What’s So Special About the Flag, Anyway?

I watched some of the Olympics. Not as much as some, but enough to notice something very disturbing. Since when did it become fashionable or acceptable for winning American athletes to wrap themselves in the US Flag?

It is disgusting, arrogant, disrespectful, and boorish.

This flag represents the grand ideals, principles, and spirit of freedom gained by many who lost their lives for the Nation. This flag is reverently placed on the caskets of our fallen dead who gave all, literally. This flag is the symbol of hope and encouragement to emigrants from the world over, who sacrificed family, friends, and fortune to become one of the ‘huddled masses.’

With all of the accolades, honor, and adulation these athletes receive, is it really necessary for them to dishonor the flag by wearing it for a victory cloak? Shame on the US Olympic Committee for not discouraging this practice! Shame on NBC for broadcasting the images!

We live in a society that has difficulty showing reverence for noble and sacred things. Repeated scenes of victorious athletes wrapping their sweaty bodies in the flag, will now give young athletes around the country permission to do the same—turning the flag into just another athletic uniform.