Go to the Military Times, and you’ll see this headline: “There’s a movement building to reverse DoD’s policy on LGBTQ pride flag and other banners.” Maybe it’s just me, but when I see a headline like that, I think, “Wow, the Defense Department must be inundated with calls and emails saying, ‘Hey, it’s totally un-American of you to fly only the American flag at military installations. You should be flying all sorts of flags, especially the LGBTQ flag.’”

Except that’s not what happened.

Instead, Democrats in the House are angry that Defense Secretary Mark Esper passed a broad ruling stating the only flag on any military bases should be the American flag, or flags representing appropriate states and allied countries. By making a lean, clean, across-the-board order, Esper got rid of the Confederate flag. He also effectively removed all the symbolic flags the left loves so much. You know what I mean – LGBTQ, BLM, etc. It is, I think, an excellent order.

Leftist legislators, however, disagree:

“The implicit banning of these symbols of diversity and inclusion runs counter to our ideals as a nation and a military,” the letter reads, signed by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H. “The Department must have the strength and courage to be able to simultaneously stand against a symbol of hate and oppression in the Confederate Battle Flag while allowing the display of support for civil rights, equity, and justice.”

[snip]

“Whether intentional or not, by banning the Pride flag, Secretary Esper effectively told the tens of thousands of LGBTQ American patriots who proudly serve this nation that their service and symbols of their diversity are somehow divisive and unwelcome,” said Jennifer Dane, interim executive director of the Modern Military Association of America, said in a Friday release. “The Pride flag is literally the very symbol of diversity and inclusion, goals the Department if Defense should be striving for. We urge Secretary Esper to listen to these Members of Congress and restore the ability of service members and their families to display the Pride flag on military installations, including in their on-base housing or work spaces.”

Being leftists, they’ve got it bass-ackwards. The ultimate in inclusivity is to have everyone serve under the same flag, which happens to be the American flag. Every other flag flown, by being specific to a subgroup, is exclusive.

Until there’s a straight flag, and a White Lives Matter flag, and a Catholic flag, and a Hindu flag, and a knitters’ flag, and a crocheters’ flag, and a joggers’ flag, and a weightlifters’ flag, everyone is going to be excluded by one subset flag or another. Eventually, the military is going to have to design a flag for every person on the base ever and fly all of those flags simultaneously. Only in that way can a military base be completely inclusive.

Alternatively, the military can fly the one flag that binds together all people in the Armed Forces, as well as civilian support workers: The American flag. The Stars and Stripes. The Red, White, & Blue.

And shame on the Military Times for writing a headline that so grossly misstates the fact that there’s no “movement.” There’s just the usual angry bunch of leftists.

As for our flag, it stands for something, and it always will. The fact that imperfect humans have failed to live up to the principles for which it stands has nothing to do with what makes it important. It should be the only flag on military bases. End of story. (Jimmy Cagney, by the way, was a Democrat when Democrats still loved their country.)

Image: Air Force image