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	Hello--Remember Me? I'm your Flag. Some folks call me Old Glory, others call me Star and Stripes, the Ensign, or just...the flag. But whatever they call me, I am your flag, and, as I proudly state, The Flag of the United States of America. Something has been bothering me lately. I was wondering if I might talk it over with you. It's about you and me. I remember some time ago, I think it was Memorial Day, or maybe it was the 4th of July. People lined up on both sides of the street to watch a parade. When your father saw me coming along, waving in the breeze, he took his hat off and held it against his left shoulder. His hand was directly over his heart. Remember? And you, I remember you! Standing there -- straight as a soldier. You didn't have a hat on, but you gave the correct salute. They taught you in school to place your hand over your heart. Remember your little sister? Not to be outdone, she was saluting the same as you. I was proud, very proud, as I came down the street. Oh, yes, there were some Servicemen there, standing at attention, giving the military salute. Ladies as well as men. Civilians as well as military, paid me respect...reverence. Now if I sound a bit conceited...well...I have a right to. I represent the finest country in the world -- the United States of America. More then one aggressive nation has tried to haul me down, only to feel the fury of this freedom loving country. Many of you had to go overseas to defend me. A lot more blood has been shed since those patriotic parades of long ago, and I've had a few stars added since you were a boy, but I'm still the same ole flag. Dad is gone now...and the hometown has a new look. The last time I came down your street, I noticed that some of the old landmarks had given way to a number of new buildings and homes. Yessir, the old town has changed. I guess I have too, 'cause I don't feel as proud as I did back then. I see youngsters running and shouting through the street, people selling hot dogs and beer while our national anthem is played...everything from apathy to riots. They don't seem to know or care who I am. Not too long ago, I saw a man take his hat off when I came by...He looked around, didn't see anybody else with theirs off...so he quickly put his back on. Now when I come down your street, your just stand there with your hands in your pockets. Occasionally, you give me a small glance and look away. When I think of all the places I've been... Normandy, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Battle of the Bulge, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, Somalia, Haiti, Persian Gulf, and Bosnia. I wonder what's happened? I'm still the same ole flag. How can I be expected to fly high and proud from buildings and homes when within them, there is no thought, love or respect for me? Whatever happened to Patriotism? Your Patriotism? Have you forgotten what I stand for? Have you forgotten all the battlefields where men and women fought and died to keep this nation free? When you salute me, you salute them. Take a look back at the Memorial Honor rolls sometimes. Look at the names of those who never came back. Some of them where friends and relatives of yours... Maybe even went to school with you. That's what you're saluting -- NOT ME! Well, it won't be long before I come down your street again. So, when you see me, stand straight, and place your hand over your heart. Do this because I represent you. You'll see me wave back, my salute to you.

RAGGED OLD FLAG
by Johnny Cash

I walked through a county courthouse square,
On a park bench an old man was sitting there.
I said, "Your old courthouse is kinda run down."
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town."
I said, "Your flagpole has leaned a little bit,
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it.

He said, "Have a seat", and I sat down.
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town?"
I said, "I think it is." He said, "I don't like to brag,
But we're kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag."

"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it writing _Oh Say Can You See_.
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams."

"And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on through.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag."

"On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun.
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low by the time it was through.
She was in Korea and Vietnam.
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam."

"She waved from our ships upon the briny foam,
And now they've about quit waving her back here at home.
In her own good land she's been abused --
She's been burned, dishonored, denied and refused."

"And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin,
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more."

"So we raise her up every morning,
Take her down every night.
We don't let her touch the ground
And we fold her up right.

On second thought I DO like to brag,
'Cause I'm mighty proud of that RAGGED OLD FLAG."

And how do the "idolized" Hollywood idiots feel about this sort of thing? To quote actress Janeane Garofalo (from a 1998 interview):

"Our country is founded on a sham: our forefathers were slave-owning rich white guys who wanted it their way. So when I see the American flag, I go, 'Oh my God, you're insulting me.' That you can have a gay parade on Christopher Street in New York, with naked men and women on a float cheering, 'We're here, we're queer!' -- that's what makes my heart swell. Not the flag, but a gay naked man or woman burning the flag. I get choked up with pride."

Disgusting! If you're a true conservative, you'll boycott Hollywood until they go bankrupt and fire all these piece-of-s#&@ Commie Leftists!