’t have any virtue. Only human beings can have that. [Kaepernick] asked his country to think about its own symbols, rather than blindly worshipping them. Brees, and white Americans in general, have not risen to this challenge. This nation must care more about its soul than its symbols. It’s better to burn a flag than a person.”

It is not acceptable to burn either one.

These ungrateful punks make me want to puke.

So where does this disrespect for Old Glory come from?

It starts with Liberal leaders.

Let’s go back to 9/13/11, 2 days after America solemnly remembered the 10th anniversary of the worst attack ever on American soil by Islamic Terrorists. James Robbins wrote the following story for The Washington Times, in which he illuminated a whispered conversation between the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, and First Lady, Michelle Obama:

The internet was buzzing this week with video of First Lady Michelle Obama apparently showing extreme disrespect to the American flag at a ceremony in honor of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. As police and firefighters fold the flag to the sound of marching bagpipers, a skeptical looking Mrs. Obama leans to her husband and appears to say, “all this just for a flag.” She then purses her lips and shakes her head slightly as Mr. Obama nods.

Over the last 10 years, I have repeated the story of how my father, a young man from Helena, Arkansas, stepped out of perfectly good boat, along with thousands of other young American soldiers, into the firestorm known as D-Day.

On that day, thousands of Americans lost their lives defending the same flag that the ungrateful imbecile writing the above NBC News op ed believes means nothing at all.

The writer’s opinion is reflective of the same heinous attitude of those who have looted and rioted in major American cities from coast to coast this past week.

Anarchy and selfish ingratitude know no color.

However, it does require a lack of discipline…and character in the individual who possesses those traits.

Y’know…I do not believe that the Tuskegee Airmen believed that the flag that they fought and died for symbolized “force, inequality and racism”.

And, I believe that if you approached Lt. Col. Allen West talking in that manner about the American Flag, you would receive a dressing down that would leave your hair on fire and your butt smoking.

The flag of this Sovereign Nation is more than just a symbol.

The very fact that it still flies is a testament to a lot of very brave men and women who sacrificed everything in order to secure our liberty.

Thinking about the sacrifices made by some many to protect future generations from tyranny causes any eloquence which I may possess to escape me.

So, please listen as an American Legend explains to you what I am attempting to say.

Until He Comes,

KJ