Saturday, June 13, 2009

Union Jack Banned at Heathrow: Sensitivity Above and Beyond the Call of Reason

Looks like insane sensitivity isn't a strictly American phenomenon:
"ARMED cops patrolling Heathrow Airport have been banned from wearing tiny Union Jack badges in support of British troops.

"Top brass claimed the tie-pin badges - which cost £1 with proceeds going to the Help for Heroes charity - were OFFENSIVE.

"But one officer asked: 'How can the Union Jack be offensive?

" 'This ruling is even more absurd coming this weekend on the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

" 'We must be the only country ashamed to display our national flag.'..." (The Sun)
Being ashamed of the flag is nothing new in America: in some circles, it's been all the rage for decades: so The United Kingdom isn't alone.

A Digression: Quotes Without Sources

The blog post at Creative Minority Report ran that quote, citing another blog which didn't give a source, as far as I could tell. A little digging turned up what I'm pretty sure is the original article, in The Sun, June 8, 2009.

Batty Brits Think Union Jack Offensive - So What?

The "my country, wrong or worse" attitude is nothing new here in America. One way to seem sophisticated over here is to act as though Frank Burns, of M*A*S*H, is a typical conservative American, and discuss how America is to blame for the global economic downturn, flooding in Bangladesh, and the Maunder Minimum.

And, either not display the American flag at all, or fly it upside-down, or with alternative designs. Burning the flag seems to have gone out of fashion of late: but that could change again.

I'm not that 'sophisticated.' I like living in a country where I can express views that don't necessarily conform to the dominant culture's view.

I think I see where that attitude toward the flag may have come from in America. When I was growing up, the flag was used quite a bit by organizations like the VFW and American Legion. And, by people with (in my view) narrowly nationalistic views.

But, again in America, the flag isn't - or shouldn't be - an emblem for one particular point of view. It's the flag of America, a country where people are allowed to express dissenting opinions, and protest against the armed forces who sacrifice to maintain the right to protest.

The United Kingdom has a history of freedom of speech, too, and it troubles me to see that the weirdly hypertrophied concern for the feelings of a sensitive few which has developed in America seems to be active in the U.K. as well.

Related posts: News and views:

A tip of the hat to fatherschnippel, for the heads-up on the blog post.

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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.