The rattlesnake motif, along with "Don't Tread on Me," have been widely used by Americans for various purposes over various years. My favorite version -- which is on my annual Independence Day post, the flag pictured on the right atop the sidebar -- is the flag of the Veteran's Exempt. These guys fought in the American Revolution under the Declaration of Independence. They were Americans under the Articles of Confederation. They were Americans under the Constitution. Then, as men too old to be drafted in the war of 1812, they volunteered and fought for the American project again. Nobody is more American than they were: to date, they are the only ones of all of us to have lived under all the American systems, and to have supported all of them.
It is also the only American flag to feature a skull and crossbones, which is particularly appropriate given the long connection of pirates and privateers to the success of our democratic ideals. This is likewise not popularly recognized by the elites of the nation, but it is so all the same.
It's typical of WaPo, though. The outlet is contesting with The New York Times to see which can be worse than the National Enquirer for most blatant tabloid journalism. A key distinction, though, is that National Enquirer knows it does tabloid journalism; the other two actually pretend to be serious.
ReplyDeleteEric Hines
There you go applying logic rather than social feelz to political issues. We've warned you about that. Liberalism is a social, not an intellectual position, which is a pity, because many of them are in fact capable of intellectual argument. They just get overwhelmed, like a sophomore girl with a senior boy.
ReplyDelete(Or, I suppose, a sophomore boy with a senior girl, which doesn't happen as often but is likely even more devastating.) https://www.moviequotedb.com/movies/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/quote_4677.html