I'm no longer flying my flag

There. I've done it.

With a heavy heart, I have taken down Old Glory, made the neatest, tightest triangle fold I ever have, and placed my flag reverently downstairs among my collection of other flags.

This is no longer the United States, and I am no longer flying the symbol of such a flawed, debased society.

I had a really nice setup, suspended horizontally and nicely backlit, my flag used to fly 24/7 except in bad weather.

Strange, what true patriotic symbolism means to me. I'm deeply, bitterly, angry at the incompetent, lying, bastard that has driven me to such dire actions.



But all hope is not lost. Rather than fly no flag at all, I've commandeered the nearby branch of a tree and hoisted an ancient symbol of rebellion, the flag of the Culpeper Minutemen, which itself is a variation of the Gadsden Flag. You know it better as the "Don't Tread on Me" flag.

Since colonial days, the rattlesnake has been used to portray the spirit of Americans. In 1751, Benjamin Franklin published a political essay describing the 13 American colonies as a snake divided reminding us of the danger of disunity.

In 1774, Colonel Gadsden of the Revolutionary Army emphasized this by printing the legend "DONT TREAD ON ME" on his flag.

The words swept the nation. The Culpeper Minutemen chose the coiled snake ready to strike and the words from Gadsden's flag, but then raised another defiant fist at the enemy by adding "LIBERTY OR DEATH"

The coiled snake might seem a strange symbol today, but it is effective. NO PERSON WHO EVER SEES IT FORGETS - AND THAT'S JUST THE KIND OF MESSAGE THE REVOLUTIONARIES WANTED TO SEND....