[GreenKeys] US FLAG CODE AMENDED

[Mark Richards]

don at thedjbrothers.com wrote:
> I think Mark's point is that the flag is a hollow shell if the government
> underneath it is persistently ineffective.  And "persistently ineffective"
> would be the kindest phrase that could be applied to the last 7 years. Our
> children's children will look at back at this period bewilderedly wondering
> "WTF were they thinking?" 

All very well stated.

As I responded to Larry Tighe offline, but I will cc here as it fits in 
with your points.  Larry asked why it is that "our education is rated 
28th in the world yet we are number one on per student spent."  I replied:

Incompetence; greed; politics driving education; unfunded mandates; 
educating for tests; poor nutrition; one-size fits all education 
policies; demanding respect yet not exemplifying respectability; 
forgetting the basics, and as the FLAG CODE exemplifies, codifying 
nationalism over substance.  It's another sign that pride is a given in 
those nations who do right and has to be forced in nations who do otherwise.

This statement, guaranteed, will be twisted into "liberal", 
"troop-bashing", "America-hating".

Well, if I didn't care, I'd crawl under a rock.

--

Greenkeyers have among the community many veterans of what I agree was 
the "good war", WWII.  They may note that the people of all three 
nations who were the principal protagonists, Italy, Japan, and Germany, 
have a loathing of nationalism.  For example, only recently have public 
school students in Japan been asked to recite the Japanese National 
Anthem.  There have been rather huge fights over this, and I think it is 
not fully decided.

The people have a long memory.  They realize that nationalism can lead 
to some very sorry ends.

Can we not take on the same wisdom?  My point is this: let's get our 
government focusing on the real issues instead of this nonsense.

/m