Title 4 U.S. Code § 8 - Respect for flag

(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.

However, if you are former president Donald J. (Donye) Trump, and you have never read the constitution or the bible, you most certainly would not be aware of United States Code, Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8, so you would have no idea that it is wrong to put the American flag on a pair of shoes.

Yet, here we are. And what is the penalty for such an atrocity?

Nothing. It is free speech. Poor form, yes, but because of a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of a defendant who burned a flag in 1990, the Court held that the federal government, like the states, cannot prosecute a person for desecration of a United States flag, because to do so would be inconsistent with the First Amendment.

When the U.S. Codes were written in 1926, the lawmakers penned some of the longest sentences of all time to convey how improper it was to disrespect the flag. Embedded within Title 4 U.S. Code § 3 there is this humble yet stern warning for anyone who dares to desecrate the flag in any way, even for advertising or apparel: [they shall be] deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court.

The lawmakers were modest. They did not ever expect anyone to disrespect the flag and have to impose such penalty. A hundred years ago, a hundred bucks was like $1,800 today. No way anybody was going to risk a fine like that, plus jail time. No way anybody would ever disrespect the American flag, which represents the blood sacrifice of soldiers who fought to defend the soil of our country, using our mainstay symbol of freedom from oppression for profit, right? No way! It was unimaginable. But, then, there is the fine print: in the discretion of the court.

That’s how they get you. If your argument can sway a jury, a judge, or the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, the law as it was intended no longer matters. The flag becomes a piece of cloth. The symbolism is lost to all but those who truly understand it.

If you take a few minutes to read Title 4 and learn the dos and don’ts of how to properly display the American flag, it basically boils down to hoisting it upright, not letting it touch the ground, and defending it from harm. Pretty simple. But lots of people do not care about the American flag. Reasons range from contempt for the United States and all we represent, to lethargy. You can’t force anybody to respect the flag and care about it. Respect for anything must be earned. Respect for the flag comes not through pure indoctrination, but through the lessons of history. Even a person who can’t get fully on board with everything the United States has done to get where we are today; slavery, indigenous massacres, nuclear war, etc., can understand that the flag represents the strife of everyone who ever fought for and against it.

According to the code, only official municipal and government vehicles, generally during times of parade, are allowed to carry American flags. Yet, we see flags hanging off the backs of private vehicles every day, sometimes dragging on the road behind them, and in my neck of the swamp, they are mostly seen alongside flags praising Trump and degrading Biden. We also see lots of Thin Blue Line flags around here. These are American flags that have exchanged the red stripes and blue canton for black and replaced the red center stripe with a blue one. It is meant to convey respect for law enforcement, but instead of devising an entirely new design to do so, they have bastardized the original.

This is another sign of disrespect.

The more you look, the worse it gets.

When a picture says a thousand words it makes it tough to elaborate. I have seen Trump parades up close. From the very start, as they rolled past, what I thought most about were the ways I saw the flag being disrespected. It’s all here, in photos like these. I can’t say which instance I found most revolting. I have seen flags flown on the same staff as a Trump flag, a confederate flag, a Don’t Tread On Me flag, and a POW MIA flag. I have seen flags emblazoned with eagles, dynamite, and a muscular Trump holding a machine gun. I have seen flags drooping on poles, secured only by the bottom grommet. I have seen flags flown in the rain, and at night without uplighting.

I understand that sometimes it is tough to get out there to bring it in when a sudden storm blows in. But if you don’t have the ability to light your flag at night, it needs to be taken down and properly folded.

Worst of all, I think, are tattered flags. Leaving them out for so long that their ends rip to shreds does not make it look cool. If the flag survived a war, standing in the midst of artillery fire, until it could be properly lowered, that’s one thing, but there is no good reason for anybody to fly a flag with rips and tears. They may think they are showing their patriotism, but not replacing a tattered flag is the complete opposite.

This link from the National Flag Foundation tells the story of the U.S. flag and explains proper etiquette and behavior when one handles or is in the presence of the flag. I think this is an important thing that most Americans, especially those claiming to be patriots who fail the test of respect, should know.

The flag is an important symbol that has lasted for over two centuries. Think about that. Lots of stuff does not last that long. I don’t feel this way because I spent years in military service. On the contrary, my stint ended quickly. I served 30 days and left with an entry level discharge. The Air Force was not right for me at the time. I was too young to hang in there, but I never lacked patriotism, and I always understood the significance of our flag.

So, I guess what irks me, is that so many people just don’t get it. They don’t realize what that symbol truly represents. Maybe they were never taught.

I would guess that Donye doesn’t get it because there is nothing in his world view that is more important than himself. Not another person, not the country he grew up in, and certainly not a flag.

For him, like so many others, it is just a piece of cloth. Like a cheap shoe.

So, why not plop it on a cheap shoe and sell it? A shoe that does not even have to be made in America. It has not been revealed where the shoes were produced. There is a lot of speculation about this, but so far, no confirmations. Even Trump’s dedicated website to selling them offers no clue.

Menswear writer Derek Guy offers his opinion on quality and cost analysis on his Twitter feed.

Trump has sold clothes before. He had a menswear line at Macy’s in 2012. When David Letterman interviewed him and asked where his ties were made, he said he did not know. Letterman had the camera focus on the label on the back of a tie that said China.

He was still selling clothes when he ran for president in 2016. Nothing wrong with all that, he is an entrepreneur, allegedly. But he defended his imports by saying that clothes were not made in the USA.

Not an outright lie, but close enough. He just never cared where the stuff came from. He still doesn’t. And it is not about the clothes. It is about the exposure.

There were only 1,000 pairs of those gold shoes produced (or so they claim). So, it is not a pure moneymaking scheme. It is an advertising gimmick. A way to get in front of the attendees at SneakerCon in Philadelphia and deliver a message that says I like sneakers, too! I like them so much I invented the most beautiful sneakers in the world. The real deal. You should buy them and vote for me.

You will never see Donye wearing his own sneaker brand. They are valuable lead generators. Anybody who buys these shoes is a mark who will buy something else, and offer referrals. They are on “The List.” No matter what happens, Trump continues to build a revenue stream. Even if he is banned from running a business, if he can show any potential investor that he has people willing to buy things branded Trump, they will produce those things and send him his commission.

Think those 1,000 pairs are the last of the shoes? Not once they come back by popular demand, this time, with something besides a letter T. Maybe a 45, or a 47, even if he doesn’t win the next election.

Make no mistake, running for president, win or lose, is a branding opportunity. You don’t need to win to make money. That is what this election is all about for Trump. It is free 24/7 advertising.

It is about money.

I won’t buy a pair. I also won’t stop focusing on the real problem with those shoes. The American flag that doesn’t belong there.

Disrespect for the American flag, by an American citizen, is disrespect for the history of everyone who came before us, no matter what their role in forging this country was.

Thanks for reading.

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