Thoughts on Northwestern University's "flag uniform."

So... the Wounded Warrior Project (Which I do NOT support, given how little of the money they raise is used for the stated purpose of helping the wounded) made a high profile deal with Northwestern of some sort that resulted in the use of the American Flag, spattered with red paint (allegedly representing blood) as some sort of a fashion statement in today's game.

My disdain for the WWP notwithstanding, the question has been asked of me if this offends me.

Generally, things don't "offend" me per se: they piss me off, or they don't.

A better question, I suppose, is "do I have any heartburn with this?"

Yeah... I guess I do.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

First of all, I've always been opposed to making fashion statements with the flag.

Second, I've always been opposed to the use of the US flag for "cool."

Third, there are many other ways they could have done this that wouldn't have violated the integrity of the emblem itself.

Flag sweatbands, for example, annoy the crap out of me.



A while back, HGTV actually suggested that the American Flag be used as a table cloth  on the 4th of July.





When did America become a place where the symbol of our country is reduced... to a "festive" table cloth?

So, no... I don't support what Northwestern is doing.  While it did serve to raise the issue of taking care of those broken both in mind and body by our wars... that, too, could have been done in many other ways... besides this.