THIS IS THE FLAG REPUBLICANS DISRESPECT!

    In a small workshop on a Philadelphia military base a team of mostly women-mostly immigrants produce the Presidential and Vice-Presidential flags, stitch by meticulous stitch. They also produce regimental colors for the various military branches. Produce is not the right word. They create the flags and each one is signed by the artist who did the hand-stitching of the eagle with the arrows in one talon and the olive branch in the other, as well as the adornments for the regimental flags. Each flag can take six months of conscientous work. There is a long list of craft-people waiting to get into this exclusive group of 13 people employed in a low building on a military base operated by the Defense Logistics Agency. Military jets parked at the entrance of their workplace provide atmosphere. I'm pretty sure these talented people don't make more than a government salary, which will be among the government salaries that will be held up if Republicans in the House are not capable of passing a budget. We may blame too many Republicans who have not learned the art of governing as well as these people have learned the art of stitching. Shouldnt we expect the exacting craftsmanship from our legislators that is exhibited by these mostly women? We can see it on the other side of 5he aisle in abundance. I can think of more than a couple handfulls of House members and Senate members not talented enough to be considered more that annoying. I can think of maybe a handful of SCOTUS Justices, that claim to believe in the ironic Constitutional Originalism, who do not display a talent for legal craftsmanship. Their art is on display in the highest offices in the land in the same way as our legislators public efforts, only the talented seamstresses do not let us down.

     One of those seamstresses made the Vice-Presidential flag that was in the chamber when a joint group of legislators met Jan. 6, 2021 to certify the presidential election. Fortunately, that flag, and it's standard was not used to beat up Capital police when rightwing insurrectionists invaded the capital to stop the certification. One of those flags was on the stage when Presiden He-Who-Cannot-Be Named wrapped his tiny hands and fat arms around it, kissing it as if it was Stormy Daniels. Kissing it with the fat lips that kiss President Putins ass. I wonder what the talented woman who signed that flag thought when she saw that disgusting display. Perhaps they try to ignore the Americans who represent the shameful display of governing in favor of the kind of Americans that gained them their citezenship. I'm pretty sure they are not listening to MSNBC, CNN, or Foxnews as they braid the thread that will produce a feather, or a talon, or an olive branch. Probably they listen to music-music from their homeland, or even classical music. The countries these American citizens represent are likely countries that our foreign policy mistakes de-stabilized. Some future time might see a woman who had fled Guatemala, or Uruguay, or some other Central American country who's government is so unstable it cannot protect her children. Or whose small farms no longer feed the family because of the climate change denied for better than forty years by what used to be the party of Lincoln. To be fair, both parties have not done enough to make our immigration laws fair and equitable. I will excuse the Democrats because they have tried, too tepidly for some of us, to bring a degree of humanity to our immigration policies. But they meet resistance because the other party has characterized these oppressed people as invaders, or drug mules, or some other invective when the real reason republicans hate them is because they are not as white as their Swedish au pair. 

     There's a story from Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire of a group of Goths; Visigoths, or Austrogoths, or some related Germanic tribe, who were pressed by the Huns to the shore of the Danube River, begging Rome to allow them to cross to the safety of Roman territory. They were kept there for a prolonged period of time (does this sound like, " the Remain in Mexico Policy). We should remember that Rome at this time was aggressively expanding its territorial boundaries.

     There were, at this time Roman troops who were descended from these people whom the Roman aristocracy called openly, "barbarians at the gates". Rome recognized their military competency. It would take many years of insults to their people for Rome to learn how capable they were. By that time the Eastern Roman empire would be all that remained of the Roman Empire.

     We here in the USA, at this time in history, have many undocumented citizens who volunteered for the military and fought our stupid wars in order to earn citizenship. Some did not achieve that status because Donald Trump had a racist little schmuck named Steven Miller who was his immigration advisor. Ironically, Miller is culturally Jewish and has family members who did not survive the holocaust. His uncle has disowned him. Those who retired from the military during Trump's time, expecting to be granted a Green Card  as reward for their service, likely found themselves deported to their homeland. We have learned nothing from our history because some people find history too critical for their sensitive feelings.

     Eventually those Goths were allowed to cross into Eastern Roman territory. Their persecution did not stop. They were kept in immigration camps with few comforts. The camps were in the eastern provinces of the empire where the so-called Stan's are today, cold and steep. They were fed dog food, their women were pursued and raped. This led to several revolts within the Roman army by Goth soldiers, culminating in the worst military defeat of the Roman army in the battle of Adrianople. A few decades later a fellow by the name of Alaric, and his army sacked Rome. It should be noted that Alaric tried to live in the Republican, I mean Roman way until he could no longer take it.

     Those thirteen people meticulously stitching those flags are fortunate. They are fortunate that they were granted asylum during a time when racists within the GOP  were more restrained in their displays of racism. They are fortunate that they have achieved a degree of merit that few of us can reach. That the very symbol of our nation is produced by their talented hands, and that people like Donald Trump or Steve Bannon, or Steven Miller, or anybody in that particular party who has adopted the racism of MAGA must go through the military hierarchy to get to them.