Stripes and Stars

January 6, 2021.  Armed insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in Washington D.C.

We watched it on the internet or on TV, just like 9/11.  It seemed unreal, just like 9/11. 

We saw the confederate flag waving in the capital of our nation, alongside Old Glory.  A previously defeated flag, which stands for beliefs that are counter to the ideal of our nation regarding liberty and justice for ALL. That disturbed me, and I hope it disturbed you. 

So, I have a copy of the Constitution of the United States, and I actually READ it. I had been aware of comments about the idea that our Founding Fathers were slave owners and that parts of the Constitution were based on the idea that liberty and justice for ALL meant just white men.  But that is NOT what I read. Granted, it took some years to include people of color and women, but they are there and presented as equal. Ideas that are progressive and that we can be proud of, are THERE. 

And I started thinking that the red, white, and blue flag stands for that. Yeah, it gets flown a lot around war activities, too. But right now, I am just thinking about that flag as a symbol of the ideas of democracy, freedom, and justice that our republic is built on. No, we are not THERE yet, but this nation is rooted in these ideas, and still moving forward. We have to and can realize them more fully.

So, I wrote a song about it. And here it is, performed by Rick and Marilyn....