Controversy Over Flag Amendment
Talk about deja vu ! Charles Krauthammer’s column “Bush Courts Ridicule of the Ages” (Commentary, June 18) led me to my files (I save copies of all letters to editors) in which, sure enough, was a comment I mailed to The Times on Nov. 11, 1969:
“Perhaps the greatest disservice Mr. Nixon has thus far performed for his country, and certainly the most divisive act of his career, has been the endorsement of propaganda aimed at equating the display of the Stars and Stripes with partisan support of (his) Administration. How dastardly can a President be, claiming our national emblem as his own personal campaign poster. . . .”
It is obvious that the present Republican President is doing the same thing. Until next November, every naive, patriotic display of our flag will be taken as an endorsement of Bush’s cynical attempt to brand as traitorous those liberals who would allow trashing of a flag before trashing of the Bill of Rights.
RAYMOND E. PONATH
La Mesa
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