The Cultural Elite's Courageous Provocative Mockery
The Cutlural Elite's Courageous Provocative Mockery
It would seem that there are flags and then there are flags. But one thing we have all learned is that not all flags are created equal. To many in the cultural elite, it’s a mark of courage and almost a constitutional obligation to burn certain flags. But others, well you’d be far better off if you didn’t even think about it.
An immature and rather clumsy attempt by some students at the University of Idaho to burn the flag of the Gay/Straight Alliance has resulted in a bit of a firestorm and has the culturally anointed upper crust sniffing its disapproval. But one would have to be entirely irony-proof not to notice that many of these same, self-anointed cultural elitists are among the first to heap scorn upon anyone who would defend the American flag from similar treatment.
The flag that the U I students found so offensive was an intentional mockery of the American flag. Like the real thing, it had a field of white stars on a blue background, but the red and white stripes were replaced with colors of the rainbow. The offending U I students considered the flag disrespectful of the genuine article, and took it upon themselves to defend the solemnity of the real American flag. They broke into the offices of the Gay/Straight Alliance, stole, and tried to burn the flag. The flag was made of a fire retardant material and refused to ignite. So the students ended up tossing it into the garbage. The offenders have been discovered and have been made social pariahs. Their dishonored carcasses have been cast into the abyss of political incorrectness.
All were members of the student government and have since resigned. They now find themselves under criminal investigation.
Somehow, I doubt that someone who burned a genuine American flag would be subjected to similarly harsh treatment. In fact, many of the very same people now calling for the heads of these particular flag burners would defend those who burned a real American flag. The American flag burners would probably be hailed for their audacity and the elite would be instructing us to somberly consider the flag burners message and to understand the root causes of their righteous indignation.
Certainly there is more here than just flag burning. Breaking into the office and stealing the flag are crimes themselves. But such aggravating factors are not considered where American flags are burned. For example, a few years back when a group of conservative legislators in Olympia, Washington suggested that open burning and air pollution laws might be used to punish American flag burners, the cultural elite responded with a storm of snorts. In truth, just about anytime an American flag is burned, the flag burner could be charged with some sort of disturbance. Just try burning a cardboard box on a street corner sometime and see what happens to you. But, when an American flag is burned, all crimes associated with it are excused.
Without a doubt, the very same people who can be counted upon to snort derisively at those who wish to defend the flag of the United States, are huffing and puffing about the attempted burning of the homosexual flag. There can be no doubt that, if a student senator were to burn an American flag, he or she would not be expected to resign.
Consider what would likely transpire if a very similar series of events occurred, but with a less politically correct flag. Imagine that some white supremicists had displayed a flag on which the stars were replaced with little white swastikas. Were somebody to break in, steal and burn that flag, I doubt that the cultural elite would have huffed even one puff and probably would have applauded whomever had burned that flag.
Perhaps now, the anointed can start parading the damaged flag around, giving it much the same treatment as the partially shredded flag found in the rubble of the World Trade Center. Maybe they can even stage their own Iwo Jima-like flag raising. It would be just the sort of courageous provocative mockery that the cultural elite admires.
The lesson to be taken from this episode is that common people revere the American flag, but only the best people revere the diversity flag.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home