In 2018, I was canvassing for a Republican candidate in a local race here in Portland, Oregon. A bunch of us were knocking on doors in the suburbs, seeking out Republicans by using data printouts that indicated which households were aligned with which party.
But those printouts were not always correct. People had moved. Or there were split households. Sometimes the homeowners had changed parties.
In the early 1900s, the color red was the color of communists, subversives, and anarchists.
As the election grew near and we shifted into maximum efficiency mode, our field boss sent out the word: Only go to houses flying the American flag.
That was the easiest way to focus on the most loyal Republicans. In 2018, the two most common flags you saw at people’s houses were the Pride flag (Democrats) and the Stars and Stripes (Republicans).
(The “We Believe in Science” signs had not yet proliferated.)
The funny thing was, we door-knockers were already doing that. I certainly was. I loved canvassing mostly because I liked meeting people. And the best people were always the ones with a big American flag hanging majestically beside their front door.
That was then, this is now
Fast-forward, and I’m at a recent No Kings protest. These protests had drawn huge crowds of leftists and progressives. I wanted to see for myself what these demonstrations looked like.
Imagine my surprise when the first person I encountered was a small elderly woman with a kind face and a big bundle of American flags.
These were 8″ by 12″ flags. The kind little kids might wave at a parade. She approached me and offered me one.
Naturally, I was confused. Was she a Republican? No, she wasn’t. She explained that these were Democrat flags now. The left was taking the flag back. Progressives were patriotic too!
They were? I thought to myself. Since when?
But I was in enemy territory, so I just smiled and took a flag. She showed me the little note that was attached. (Of course, the left can’t give you an American flag without adding their own anti-Trump commentary.)
The note said: “MAGA is trying to claim the American flag as exclusively their own. It is time we reclaim our flag. It is our national promise of freedom, and rightfully belongs to ALL Americans. Wave it proudly.”
I carried it with me as I watched the Trump derangement parade later that day. Multiple American flags were flown. By leftists.
RELATED: Yes, Trump’s flag-burning executive order is constitutional
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The red and the blue
This isn’t the first time the left has tried to steal symbols or images (or flags) from the right. They also stole the color blue.
Throughout Europe, in the 1800s, revolutionaries and malcontents were associated with the color red. Monarchs and aristocrats were represented by the color blue.
In the early 1900s, the color red was the color of communists, subversives, and anarchists. During the Russian Revolution of 1917, “The Reds” overthrew the czar and started a civil war.
In China, when Chairman Mao Zedong instigated his own revolution in 1949, the flag, books, and symbols were always colored bright red.
This made sense. The color red suggests anger, revolt, defiance.
While blue — the color of the sky — is the color that indicates calmness, stability, order.
So what did the American left do as they consolidated their power in the late 1900s?
They switched the colors! With the help of their allies in the media, the left managed to STEAL the color blue from conservatives.
So now we call Republican states “red” and Democratic states “blue,” which is the reverse of what the colors should be.
Never mind that the Democrats are still the party of chaos and upheaval. They wanted the prestige of the color blue. They want people to think of them as rational, calm, regal. So they changed the colors to favor themselves.
Capture the flag!
Regarding this theft of our flag: Does the left think we don’t remember five years ago? During the BLM riots, they were burning the flag all over the country.
In Portland, during the “Summer of 100 Riots,” they burned the flag as a nightly ritual.
Think back even further: The left has been burning the flag since the Vietnam War. It’s one of their most predictable political reactions. If anything happens that they don’t like, the American flag goes up in flames!
And aren’t these the same people who tore down the statues of our founders, who created that flag? Founders like George Washington?
In Portland, leftists toppled a large statue of George Washington. They left the statue right where it fell, with George Washington face down in the mud!
And these people think the American flag belongs to them? That they are now the patriots? That they should be anywhere near our beloved Stars and Stripes?
I don’t think so.
The good news is, it probably won’t work. Even if their strategists decide to embrace the flag, your average Joe anarchist won’t be able to help himself. They see an American flag, and they reach for their lighter.
But either way, we must reject this movement. Don’t let them have the flag. They don’t deserve it. They haven’t earned it. And they don’t love it. Not like we do.
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