Now more than ever, it’s time to remember that the Fourth of July is International Flag-Burning Day. To celebrate, I’m posting this fantastic anthem (mp3) by New Orleans’ own Troublemakers. It is truly one of my favorite songs ever.
A lot of Americans get whipped up about the notion of anyone “desecrating” the American flag. But remember, this is International Flag-Burning Day, a time to burn all flags representing every nation. But the lyrics of the song speak for themselves.
I’m sad to say that the Troublemakers appear to be defunct post-Katrina. However, I have it on good authority that bandleader Dr. Paul Gailunas plans to return to the Crescent City in September with his wife, the talented filmmaker Helen Hill, and their son Francis Pop. That is also cause to celebrate.
Have a happy one, and don’t let the smoke get in your eyes!
sooo, could we burn some of those uber-patriotic, uber-political blogs too?
i’m more into that.
Dude, it’s about 40 degrees too hot to burn anything here. Why can’t we have a good *-burning holiday in like January?
I’m proud,
in a warm Disnyesquely patriotic way,
that my nation
which, though all empires are sucky,
is the nicest, least-sucky empire ever,
filled with mostly well-meaning (if occasionally belligerently bullying) people,
who value freedom so highly,
so innately,
that we are, by tradition, unthreatened by the burning of our flag.
Only the witless and tremblingly insecure
would fail to revel in the thought that anyone can burn a flag.
Sacrificing a flag in fire affirms its sacredness.
My best wedding toast came at a party for a couple who had just had a green card wedding. The groom was spared duty in the Iranian Army at the height of the Iran/Iraq war. The bride was a relative, of whom I was proud. As the only member of the bride’s family, I was asked to offer a toast: “Here’s to a short and effective marriage and a world without borders.”
Why do you have to burn a flag to get your point across? Couldn’t something more symbolic of unity be done to express the sentiment of the organization?
What organization?
as much as i abhor flag burning, i would never want it to be ‘illegal’..
i beleive that if you ban flag burning, you are also at the same time, dwindling the freedom that it represents.
i think we live in a country that so free….that we can even burn the flag if we feel like it.
Flag burning, schmag burning. It’s one of those things, IMO, that matters to like 2% of the population on both ends: the people who get a boner from burning one, thinking they’re being ooooh soooo radical! and the people who get upset. As we said in third grade, big whoop. Sorry–didn’t mean to be a jerkstore: it’s just such a complete and utter nonissue that I am always surprised whenever anyone acts like it is.
If there is no organization behind it, who called the “holiday”?
The bandleader invented the holiday. I guess you could call the band an organization but most musicians I’ve met are very disorganized. Did you listen to the song? It’s sure to put a smile on your face.
[…] Today, flag burning is the favourite sport of the disaffected. On the Fourth of July, a few Americans celebrate something they call International Flag Burning Day. Excuse me? On the Fourth of July! And they usually just burn their own flag. (What is it with these Americans? Even their traitor radicals are still Yankee imperialists at heart! Still, this is the country that insists on calling its national baseball competition the “World Series”.) […]