Ken Altshuler is an attorney in Portland and a long-time political commentator.
I am 72 years old. I lived through the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. I lived through the Vietnam War, Watergate, and 9/11. And I have always maintained that despite its faults, America remained the greatest country in the world. In fact, I actually proudly fly the American flag on the Fourth of July and Flag Day.
But today I fly the flag upside down.
Today I do not love my country, because a country is a reflection of the integrity of its citizens, and its citizens chose to reelect Donald Trump president despite the indisputable fact that he instigated an insurrection for the sole purpose of retaining power that was not his to have.
The foundation of our democracy is the fact that the United States has the most open, honest, and democratic election process of any country in the world. By challenging the integrity of the 2020 election, Donald Trump purposefully undermined the foundation of our democracy. And when the political establishment ignored his false claim that the election was fraudulent, Donald Trump sent his “troops” to the Capital to derail the peaceful transition of power.
Four years later, roughly half of the voters of this greatest country in the world chose to reelect the man who instigated the attempted intentional overthrow of the United States government.
Forget everything that may bother you about President Trump. Ignore criminal convictions or sexual assaults on women or the publication of disinformation intended to distract you from factual reality. Focus on this one sole fact: Donald Trump attacked the bedrock of our democracy by claiming the election of 2020 was fraudulent, and then directed his base to stop the transfer of power to the duly elected president.
Flying the flag upside down is a signal of distress in situations of extreme danger to life or property. I believe that is the situation in which we find ourselves today.
Our president challenged the integrity of the election process. Our president attempted to convince election officials to discard accurate vote counts. Our president directed his base to storm the Capitol and “fight like hell.” Our president has attempted, by executive order, to alter the constitutional mandate that if you are born in the United States you are a citizen of our country.
What more evidence do you need that our democracy is in extreme danger?
As Michael Fanone, a police officer who was attacked by six rioters on Jan. 6 (the rioters have now been pardoned by our president), so eloquently stated: “I have been betrayed by my country … This is who we are as a nation. This is what we have become, and it has been further exacerbated by Donald Trump.”
So by all means, stand and sing the Star-Spangled Banner, and put your hand on your heart when you pledge allegiance to our flag. But perhaps you will notice the flag tilting slightly upside down as our democracy diminishes day by day without the moral fiber and integrity to remain upright.
