Tuesday, January 13, 2009

What Kind Of Flags Are Those?

We have awfully short memories here in this country so it bears remembering that less than two years ago, the site of a Mexican flag at a rally sent wingnuts into a tizzy.

At the height of the anti-Mexican flag furor we even had Robert Novak opining that
"...flags are a symbol of national identity. The student brandishing the Mexican flag signals divided loyalty or perhaps loyalty to a foreign power."

Wingnut wackadoodle Michelle Malkin whipped her readers into a frenzy over “flag wars.” (Why is everything and I do mean everything a war with these people?)

We had Pahrump, Nevada outlawing foreign flags. (Why is the solution to everything and I do mean everything for these people to pass a law against it?)

We had the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum receiving threats to its animal exhibits because of the Mexican flag on its flagpole. (Why is it when right-wingers get angry, animals suffer?)

And yet Israel's flag is waved at pro-Israel rallies all across the country and no one complains.

Queen Wackadoodle “Grande Conservative Blogress Diva” Pam Geller even took some pictures at New York’s pro-Israel rally, and it looks to me like there were more Israeli flags a-flutter than American ones. Not that there’s anything wrong with that -- personally, I could care less. I don’t have a flag fetish. It’s just that Slate’s Mickey Kaus made such a big deal about the Mexican flags back in 2006, so I thought I’d mention it.

I am by no means the first blogger to notice this hypocrisy from the right wing. But since we’re talking nativism, it bears repeating. One might almost think these flag flaps really have nothing to do with flags at all.

Just as one might almost think these English-language purity campaigns having nothing to do with language.