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Also, when we hit the streets, don't be afraid to carry an American flag. We are the patriots in this day.

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Interesting you mention taking back the flag. I have a flag decal on the back window of my car, below my Harris-Walz sticker. I was stopped by a fellow traveler yesterday, who thanked me for making explicit the connection between being a Democrat and a proud American. We discussed the importance of symbols - they matter. A LOT. We are doing ourselves a disservice when we concede the flag to the fascists. I would add to JVL's list that we must destroy the fascist conception of conformity, inequality, and exclusion by taking back from them the most basic symbol of American patriotism - our flag.

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YES! I've been to several rallies and always take the American flag!!

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I bring 20 us flags to every #Teslatakedown protest. And Canadian and Ukraine.

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Yes!!!!

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Yes, we need to claim the American flag. We need to clean patriotism.

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We always have a lot of flags at our local protests.

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This lifelong liberal has been saying for years: Don't allow the right (or anyone else) to lay claim to the flag.

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A-fucking-men. IтАЩm a patriot. I am also an adult with a brain. Countries do bad things, we learn from those failures and must acknowledge them to rise above.

Blinding slapping the flag on everything and saying тАЬlove it or leave itтАЭ isnтАЩt patriotism. ItтАЩs nationalism.

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I'm pretty sure the Left can fairly claim that they are the holders of the American ideal.

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Absolutely - you can't very well claim someone is a communist or terrorist if they are waving an American flag. And at this point, most of the far-right has abandoned our flag in favor of wacky bastardizations or alt-right symbols.

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Yes! The real American flag, not one of the fugly desecrated versions MAGA seems to love, like the Thin Blue Line flag.

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Drosophilist, great point. We need to reject the idea that you can change the flag to fit your brand preferences. Our country isnтАЩt a brand. ItтАЩs bigger than us; hopefully it will continue to be.

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Great point about brand- weтАЩre not a corporation, we are a country of people. Corporations are NOT people!!!

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NKS, IтАЩm the biggest perpetrator of metaphor, analogy, and allusion. ItтАЩs just how my brain works. It got me my English degree.

But our country ISNтАЩT a business. Humans are NOT robots. We are NOT YET in a war (though we may be soon). People arenтАЩt RATIONAL MAN making choices that represent their needs. Nothing IS written in stone.

No one loves metaphors more than I do; but metaphors have greased the skids for our current predicament. So many people have confused тАЬwhat isтАЭ for тАЬwhat itтАЩs like.тАЭ Perhaps we are fighting the existential fight to say we need to walk back from that brand ethos. We also didnтАЩt believe a person who perpetuated a coup could become President four years later. We have to stop assuming.

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Whose flag is it?

This is THE PEOPLEтАЩS flag.

Not one partyтАЩs. Not one TV networkтАЩs. Not тАЬours tooтАЭ - OURS

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Yes, and right-side-up

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We fly it this way because WE KNOW whatтАЩs up! тАжand whatтАЩs right

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