When the Canadian flag I ordered arrived, I immediately put it out on my front porch, replacing the American flag which had been a fixture there for years.
It would have been a good enough reason to simply express my appreciation for a steadfast friend in war and peace for 200 years, my respect for a country with which we both once boasted of the world's longest demilitarized border, my love for my cousins who live there, and my apologies that they are now confronted by a suddenly and inexplicably hostile American president.
But I mostly did it as the most visible way I could think of to express my disgust with and contempt for Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and almost every living Republican office holder, certainly any and all who have not publicly and emphatically separated themselves from the anti-American MAGA movement.
I’ve been impressed by the efforts of Indivisible to unite and activate the tens of millions of Americans who share my views. And the most important part of that word is the end — VISIBLE. A linguistic coincidence perhaps, but a useful one. BE VISIBLE. Your anger, fear, frustration, or despair accomplishes nothing if you don’t communicate it somehow, make it VISIBLE, in your yard, on the back of your car, on your lapel, however you can, wherever you can, all the time that you can.
So for 20 bucks, my Canadian flag now speaks for me whether I’m even home or not, and the next demonstration I go to and run out of time to make a sign (this Saturday, in fact), I’ll just grab my flag, and everyone will know what I’m saying. Some of my friends have said they were thinking more of a Ukrainian flag, and that would work just as well. Or Denmark. Or Greenland. Heck, even France. They’re all easily available through the Google, even a bit cheaper if you buy through one of the oligarchs like Bezos or Wal-Mart. (Just be sure you cancel your membership as soon as you take advantage of the free shipping.) Or just fly your American flag upside-down, because the ship of state is clearly in distress.
In the last few days, tens of thousands of people have marched in Hungary, Turkey, Romania, and Israel to oppose their tyrants and tyrant wannabes. It will help them enormously if they see the same from us. And as the world’s oldest democracy, we should expect no less from ourselves.
So be VISIBLE. Send a message. Courage is contagious, and involvement breeds involvement. We need to show they’re not the only ones who can flood the zone.
