January 6, 2021 -- A Story of Flags and Deceit

There was much to be repulsed by in yesterday's assault on the Capital by a mob of Trump-inspired insurgents. There was the painful image of the government under siege by domestic political terrorists. There was the casual response by police and other forces, a stark juxtaposition to the same force's abusive behavior when introduced to far more peaceful black protestors in the same city. There was the gleeful destruction of AP news cameras and equipment, a sign of the all-too fascist vilification of the media by Trump and his allies.

And then, there were the flags.

Three pictures remain poignant and distressing, and yet all too critically evocative of what was behind and ahead. First, there was a giant American flag draped from the parapets of the Capital. The flag was a featured image of the various media, and it demonstrated a blasphemous deceit: that those assaulting the foundational government of this country considered themselves, called themselves, and were repeatedly called by Trump and his family, patriots. Only in the bizarro fantasy world created by this president could those attacking America for the gratification of a would be king believe that they were defending that which they were insurgent against, and there can be no tolerance for their usurping.

The second image reinforced the first -- a group of thugs mounted the side of the capital, and removed a trio of American flags from their poles, replacing them with Trump flags. A perfect symbol of a man who has abjectly placed his own grievances and desires above any consideration of the country's interests, the action bespoke the reality of the moment, and the true allegiance of the people who desecrated that giant American flag by it's misuse.

The third image, an all too familiar one in this administration's history, was the carrying of Confederate flags through the halls of Congress, in an on-the-nose reminder of the last time a group that falsely called itself Americans took up against the nation. The sight of the Confederate flag waving as a symbol of occupation in the Capital was chilling, and a statement of what the mob's sense of "Making America Great Again" referred to in actuality.

We are, have been, will be a nation that is moved by symbols and the meaning that we impart to them. The theft of the great American flag for criminal purposes, the placing of a flag of fealty in its place on the Capital, the desecration of the seat of the people's government by the vain waving of the colors of traitors to this country... together, those images spoke in ways that no journalist could match. They spoke to what was actually going on, what was intended to be the outcome, and what lied in the hearts of the mostly all-white acolytes of a defrocked and beaten demagogue.

Sometimes, even often, the truth of a moment is not told in the slogans or cries, not revealed by the positions, counter-positions and excuses, not even complicated at all. Sometimes, it's the chosen imagery and actions captured by cameras, and wordlessly shared with the world.

Our capital was assaulted by a riled up mob in support of a single man, not a country, not even an ideology, but a warped and twisted ego in a spasm of denial. Our nation was demeaned in the eyes of the world by an accumulation of deceit, manipulation and self interest masquerading as a leader, and manifest as a cult.

We have work to do to heal, not only in the hearts of our country, but in the confused minds of our critical allies and supporters around the world. We must now do the hard labor of redefining ourselves, of providing so many positive images, so much real evidence of the power of the true flag, that these painful visuals are demoted to footnotes, relegated to the anomalies of a brief and regretted error in our history. This is what yesterday has brought to us, and leaves us with like the strewn garbage after an irresponsible assemblage.

There are 12 days before we get to begin that journey. May we find the strength to avoid digging that particular hole any deeper before then.