Althouse: June 14th, Flag Day.

June 14, 2010

June 14th, Flag Day.

36 comments:

garage mahal said...: Happy Birthday garage mahal!

Yes, Flag Day Boy :); 6/14/10, 10:43 AM
former law student said...: Thanks, Professor.

Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervid elation
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of Freedom's nation.

Hurrah for the flag of the free!
May it wave as our standard forever -- John Philip Sousa; 6/14/10, 10:47 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Yeah! Mine is flying at home.

Meanwhile, some one celebrated Flag Day a little too early...

Remember North Carolina, Congressman Etheridge supports the Presidential commission for deficit reduction:

Watching this Presidential commission discuss strategies for deficit reduction is like watching a pack of gluttons talk about getting in shape while they prowl up and down a buffet table. They linger over the deep-fried mortgage interest deduction caps, dip their spoons into the rich chocolate of the VAT tax, and lick their lips as they wait for the expired Bush tax cuts to pop out of the oven. They end up perched on the edge of creaking chairs, tittering at the wonderfully naughty idea of devouring everyone’s 401k plans for dessert. It’s a nauseating spectacle that will only end when they’re escorted from the restaurant by angry voters.

Yeah, I'm angry. Not quite Congressman Etheridge angry, but I also did not put two shots of bourbon in my coffee this morning. Then again, I am not a mean drunk.; 6/14/10, 10:48 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Happy birthday, Garage.; 6/14/10, 10:51 AM
garage mahal said...: Always liked this short Flag Day story

A story from 1908 passed down through generations is that, on June 14, Theodore Roosevelt saw a man wiping his nose on what he believed was the USA Flag. He quickly walked over and started hitting the man with a small wooden stick. He then realized the man was using a blue hankerchief with white stars to wipe his nose. Roosevelt was quick to apologize for his behavior, although struck him one more time because he had become “riled up with national pride” with this similarity the cloth had to the flag.; 6/14/10, 10:54 AM
AllenS said...: Happy birthday, garage. Want to provide a number?; 6/14/10, 10:56 AM
dbp said...: Here is an alternate version, for our times.

We put up a fresh (US Flag) at home while sprucing-up for our annual Memorial Day BBQ.; 6/14/10, 10:56 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: What's the birthday of the flag we have now? Flag Day commemorates our first flag, but we don't use that flag anymore. We didn't even have a Flag Day until 1916. So by the time we had a Flag Day, we weren't using the flag we were celebrating.

I wonder what the Founding Fathers would think about Flag Day. Maybe they'd love it. Or maybe they wouldn't. I don't know.; 6/14/10, 10:57 AM
garage mahal said...: Allen
June 14th, 1965
I guess that makes 45.; 6/14/10, 10:58 AM
dbp said...: Happy Birthday Mr. mahal!; 6/14/10, 10:58 AM
kjbe said...: Happy Birthday Flag Day Boys - garage.. and my husband. It's a great day, all around.; 6/14/10, 10:59 AM
As my whimsy leads me.. said...: Le quatorze juin--not le quatorze juillet
Is Flag Day in the USA!

Jou-jou; 6/14/10, 11:00 AM
traditionalguy said...: The Flag stands for the fighting spirit that says "NO SURRENDER' to the European Empires. The Monroe Doctrine said it again. Our Kenyan negotiator and his Marxist Lite Cadre just want money to sell out for millions of dollars and surrender us to the reincarnation of those Empires working thru a proposed Global Governance. That is why Obama loves every new crisis real and imagined by the fiction media. The day Obama fights for America instead of systematically demolishing America, then the Tea Partiers can go back home and Sarah "the warrior" Palin can go back to Alaska. In the meantime we all need to rally with her and the Tea Party folks while there still is an American Flag.; 6/14/10, 11:02 AM
AllenS said...: Your best years are ahead.; 6/14/10, 11:03 AM
Unknown said...: Garage, you're way too grumpy for 45, but you'll be turning right any day. Happy B-Day, anyway.

Freeman, I believe the current one is 45 years old. Designated by Eisenhower after the admission of Hawaii to the Union.

As my whimsy leads me.. said...

Le quatorze juin--not le quatorze juillet
Is Flag Day in the USA!

Le quatorze juillet, c'est Bastille Day. Vive La France!; 6/14/10, 11:12 AM
Dr. Alice said...: The design of that poster is remarkably contemporary. For a moment I thought it had been designed for this year's Flag Day, instead of being nearly 100 years old!; 6/14/10, 11:16 AM
lemondog said...: YEA!

There is a lot of pessimism with much said about America in decline. In the last decade we've seen America attacked, wars, stock market crash, financial institutions blow up, housing prices collapse, deep perhaps even a double-dip recession, high unemployment, natural and man-created disasters, out of control government, sky-rocketing national debt.....

