Reply #18: I'm with you, dixiegrrrl--it's come to mean hypocrisy and political bullying, here and

[Mist]

around the world.

I never had an emotive response to the flag, other than thinking, design-wise, it's too busy. I remember having an argument with my father about the meaning of the flag. During the Vietnam era, some older kids in my high school were refusing to say the pledge of allegiance because of the war, and I thought (little 7th grader that I was) that I might refuse also. My father, a WWII vet, was also strongly opposed to the Vietnam war, but said I should honor the flag for what America could be, not as a symbol of what it was currently. He was quite upset I would even think of not saying the pledge of allegiance. To him, the flag was a symbol of the future possibilites of America, and I should honor that.