The Platform Republicans PAC supports the Utah Flag Referendum and encourages our supporters to sign the petition to put the Referendum on the public ballot. In support of the Platform principles of legislative accountability, preserving our Utah heritage, and being the Party of the People, we say: “Let the People decide on our State flag.”
Flags Matter
Some things in life are just reliable. They don’t need to be flashy, newfangled or up to date. They give comfort because they are always there and because they stand for something we hold dear.
We are passing through a strange phase of American life, where history is under a revisionist assault unlike anything that has come before. Where we once celebrated heroes, saints and great moments in history, we now allow statues of the founders to be toppled and beautiful art to be defaced.
As Americans, we are a peculiar people. Here in Utah we are perhaps even more peculiar. We have deep ties to our past. We do genealogy and curate our family histories. We strive to live up to the courageous examples of freedom, liberty and service that are deeply rooted in our culture, both in secular and religious communities.
Some things are convenient symbols… touchstones for our shared identity and values. On a national level I think of the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem… and of course the flag… Old Glory. “You’re a grand old flag. You’re a high flying flag, and forever in peace may you wave. You’re the emblem of the land I love, the home of the free and the brave.”
I’m trying to think of the arguments that the sophists among us might raise for modernizing Old Glory. Perhaps just two stripes, one red and one blue to symbolize who knows what, and one big white star to symbolize that we are all just one people. It will help us to be more united. And while we’re at it… that White House has been the same color for a very long time. How about a nice rainbow paint job? If we are serious about diversity and inclusion, why not… what better way?
I rack my brain… what is it about this “new flag” boondoggle that has my fellow citizens so worked up? I think it’s more than the heavy handed way that a few legislators went about things. It’s even more than the murky explanations about what was wrong with the old flag or how this new flag remedies anything. No… it’s deeper than that.
I think there is a deep psychological underpinning for our skepticism. Human beings don’t like change and we especially don’t like it unless there is a very good reason. Life is hard and the obstacles that we need to negotiate are legion and complex. Change complicates things and gratuitous change is just a big annoyance. And, it’s disrespectful.
So I for one will be supporting the referendum effort to undo this legislative sleight of hand and I will put it in pride of place where I can easily recall how deceitful they can be when the next batch of my betters come slinking around trying to sell the virtues of ranked choice voting.