That Controversial Ragged Old Flag

Derrick over at Virtue Blog has an interesting post about a conversation with his college professor. Derrick bought some decks of cards for a sculpture project. One had decks had a very interesting design:

The American flag set over beautiful mountain scenery, the Statue of Liberty with the Stars and Stripes in the background, a bald eagle in flight

So Derrick decided not to use these (for design reasons) and he got this reaction from the professor:

Loaded images? I wondered. Is he talking about what I think he is?

Sure enough, he was. My teacher indicated he agreed with my concern that the whole “patriotic theme” is a big thing in today’s world, and that it could be kind of controversial, and that. . .

So here we are. An American Student on an American college campus is told using Patriotic Flag Cards is “controversial.” Excuse me? There wouldn’t be sculpture classes or any of these luxuries we enjoy without people who served or fought under that flag.

America’s campuses are insane and the chief lunatics are running the asylum. The American Academy is the one place in our country where failed ideas are taught and showcased, and the things that guarantee freedom are attacked and maligned.

I was blessed to go to Flathead Valley Community College where the instructors were quite moderate, in general, and fairly evenhanded. I’ll never forget Oral Interpretation Class. My focus, my signature piece was Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech. I came up to deliver it after some guy did in an act in drag as Marilyn Monroe.

So, I was not sure how this timing was gonna go, but I got into that speech and I got fired up and passionate, and when I finished, I got a standing ovation. I’ve never had a room react like that. Its not because of how I said it, but what the message was.

I think patriotic things like that touch a nerve in people, particularly on campus, where patriotism is just not taught. Its just not observed. We’re a horrible country that’s done all types of horrible things to everyone and we ought to feel guilty and bad about it-and yes our history has both good and bad in it.

The truth is I think people want to feel good about America. They want to believe that we’re not just some country out there, but that we are capable of doing great things. They want to be able to say with pride, “I am an American.”

People like the professor want to stifle that. We have to be politically correct, we have to be sensitive to every anti-American wacko out there. Not on your life, pal. We must be proud of who we are, know who we were, or any conman or idealogue can dedcide for us where we’re going.

Political Correctness

Linked to Blue Star Chronicles, Rhymes with Right, and Stuck on Stupid