Even when it comes to the American flag, Donald Trump just has to have his way with her.

Flags will now fly at full-staff at the Capitol for Trump’s inauguration despite President Bidens orders for flags to remain at half-staff for 30 days after the death of former President Jimmy Carter.

Like the petulant toddler he is, Donnie had whined about the flag remaining at half-staff for his swearing-in ceremony.

Boo, fucking hoo.

Under U.S. Flag code after the death of a former President all Federal properties fly at half-staff for 30 days.

A tradition.

Out of respect.

Two things never synonymous with Donald Trump.

To quiet the cranky baby, House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered the change that they will fly at full-staff to honor the serial flag fondler. 

Is it any surprise that when it comes to the American flag Trump has his own set of protocols.

At the annual gathering of conservatives at CPAC in 2019, Trump famously grabbed an unassuming Old Glory by the brass stand like an unwilling date and gave it a terrifying slow dance to “Proud to Be an American.”

Poor Betsy Ross would be cringing, if not running scared.

At that moment, the flag was so many of us – Americans recoiling at the smothering, groping, and unwanted advances of a handsy, unstable lech. On behalf of the flag I wanted to slap his face and shout: Get your grubby paws off me!”

Fondling the stars and stripes may have been disturbing to many who winced at his hugging and kissing her, but it was clearly a consensual act to his supporters who relished every moment of it.

Manhandling the American flag became a perfect representation of our divided country. Half the country saw it as a fitting metaphor for his presidency, an assault on our most cherished values. He took what was not his, robbed it of its virtue- and then moved on to his next conquest.

But to the MAGA crowd, it was the quintessential way of showing his unapologetic patriotism.

It’s how they viewed his presidency and his second candidacy in 2024.  

The wide chasm separating those two interpretations of the flag illustrates our great divide that has only deepened in the years following this. The interpretation of all things Trump is so disparate from one another.  There is no gray area any more, no fine lines, no nuance.

There isn’t even a common language set to describe what each is seeing. This is our country and as Trump assumes the presidency this great divider will do nothing to heal the enormous chasm that exists. Putting Trump in charge is like putting dynamite in the Grand Canyon.

On Monday, the inauguration will be viewed through two lenses. Is it an assault on the nation, or its greatest love affair?

Johnson changed the flying of the flag at the Capitol “to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47^th president Donald Trump.”

Good luck with that.

Postscript

BTW Donnie, this would not have been the first time that flags had flown at half-staff during a presidential inauguration. In 1973 flags were held at half-staff during Richard Nixon’s second inauguration because of the death of former President Harry Truman who passed away less than a month earlier in December 1972.