Hijacking MY Flag! | Philip A. Farruggio

Philip A. FarruggioPhilip A. Farruggio -- World News Trust

Oct. 11, 2017

As a baby boomer who has seen lots of instances of the empire using MY flag as their own private property, this newest one "takes the cake."

My generation went through the whole "America, love it or leave it" rhetoric during the Vietnam debacle. Many of us, either old, or (in my case) new to activism, just tossed that aside as Bullshit!

Yet, a majority of my friends and neighbors unfortunately bought into the hype and spin that the flag, and our national anthem, were to be sacrosanct... beyond reproach. Many anti-war demonstrations actually had our flag burned -- which this writer did not disagree with -- using that tactic of protest.

The more powerful tactic was to turn the flag upside down to reveal the upside down manner of this empire. As with Alice in Wonderland, the opposite was usually correct in most instances. How it sickened me and many others when we turned on the boob tube to watch Bob Hope entertaining our soldiers in the Nam... as if this was WWII all over again.

The "Bob Hope-like" scene from Coppola's  Apocalypse Now (1979) is a must-see to really understand the nature of what that disgraceful so-called "War" did to our soldiers there... That one and the scene when the 18-year old-GI (played by Laurence Fishburne) blows away a boatful of civilians.

Ever since the Cheney/Bush gang (yes, we who "know better" know that Cheney was the controller and Junior the "idiot emperor" with no clothes) lied and deceived us into this new "War on Terror," they took our flag hostage. They had the suckers, saps and lollipops hang it over garage doors in my neighborhood, or on their cars and trucks (lots of pickups in Bushland), making it the phony symbol of  patriotism.

How many dead or wounded for life soldiers, and how many of the same, by a factor of 10, of Iraqi and Afghan civilians before our foolish neighbors realized the truth? Sadly, most of them never did! Thus, this phony "War of Terror" goes on and on, always with new and more dangerous enemies... as THEIR flag waves on. This empire is so smooth.

If only the black NFL players (and of course their white counterparts) would have honestly taken the activist route and extended their protest to more than just about the injustice this empire deals out to people of color. Did they not know or realize that the Pentagon paid the NFL to use the pregame ceremonies to propagandize this militarization of our nation and our phony "War of Terror?"

Years ago, many players did not even have to be on the field for the anthem. So, in essence, the NFL, and most pro and collegiate athletes are being used to help propagate this Military Industrial Empire, whether they want to or not! Enough already!

Methinks what John Carlos and Tommy Smith did at the Mexico Olympics in '68 was so perfect: They went up to the winners stand to accept their medals, and as the anthem played, they put on a black glove and held that fist up high as the anthem played.

Perhaps these NFL players should stand for the anthem, and hold a small flag in one hand, and wear the black glove on the other... and hold their fist high during the anthem, while raising the miniature American flag high up  on the other hand. What a message that would send... throughout the entire planet!

Perhaps then, many of "We who know better" will take the hijacked flag back as our own again.

PA Farruggio

October 11, 2017

Philip A Farruggio is a son and grandson of Brooklyn, New York, longshoremen. He has been a freelance columnist since 2001, with more than 300 of his essays posted on sites like Consortium News, Information Clearing House, Nation of Change, World News Trust, Op-Ed News, Dissident Voice, Counterpunch, Activist Post, Sleuth Journal, Truthout and many others. His blog can be read in full on World News Trust., whereupon he writes a great deal about the need to cut military spending drastically and send the savings back to save our cities. Philip has an internet interview show, "It's the Empire... Stupid" with producer Chuck Gregory, and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.