I hadn't seen Field of Dreams currently being repeatly shown on ION tv, since its release 20 years ago, really didn't remember much of it and I'm not a baseball fan, but the James Earl Jones speech reminded me of America resiliency and her ability to rebuild and reshape:

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game – it’s a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again.

It will take awhile but she will regain her inner balance, harmony, boldness and unique spirit.... and become more circumspect in selecting her leaders.; 6/14/10, 11:21 AM
Adam said...: @Garage, So your point is that Bob "Travis Bickle" Etheridge was just paying a Flag Day hommage to TR? If so, it's a far better defense of the guy than the rest of the sinistrophere has offered.; 6/14/10, 11:25 AM
Calypso Facto said...: Happy Birthday to the Stars and Stripes! Long may it wave!

And also to you Garage. Interesting company born this day: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Che Guevara, and Boy George!; 6/14/10, 11:28 AM
KCFleming said...: Hurray for the red, white and blue!
Beautiful poster; my own flag looks somberly onto the street, waving at no one on this windless day.

And tip o' the hat to our own g. mahal; may the next 45 years find him loved, free, and lacking for nothing.; 6/14/10, 11:50 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Happy Birthday Garage! you commie bastard :); 6/14/10, 12:00 PM
garage mahal said...: Thnks Pogo, Freeman, dbp and the rest

@Garage, So your point is that Bob "Travis Bickle" Etheridge was just paying a Flag Day hommage to TR?

No, never thought of putting those two events together.; 6/14/10, 12:07 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "A story from 1908 passed down through generations is that, on June 14, Theodore Roosevelt saw a man wiping his nose on what he believed was the USA Flag. He quickly walked over and started hitting the man with a small wooden stick. He then realized the man was using a blue hankerchief with white stars to wipe his nose. Roosevelt was quick to apologize for his behavior, although struck him one more time because he had become “riled up with national pride” with this similarity the cloth had to the flag."

Bob Etheridge is carrying on this great tradition of assaulting private citizens.; 6/14/10, 12:17 PM
garage mahal said...: And also to you Garage. Interesting company born this day: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Che Guevara, and Boy George!

Hah. Thanks Calypso.

Oh, and Donald Trump, Burl Ives, Steffi Graf, and Yasmine Bleeth. Not a lot of famous people share my birthday it seems.; 6/14/10, 12:21 PM
campy said...: He quickly walked over and started hitting the man with a small wooden stick.

I thought the saying was, "Talk softly and carry a big stick.; 6/14/10, 12:30 PM
Calypso Facto said...: You headed down to the birthday bar to celebrate, Garage? I'd promise a round, but I'm outta town 'til tomorrow.; 6/14/10, 1:10 PM
TWM said...: I go through a flag about every year. They last longer than that but I really enjoy seeing a new one flying from my porch each and every day.; 6/14/10, 1:16 PM
AllenS said...: I just put up a new flag, last week. I bought it over the internet. There was a time when you could buy stuff that way and about 4 days later, it would arrive. It took over 3 weeks to get here. I don't think companies are keeping much inventory anymore. It's the same with buying auto parts. I also put on new rope. You don't want it to break when the pole is 25'.; 6/14/10, 1:21 PM
garage mahal said...: Calypso
I've been to the Birthday Bar I think about 5 times for other peoples birthdays, but never myself! We went to the Old Fashioned for a nice pre-birthday dinner on Saturday.

Tonight just hang with family and eat some prime rib. Yums. Thanks for the offer though, didn't know you are in Mad, maybe a raincheck.; 6/14/10, 1:32 PM
Calypso Facto said...: Good for you! I like the Old Fashioned better myself. Enjoy your dinner!; 6/14/10, 1:41 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: My flag was out, until the rain came.

Personally, I think the flag, or its elements, should not be used as clothing, tent awnings or to wrap politicians (or dead fish).

Nor should it be used by multinational corporations who ship American jobs overseas!!; 6/14/10, 1:55 PM
Christy said...: Happy Birthday, Garage Mahal!

I confess I made my sister, due on Independence Day, a maternity/nursing top made of red, white, and blue fabric with stars and stripes. Didn't look like the flag, but it definitely evoked the flag. Was I bad?; 6/14/10, 2:15 PM
paul a'barge said...: Nothing on Google, the mutts.; 6/14/10, 6:10 PM
Deborah M. said...: It is also the
235th birthday of the U. S. Army.; 6/14/10, 6:20 PM
Big Mike said...: Well Dodge knows how to celebrate Flag Day.; 6/14/10, 6:37 PM
Meet Donna W said...: @garage mahal - Thanks for reading my article. Flag Day has a special meaning to me as it is my Mother's birthday. She loved to see the flags flying & inspired me to write (she passed away a few years ago)

Donna West; 6/17/10, 11:01 PM