Flag Day, 2026

Evel Knievel, American patriot or just another clueless gasbag

Updated and reposted

Late in March I hopped into a gondola with a nice looking family of four; mom, dad and a child of each gender. Dad wore one of those red, white and blue, one-piece ski suits.

After the requisite chit chat about ski conditions, home towns, etc., I told dad he looked like Evel Knievel. If you don’t know who that is, don’t feel bad. He didn’t either.

After a beat or two he said, Dude, I’m a patriot.

Not having the right words to say in front of his family, I just pressed my lips together, nodded and turned up my music. With about 30 seconds to go in our 8-minute ascent, I turned the music down and said, You know, last week was St. Patrick’s Day and I skied all dressed in green. It didn’t make me Irish.

He looked at me, opened his mouth, but said nothing. I’m not sure he got it, but then the doors opened and we all got out and went our separate ways.

America recently celebrated Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the summer season. Officially, it’s a commemoration of Americans who perished in service to this country since the Civil War. It became a federal holiday in 1971.

How you celebrate that day depends on what it means to you. In 2012, along with some 300,000 other bikers, I rode in the Rolling Thunder parade in Washington, DC, an annual event to bring attention to the 80,000 American warriors still missing or in captivity.

It was moving and yes, I have the t-shirt. I’m wearing it right now.

Lori of Vernon Hills, IL posted on Nextdoor.com that she thought she was the only person flying a flag this Memorial Day. She wondered where all the patriots were.

Well, Lori, as I told Evel Knievel, waving the flag does not make you a patriot. You say the flag stands for freedom and liberty but, does it?

What about the freedom to kneel during the national anthem to peacefully protest the way unarmed Black men have been killed by armed, trained police officers during interactions involving minor infractions?

What about the freedom for women to control their own reproductive health or the health of their children facing a gender crisis? What about the freedom for students to learn history and for teachers to be unafraid to teach it?

You really shouldn’t bandy around the word freedom unless you’re willing to fight for it for everyone, not just for you or those who think like you.

On January 6, 2021 we saw a mob of miscreants beating police officers with American flags on flag poles. I don’t think that’s approved flag etiquette.

All too many people these days think that patriotism means only believing the lies Donnie Trump tells them. Improbable, unlikely lies and a belief that everyone who says anything bad about him is a deranged maniac.

Waving a flag to show your support for Donnie is the exact opposite of patriotism.

Other countries have patriots who wave flags. What they don’t have is people who wave the flags of their country’s enemies, like the Nazis, whom we fought in WWII and the Confederacy, that lost the Civil War.

Waving a God, Guns and Trump flag is neither patriotic nor Christian. It is pure cultism.

I flew my flag on Memorial Day to honor those who perished in pursuit of freedom, but I will fly it upside down on July 4th. Our country is in trouble. Too many Americans want to return to tyranny, that thing we fought to end 250 years ago.

We opposed taxation without representation, which is exactly what those capricious tariffs represent. While Donnie’s approval rating has sunk to 42%, it remains unfathomable as to what, EXACTLY it is that those people approve.

Anyway Lori, patriotism requires a lot more than just waving a flag. It also requires a president who works for all Americans, not just those drooling for bloodsport on the front lawn of the White House.

Not just waving a flag or chanting, USA, USA, USA.