Flag Games, &c.
On Old Glory as political football; killer tariffs; the ‘Deep State’; Trump’s Nobel lust; designs on Greenland; and more
Everything old is new again. In the previous century, there was a great debate over a constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning. Today, President Trump thinks he can criminalize flag-burning, all by himself. “You burn a flag, you get one year in jail,” he said.
This got me to thinking about flag-desecration in general. Have a look at this:
A headline in the New York Times on June 22, 2024, read, “Trump Hawks American Flag Pins with His Name in Gold Splashed Across Them.” The article began,
Donald J. Trump’s campaign is billing it as a must-have fashion accessory for his supporters: an American flag lapel pin with the former president’s name scrawled in gold block letters across it—in all caps.
The pins were available starting Thursday for a $50 donation to the Trump campaign, the latest merchandising gambit from a candidate who has hawked a plethora of products over the decades, most recently Bibles and Trump sneakers.
Yes.
The article further said,
His latest marketing pitch is further testing the norms of flag etiquette and drawing fresh scrutiny from critics.
A quick word from me: I don’t like flag-burning. I don’t like the plethora of Trump flags all around us—I mean, American flags turned into Trump flags. I would not like American flags emblazoned, or besmirched, with the name of a politician I like.
You know how I like my American flags? Straight.
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There are lots of tariff stories—stories about how American businesses are harmed by Trump’s unilateral tariff frenzy. Let me note a story close to home.
Zeeland, Michigan, is a place I know a bit. It is in southwestern Michigan—Dutch Michigan. Immigrants from the Netherlands settled Zeeland in the 1840s. (“Zeeland,” as you know, is the name of a province in the Netherlands.)
An article in the Times informs us of the following:
Howard Miller, a family-owned manufacturer of handcrafted clocks and home furniture based in Zeeland, Mich., said last month that it planned to shut down operations next year after 99 years in business.
Why? The CEO said, “Our business has been directly impacted by tariffs that have increased the cost of essential components unavailable domestically and driven specialty suppliers out of business, making it unsustainable for us to continue our operations.”
You know, that stinks. “America First,” say Trump and the Republican Party. Often, it doesn’t look that way.
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Above, I spoke of “desecration.” Now I would like to mention—blasphemy? Blasphemous or not, that “Trust in Trump” does not seem ... right to me.
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You have read about this:
President Donald Trump said Monday night that he’s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented move that would constitute a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.
(For that report, from the Associated Press, go here.)
Let me try something out on you: When it comes to leaders such as Trump, norms and customs won’t cut it. Things have to be written down—codified. Does the Justice Department have a degree of independence? Does the Federal Reserve? Then write it down. Put it into law. Norms and customs are clearly out the window.
Andy Warhol said, “Art is what you can get away with.” What can a U.S. president get away with? Donald Trump is testing that question. (And answering it. The answer is: a lot.)
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You have probably seen this, too:
Some employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who signed a public letter of dissent earlier this week were put on administrative leave Tuesday evening ...
More than 180 current and former FEMA employees signed the letter sent to the FEMA Review Council and Congress on Monday critiquing recent cuts to agency staff and programs, and warning that FEMA’s capacity to respond to a major disaster was dangerously diminished.
Thirty-five signed their names while 141 signed anonymously for fear of retribution.
(For that AP report, go here.)
What Republicans call the “Deep State” may be conscientious and patriotic civil servants. I think that’s the case here.
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A related story:
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the latest senior military or intelligence officer to lose his position in a wider purge of national security agencies’ top ranks ...
(That is from the Washington Post, here.)
The DIA gave an assessment of the damage done by our strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Trump and his team did not like that assessment. Neither did they like a jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics—so Trump fired the commissioner.
Without honest people in our government—without conscientious civil servants (and military personnel)—we are cooked. Caesarism can be deadly to a country.
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No one has ever campaigned more openly for the Nobel Peace Prize than Donald Trump. His aides are joining him, of course. Speaking directly to Trump at a cabinet meeting, Steve Witkoff said, “There’s only one thing I wish for—that the Nobel committee finally gets its act together and realizes that you are the single finest candidate since this Nobel award was ever talked about.”
Interesting. And cracked. (To learn about the history of the prize, you may wish to consult my book Peace, They Say.)
Did you hear another Trump aide, Peter Navarro? He said,
You know, a lot of people talk about Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. I’m thinking that since he’s basically taught the world trade economics, he might be up for the Nobel in economics.
Among the winners of that prize have been Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. Would that they had any influence on U.S. policy today ...
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A headline from the AP: “Denmark summons US envoy after report of Americans carrying out influence operations in Greenland.” (Article here.) Recall a statement from Vice President Vance last March: “The president said we have to have Greenland”—and “we just can’t ignore the president’s desires.”
I traveled to Denmark in April, to report on relations between that country and ours, dramatically altered. My report is here.
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You know, I haven’t had much that is fun in this column—or anything that is fun. Ah, well. Some days are “heavier” than others. Maybe I can sign off with some music—a review of a concert by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, conducted by young Klaus Mäkelä: here. What would we do without music, and the arts in general? Luckily, we don’t have to find out.
Thank you, my friends, and see you soon.
Many Canadians feel about the Trump administration just as you have described the Danes do. And many of us wonder: the divided power of the US federal government was supposed to be protective of power abuses. Where, for the love of country, is Congress?!?!
For anyone wondering how the Soviet Union could have been so deceptive about the Chernobyl disaster and the radioactive cloud it spewed, life here in the post-truth United States of America makes it much easier to understand.