Does Size Really Matter?

I hate symbols. I really do. For those who believe in them, what does it say about politicians who wear tiny flag lapel pins when instead they could be unfurling a 75 feet by 150 feet monster everywhere they go. Shhh, don’t give them any ideas!

From American Flags as Big as Fields by John Branch:

On the field before the All-Star Game, Major League Baseball plans to assemble the largest gathering of Hall of Fame players in baseball history. And as fans salute their heroes, the former players will join the crowd in saluting the American flag — one that is roughly 75 feet by 150 feet, as long as a 15-story building is tall, spread horizontally over the Yankee Stadium turf.

Read the rest here.

Bad Old Boys

From Huck's Free Pass: Why are the media ignoring Mike Huckabee's remarks about the Confederate flag? By Christopher Hitchens:

But this drivel, it turns out, is all a slick cover for racist incitement, and it ought not to be given a free pass.

And not merely racist incitement. So slack is our grasp of history and principle that we seem unable to think of the Confederacy as other than "offensive" to blacks. But there are two Republican candidates in this election—the absurd and sinister Ron Paul being the other—who choose this crucial moment in our time to exalt those who attempted to destroy the Union by force, and those who solicited the help of foreign powers in order to do so, and whose treason led to the violent deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Should their patriotism be questioned? I would say most definitely yes, and questioned repeatedly, at that, perhaps especially if they are seeking the nomination of the party of Lincoln.

There is no way to put a positive spin on the Confederacy. The Confederacy was about one thing, and one thing only. Treason. Southerners today that glorify the Confederacy are glorifying treason. The Confederate flag is symbolic of treason. Politicians that pander to the votes of these Southerners should be ashamed of themselves.