I’m not sure what does more damage- to burn a flag, or to use that flag as a colorful backdrop for a partisan political rally. The American flag is supposed to be a symbol of the common principles or our republic. Think about what happens when partisan politicians hold rallies using the flag to represent their own policies. What happens when partisan politicians address their followers as “patriots” implying that Americans who hold other policy positions may not love the republic as much? Are these politicians not using the flag to divide the one nation for which that flag is supposed to stand?What does it mean to love one’s nation if one considers it “communist” to care for the welfare of its people and “woke” to want to share power fairly with all? What does “E Pluribus Unum” mean after one has condemned diversity, equity and inclusion?And one flag can be the symbol of the principles of a nation, but a stage full of flags can reduce the symbol to a decorative back drop. We might even say that the more flags there are on a stage, the deeper the emotions and the shallower the principles are probably going to be.Democracy can die from traitorous contempt it is true; but a republic can also die from a vacuous, rudderless, narcissistic patriotism that is all symbol and no substance.