I saw a news story a week or so back. At some college girls' basketball game - on of the players turned her back on the US flag during the Pledge of Allegiance as an act of protest.

I saw the same story, and I found the crowd's reaction to be a sad reflection on the state of the US today. There's a world of difference between a patriotic position that says "I pledge allegiance to the United States, whatever it may choose to do", and a patriotic position that says "I support the principles of liberty, equality, and justice, and insofar as the United States does too, I'm right behind it, but otherwise I'm not".

Certainly to me as an outsider, flag-olatry looks more like the first kind of patriotism than the second kind. But I'm prepare to believe that US citizens view the whole flag thing differently. For instance, I can't imagine anyone anywhere on the political spectrum in Britain advocating a law against burning Union Jacks. (Er, except maybe Ian Paisley.)

Peter