I pass this Trump flag every morning as I go to work. It hangs there, in the front of a haggard-looking house a few yards from the railroad track that crosses Old Government. The flag, too, is ragged. Did this probably-strapped-for-cash person actually purchase this Made-in-China rag or is it a a leftover totem? Was it a "rescue" flag left over from some nativist beat down? I can't tell if the residence is rental property or someone who has lived there all of their life. Are they Black? All of those could be. I add that to the list of things - like his evangelical support, Trump flotillas and regattas, a Trump store - that shake me, that puzzle me.
But not for long.
Traffic, and the day, loom.
But today that flag reminded me of the MIA flag, and it centered me on the news that Trump's "suckers" remarks had now been compounded by his supposedly having said some horrible things about MIAs. I try not to give too much credit to unsubstantiated things, going even so far as to ignore the hundreds of things that Trump has said in the past that tend to corroborate this, if true, his latest outrage. I can't say I can make a lot of sense out of a lot of this. How can anyone disparage us for being veterans? For being captured! For dying in the name of our country!
It offends me of course. I think about my cousin Noel who was MIA for so many years, both of his parents grieving and passing without ever getting any closure. The irony of it adds to my sadness and confusion. Noel, like so many other veterans I know, would have been one of his biggest boosters. He was gung-ho for the war. He was gung-ho for this country. His kids and half of my Puerto Rican family support Trump still.
It goes far beyond my umbrage, though, this mystery. Can he really have said that? Well, sure, history supports that notion. But he'll be gone soon enough. Of all of the awful things the year 2020 has brought, its the harsh reality that even though it flies in the face of common sense and their most cherished beliefs and interests, it's my neighbors who continue to defend the indefensible. That cuts to the quick even more.
