We read periodically of misguided demonstrators burning our flag. But a different sort of disrespect for the flag was on display recently in Florida.
The Lake County Democratic Party headquarters displayed for months an American flag from which the traditional field of blue and the white stars representing the states had been removed. In their place was an image of President Barack Obama.
There is no indication that the president approved of the flag alteration, or knew about it. But it was a shocking act, and it stirred understandable anger among veterans when they spotted it.
“It’s a cult of personality to show his face [on the flag], like Stalin or Mao,” John Masterjohn, a former Marine, told the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s despicable.”
Another veteran, Jim Bradford, told another newspaper: “When I saw the picture on the flag, I thought, this is wrong. I really hate seeing the flag not being respected, and to me this was not respectful.”