Simon Says ‘Diddley Poo’ on Flag Issue

Roger Simon says George Bush exploited the flag until people got sick of it (“New Glory: Flagging Down a Burning Issue,” June 24). They got so “sick of it” that the people voted Bush into office.

Simon says thousands of flags dipped to salute Hitler and nobody dared desecrate the Nazi flag. The difference between what the Nazi flag stood for and what the American flag symbolizes is evidently lost on Simon.

Simon says burning the flag won’t hurt democracy. Neither will another amendment. We already have 26 amendments to the Constitution and the sky hasn’t fallen down yet.

Simon says a lot of diddley-poo arguments that make anyone who disagrees with him look ugly. That includes millions and millions of Americans who do not consider themselves any less committed to freedom because they are patriotic and don’t want the flag desecrated. Patriotism means more than Samuel Johnson’s cynical quotation that it’s the “last resort” of scoundrels. The oft-repeated quote seems to be the “last resort” of a large number of journalists like Simon who feel uncomfortable with the sentiment.

MIRIAM JAFFE

Thousand Oaks