It’s time to reclaim this distress signal — and the true spirit of patriotism — from Donald Trump and the far right
by Chauncey Devega
https://www.salon.com/2017/07/03/an-act-of-true-patriotism-fly-the-american-flag-upside-down-this-fourth-of-july/
Independence Day is America’s birthday. This July 4 will be the first with Donald Trump as president of the United States. The country is in distress. Donald Trump and the Republican Party are largely responsible. They are trying to impose a “health care” bill that can reasonably be called a crime against humanity. It is likely to kill tens of thousands of Americans each year and leave millions more sick, suffering, miserable, homeless, in pain or in financial ruin. Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign are under federal investigation for conspiring with a foreign power to undermine American democracy (and thus disenfranchise millions of Americans) by stealing the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton. Whatever the investigation may reveal, this is an unprecedented event in American history. The social safety net and the very idea of the commons have been targeted for destruction by Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Their Malthusian politics have no use for the poor, the weak, the elderly and any other groups deemed to be “useless eaters.”