Call me naive, but I want to believe it's about the troops, I want it to be about patriotism and love of country, I want it to be about victory, and duty-honor-country, but can anybody explain this? (Look closely at the center, or look at the blow up photo below this one)
Ok, maybe it's about victory over fascism. Maybe this guy is saying, "See this flag? It's a "Riechskriegflagge", and my grandpa captured it from some Waffen SS troops when his platoon took the bridge over the Rhine at Remagen as part of the Big Red One." (1st Infantry Division) So he's implying that by showing the banner of a vanquished enemy that could easily be described without hyperbole as evil incarnate, supporting the troops is in fact a noble thing to do.
Or, maybe he's saying he likes white people and hates Jews...
No matter what, it's a question of messaging, with the question being, "What's the message?"
What is the message when 100s of bikers roll into town, and rally to support the troops? Is it only bikers that support the troops? Are these people racists? I think most importantly, are they intolerant of intolerance among their midst?
Why didn't anyone confront this guy and ask what his deal was? If anybody wanted to make the anti-war protesters job any easier and to help reinforce the narrative that anybody who disagrees with President or waves the American flag is a xenophobic, jingoistic, white supremacist, this guy did it perfectly! You can imagine them yelling, "You see?, you see?, they ARE a bunch of jackbooted Nazi thugs!"
I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that I can throw out every comment on every article I read online, because only extremists on the left and right apparently have the time (and are otherwise cowardly in that they don't speak out in person) to post such lunatic ravings. I wonder why those who lean left don't tell some of those among them to shut the hell up, because they are making them seem crazy, but as one can see by what's demonstrated today, people that lean right are just as either ambivalent or feel just as non-confrontational to say anything to the crazies that they hang out with as well.
I hate pointing out things in life that are wrong without offering a solution, but this here problem sure has me buffaloed. Anybody got any ideas? Anybody want to brainstorm this?
Anybody?
6 comments:
Interesting. I cannot explain it. I wished I'd seen it. It sure would be interesting to hear that person's reasoning for holding that flag. Sometimes I think of making a short documentary, interviewing folks on both corners and then trying to bring at least one rep from each side together for a hug. Ok, in my dreams it would be a group hug.
I don't know what you can do about this guy after the fact other than what you're doing, and making people aware. I will say I'm really surprised no one seems to have said anything. I would have aaked him what the point of the flag was if I had been there. Chris says he's probably one of those "tea party crashers". I know it wasn't a tea party, but it was for the troops so maybe he was a planted stink stick!
How about a partial explaination, of a combo of ignorance and being "tuned into your own thing." Some people are ignorent enough to not have a clue of the message the individual was potentially sending, and others might have just been focused on putting their own ideas out there and not attending to those around them. Additionally, we have a culture where we don't encourage adults to confront children or teens who are behaving badly... never mind other adults who are entitled to peacefully and respectfully express a different opinion.
I think the most likely explanation is he's a crazy freak.
Possibly ignorance and stupidity?
I just figured he was one of those "crash the party" guys. They've been outed at several tea party rallies and this could be one.
Or... just a kook. It's like the LaRouche guys showing up at both antiwar and tea party events. They just want to be in the pictures.
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