9 Replies to "STARS AND STRIPES: Can you help with Junction flags tomorrow?"

• Pericles July 3, 2017 (6:56 pm)

  What exactly are they celebrating?  A country that seems to have lost all sense of the values that once made it great? I understand the American Legion is a veterans’ organization, and I as much as anyone appreciate their service, but this President has no more regard for veterans than anyone else. 

  • WSB July 3, 2017 (7:26 pm)

    I can’t and don’t speak for the Legion, but speaking for myself, Independence Day has never been about who is or isn’t president when the holiday arrives – but instead is about our now-241-year-old country, which has always seemed far greater than the sum of its parts, all hundreds of millions of us. Maybe I’m just a creaky old idealist. – TR

  • Scott July 3, 2017 (7:34 pm)

    The Fourth of July is a celebration of our independence. It is not a celebration of/for the current president or any other politician or TV personality. This country is far greater than any single person, no matter what their title may be. 

  • Rusty July 4, 2017 (7:25 pm)

    Pericles –

    Believe what you want about any other policies, but our current president obviously does care about our veterans (i am one) a whole lot more than the previous one. The scandals that rocked the V.A. had gone unadressed until recently, which is a national shame. Again, argue about any other policies all day, but the facts about the V.A. and only-now instituted reforms speak for themselves.

    I would add that today is a celebration of the ideals laid out in our founding documents, and not about veterans, just wanted to correct the statement.

• Gene July 3, 2017 (10:03 pm)

  PERICLES- how did you come to the conclusion that the 4th of July  celebrates the current President?

• Pericles July 4, 2017 (9:44 am)

  Let me try to explain myself more clearly.  I entirely agree that the holiday celebrates the country and not any individual, and further that it is entirely appropriate that we should have disagreements over the degree to which the government should “promote the general welfare”, to quote one of our founding documents, so it’s not that I believe the holiday should only be celebrated when one political party is in power.

  But what is it that we are celebrating:
  The President and those in charge?  We’ve already decided no.
  The physical land? It’s beautiful in many places, but that’s not it.
  The people? We have a wonderful collection of people, but they are not that different from people around the world.

  What has made our country worth celebrating are its values: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Until now I have always had confidence that our leaders understood and held to these values, but when our country no longer stands for those values, I find it hard to find reasons to celebrate.  I understand it would be somewhat dramatic not to put up flags for the 4th of July, but the times are unusual and dramatic action seems appropriate.

• Gene July 4, 2017 (2:29 pm)

  I feel sorry for you sir- because we are so darned lucky to live in this country- flaws & all- I will always be proud to fly our country’s flag- no matter who the President is. 

• Bill July 4, 2017 (2:40 pm)

  The flag is put as a tradition on national holidays.  I am  amazed that  an area blog will turn a request for volunteers into a political discussion.

  I very much doubt that an editor would acknowledge this mistake by printing this reply.

• kg July 4, 2017 (6:05 pm)

  On behalf of American Legion Post 160 of West Seattle I would like to thank the community members who volunteered today. It is an honor to meet, talk to everyone, and listen to their stories while we decorated the Junction.

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