The U.S. flag has long been painted “in reverse” on the tails of U.S. commercial aircraft and Air Force One, so that it appears to be moving forward, as Peter Morris said. The flag is also reversed on Boy Scout uniform sleeves, IIRC, for the same reason.
Well thanks for your opinion, but I am not at all sure they are “displaying the flag they want to display.” As I said in the OP, I beleive the flag is leftover from the prior owners of the house, and they just don’t give it much thought. I am very sorry about the experience you had in your neighborhood. It is reprehensible.
Would you have been really offended if someone had started a polite discussion with you about the incorrect display of the flag on your mailbox, though? Again, a POLITE conversation, not vandalism, not righteousness, just a polite comment about “where did you get that mailbox, because I think they may have hung the flag backward…” or something to that effect?
This is all I want to do, and I REALLY don’t want to be an impolite ass, especially to my neighbors who are very nice people.
As for those who decry the pledge as brainwashing loyalty to country, I see it very differently. We pledge allegiance to the flag (and to the republic), and to me this means something very different than simply blindly following the mandates of our leaders. It proclaims liberty and justice for all, which is the main message I see the flag representing. A country which celebrates freedom, liberty, and justice. And I am pledging loyalty to that concept, not to the leaders.
I’ve thought on this, and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t take offense, but instead umbrage. If somebody had noticed the reversed flag and niggled they would very likely get the history of the mailbox and a rather empassioned saga of my Father. If they persist after its significance, then I might think them a bit fanatical. I wouldn’t change a thing of that flag.
Now that I’ve considered it. Our violation would be more of an 8 rather than a 6.
Honestly, this is dyslexing me out. I don’t care how the fuck it is displayed, isn’t the fuckin’ red, white, and blue inspirational in any configuration?
I hope you aren’t under the impression that anyone is forced to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Using the word “brainwashing” leads me to believe you are.
Oh, I was forced to learn the pledge. I had no other choice.
Heh, for some reason I really liked this bit of phrasing in the Boy Scouts link Bobotheoptimist posted:
“Now Billy, break the union of the fifty states one more time and no television for a week!”
My fiancee lived in the US for most of her teenage years and insists that she was forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at school, despite her objections and protestations that she wasn’t an American and that it was therefore inappropriate for her to be reciting it. I’ve heard similar stories from other foreigners who went to school in the US, so I’m inclined to believe that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in school is not optional in a practical sense.
Didn’t know the Boy Scouts practiced sympathetic magick, didja! Nor that they wield such incredible power as to be personally responsible for the continuing stability of the entire nation!
MWA HA HA HA HAAAAAA!