The Trump Flags are Everywhere
And they're meant to divide
The Trump signs and flags are out in force. I’ve been driving through rural areas of the state for various reasons, and they’re everywhere. I can’t remember a time when voters flew flags for their favorite politician, or any politician. Bill Clinton was from Arkansas, and he never had a flag. We drove about ten miles down a dirt road today, bouncing along the gravel, and saw them in nearly every field and on every trailer. “Do you think Trump would drive down this road?” my partner, Samir, asked. There’s not a chance.
Flags, of course, are symbolic. Politicians run for elected office in a city or state or country, which already have their own flags, representing the polity and the people in it under one civic identity. It sounds obvious, but easy to forget in this era, that politicians should be running for office under those symbols, reminders of a greater good and a promise to unite in ways that go beyond one person. And yet, the Trump flags are waving, often right next to the United States flag, the Confederate battle flag, and even sometimes next to the actual flag of the Confederate States of America, the real Stars and Bars, which had mostly otherwise faded into history. It’s been resurrected.
On social media, people are making this connection between the Trump flags and the Confederate symbolism very clear:
Which should, in turn, make the identity that it represents very clear.
Joe Biden doesn’t have any flags. He barely has any signs, but I don’t think that’s because he doesn’t have supporters. I’ve heard from numerous friends that their Biden signs were stolen or torn down. I have one friend who’s put up four, only to have each one taken. There is a disincentive to show support for Biden in Trump country. Trump voters refer to themselves as a silent majority, but the truth is that they’re very loud, and so are their lawns.
Is there a silent Biden majority, or are there shy Biden voters? I don’t know, and I don’t know if there’s any evidence for or against. I don’t know how one would gather evidence for that at all, since it seems inherently impossible. Trying to discover a shy Biden voter would itself create the phenomenon. But a poll today shows that the Republican currently holding the seat for the 2nd District in Arkansas in the House of Representatives, French Hill, is only leading his Democratic challenger, Joyce Elliott, by 1.5 points. This district includes Little Rock, the college town of Conway, and stretches up into the rural part of the state where I live. If a Democrat could win any seat in the state, it would be this one. Elliott is an institution here, a long-time Democratic leader and a former teacher. It’s only one poll, but it’s not a result I would have guessed.
If she wins, it would mean Republicans were destroyed on election night. That’s important, because what’s on the ballot is bigger than Trump. Everything he represents, and everything his flags mean to the people who fly them, is old and destructive, something he didn’t create but tapped into, and something that will survive him if we allow it to.
What I’m Recommending:
When I was a little kid, the most exciting time of the year was when the J.C. Penney and Sears catalogues came in the mail. We didn’t do much shopping in person—there were only a Wal-Mart and expensive boutiques in town, so shopping often meant an hour-long drive to Conway. Instead, we made wish lists from these brick-sized books for our birthdays and Christmas. The Winter catalog came in the summer, just as we were weary of the heat and ready to go back to school. It might seem odd to look at sweaters and coats while it’s 90 degrees outside, but we kept our house freezing, with the AC going full-blast and box fans set up throughout our bedrooms, so flipping through pictures of flannel pajamas was the most soothing thing we could do on a lazy summer afternoon. Someone recently gave me some old Vermont Country Store catalogues they had, and I’ve been flipping through them, soaking up the nostalgia, getting ready for the cold.
Cute Animal Pic of the Week:
I spent some time this weekend trying to get a good picture and good story for this space, but it didn’t work out. Here is, instead, Snow and her puppies, who were all rescued a couple of weeks ago. They are growing up safe and snug in a barn here, waiting for their families to find them.
