In the words of the immortal Cliff Clavin, “It takes two to be codependent!” Unless of course, you are a progressive. In that case, you are perfectly capable of being codependent all by yourself. And you are free to drag as many people down with you as you wish.
Marquette University professor Grant Silva recently told NPR affiliate WUWM in Milwaukee that the American flag makes him nervous.
Via The Daily Caller:
I also get a little bit anxious around the excessive imagery of the flag in part because in my experience, patriotism quickly slips into nationalism. Especially the simplistic version of patriotism, the flag-waving, my country love it or leave it kind of attitude. That is just a hop, skip and a jump away from becoming nationalism.
As much as I would like to see the flag displayed in a proud manner, it all too quickly takes on the stakes that, as a non-white person, can mean a lot, right? It can mean a sense of inclusion or exclusion. A sense of belonging or the ascription of perpetual foreigner, perpetual outsider status; that that flag is not for me unless I’m willing to abide by the assimilatory paradigm that some of these individuals that you’re talking about tend to put forward.
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Host Teran Powell was quick to agree, noting that after seeing several American flags during a trip through Illinois, she wanted to “hurry up and leave.”
One could argue that the exchange between Silva and Powell was codependent. But both of them show signs of being passive-aggressive. After all, if the pair were confronted with a rainbow flag, a Progress/Pride flag, an ANTIFA flag, or a BLM sign, neither of them would be able to get to their feet fast enough to place their hands over their hearts and recite the required pledge. Neither of them would have a second thought about making you assimilate to their paradigms. After all, their paradigms are superior to yours.
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Beyond the double standard, Silva and Powell, by rolling over and showing us their vulnerability, also set us up for vicious retribution. Because they are uncomfortable and anxious at the sight of the American flag, they give themselves permission to do everything to remove it. After all, a “victim” is entitled to “defend” himself, right? Once one becomes a victim, he is entitled to protect himself by whatever means he deems appropriate.
The value of the flag is not necessarily intrinsic to the object itself. Plenty of left-wingers have carried the flag in their demonstrations not so much as a declaration of their fidelity to the Republic but as a mockery of it. The value of the flag is what it represents: something that is larger than oneself. This is why the photo of the Marines raising the flag over Iwo Jima is such an important part of American history. Leftists cannot conceive of anything greater than themselves. It is why they were so perplexed and so angry that the Muslim community in Hamtramck, Mich., chose the American flag over the rainbow flag, and it is why the Left considers displaying the American flag heresy and anathema.
