Right wing flogs the flag: Old whine in old skins

Old hoaxes never die. Sometimes they don’t even fade away (making it certain that they are less honorable than any soldier).

Folding the flag by an Air Force color guard at Arlington National Cemetery; photo by Arlington National Cemetery

The right wing whine machine is working up a dudgeon because National Cemeteries now have a policy against use of a flag- and history-insulting script that ascribes all sorts of hoakum to the simple folding of the American flag at funerals — a ceremony which is touching and sobering when done as a military color guard does it in silence, as they are trained.

A blog named headsup explains most of the issues, with a few links, at “Keep opinion to self.”

Regular readers recognize the issue. Fillmore’s Bathtub explained how the discontinued ceremony butchered history, how some people clung to the old ceremony, and how the Air Force devised a more accurate ceremony to use if color guards are asked.

• “Fisking a flag-fold flogging”
• “Flag ceremony update” (and see this comment from Air Force Staff Sgt. Todd Lopez)
• “Flag ceremony update 2”
• “News coverage of ‘new’ flag ceremony for Air Force”

People who sow strife for a living never let facts get in the way of a good dudgeon.

Were this worthy of controversy, it should have been controversial months ago. The “folding ceremony” in contention was never official, and was rarely used. Do your own survey of veterans’ funerals to see; I have never heard of the ceremony actually used. We have the DFW National Cemetery within a few miles of our home. I regularly visit with veterans, and I have attended ceremonies myself. Don’t take my word for it.

Stick to the Flag Code and the Constitution, and no one will get hurt.

Michelle Malkin? Any other wacko commentators who don’t know the Flag Code? Get a clue. Remedial history is calling you. Please get off the soap boxes. Please quit using the U.S. flag to cover your gluteus maximii.

It’s time to stand up for accuracy, for real history, and for the law. Honor the flag by following the rules, not by dressing in it, or dragging it through the mud for ratings points.

Dishonor Roll:

• Captain’s Quarters to U.S. Constitution and U.S. History: “Drop Dead“
• The anti-Constitution bunch at STACLU
• Rhymes with Right, gets it wrong
• Blue Star Chronicles, who should know better
• Webloggin’, with very offensive epithets
• The Scrooge Report, notes American Legion stands against Flag Code and Constitution (“Scrooge” apparently before the hauntings)
• Texas Insider repeats Fox News errors

Honor Roll:

• Veterans Affairs Department memorandum corrects historical error
• Dispatches from the Culture Wars, gets it right, again and again