U.S. Fans Love Country, Treat American Flag Like Laundry

It happens every Olympics, and you'd think by now I'd be used to it.  But I hope I never get used to being angry that someone disrespects our flag.  I hope I never say, "Oh, well, it's patriotism and pride that makes someone wrap themselves in a flag."  Because while you may be feeling 'patriotism' what you are displaying is 'ignorance' of the flag code, a must-read guideline on how to treat the American flag.

The only time a person should be draped in the American Flag is if they die defending it.

I saw some American fans after the USA/Russia hockey game, outside the arena chanting their U.S.A. pride.  But it literally made me turn away to see these nimrods with a flag's swivel clip attached around their necks, wearing the flag like a cape.  And a flag held by crumpling the two top corners and hoisting it over your head.  I wish that flag had instead been purchased by a CubScout group, or a VFW hall.

Going through life covered in sweat, and cheese-sauce, and then balled-up into a suitcase or trunk is no way to go through life.  Do yourself a favor, and take a second to read the flag code.  More importantly, make your kids read it, and explain to them that when that flag flies, the freedom to fly it was born of the sacrifice by hundreds of thousands of men and women who put that flag even before their own lives.  When you understand that, you probably won't need a flag code to remind you how to treat it.

Go to a funeral on the Arsenal sometime, and take your kids.  The ceremony is so moving and educational.  That display of the colors is true patriotism, and when it's folded and passed to the surviving family members, you will see what it means to them.  And what it should mean to all of us.