No Half-staff Flag in My Yard

I will not lower my flag to half-staff for the president to make a political point. I have flown Old Glory in my back yard for years. During that time, I have dutifully, with compassion, lowered it to memorialize certain holidays, the deaths of great American leaders, and tragic losses of first responders. Only in the past two years have I twice refused to lower our nation’s symbol at the order of President Biden. Both refusals were because I believed the orders were wrongly and shamefully intended to serve the president’s political agenda.

The order to fly the flag at half-staff July 5-9 describes it as a mark of respect for the victims of the “senseless acts of gun violence” (my emphasis) at Highland Park, Illinois. The 4th of July shootings were a tragedy, and my heartfelt prayers go out to the families of the seven who died and to the thirty wounded. But the Chicago area has more than that murdered and wounded on most weekends. So far this year, Chicago has had 317 homicides. Nine Chicagoans were killed and 42 wounded by gun violence on a single weekend just five weeks ago. I don’t remember the White House lowering flags across our nation for those victims. Was this present order because Highland Park is a more affluent suburb of Chicago? Or was it because the holiday shooting made lots of headlines, and the Democrats jumped on the media frenzy to make it all about gun control? This way, millions of Americans will see the flags at half-staff, think Chicago shootings, and become more supportive of firearm restrictions. And the plan will probably succeed in its objective despite its specious conception.

The Democrats in Washington are so desperate to salvage any vestige of their radical leftist agenda that they will turn anything–court decisions, the economy, the environment, traditional values, guns–ANYTHING into a frantic life-or-death partisan reaction. Whatever it takes!

No, President Biden, I will not lower my American flag for your political agenda.