This week Wash. D.C. imagines the State of the Union for citizens. This is the ultimate insiders' viewpoint. A President gives what is usually a mildly interesting speech, while his own Party reacts as if trying to incite Bruce Springsteen to do one more encore.
The opposition usually sits on its hands, although this year, some yahoo seeking his/her fifteen minutes might just rudely interrupt. Hopefully, by now all the South Carolinian pols have exhausted their fifteen minutes. Afterwards, the pretender-party selects a promising unknown, whom with luck we will never see again, to read a dull retort.
After that, the Talking Heads will tell us what the President really said, because we're too dull to have understood what he/she (someday soon) really said, or should have said, or would have said had he/she been more able. Sarah Palin may do her new thing and a few pundits, whom you might have thought were already dead, will do theirs. Then, MSN and Fox will go nearly-postal on each other.
Ho-Hum.
We believe it's time for some bold, imaginative action: time to tap into our collective desire and ability to transcend the forces of mediocrity gathered around us in business, government, education and media. For this purpose, we make a proposal:
Create a symbolic Fifty-First State and adopt a Fifty-One Star flag.
Some of you may have noticed that the flag at the top was a little different, because it is. Mr. Robert Heft, who died last December, designed this Fifty-One Star Flag. He did so around the same time that he designed our official Fifty-Star Flag as a high school project.
True story.
We do not mean this in any disrespectful or exploitative way. We simply think the country needs a unifying metaphor at this moment. Haven't we had enough blah-blah-blah and name-calling? Can't we rise above well-intended "Tea Parties," which gather many sincere citizens, but also those who fear extra-terrestials more than terrorists, think Darwin is the devil, and want an SUV in every garage?
What is the Fifty-First State and what is the meaning of the Fifty-First Star?
In State of the Union Part IV, we explain.
Note: If you would like to know more about Robert Heft and his flags, you can read Jim Sielicki's UPI story about him at: http://www.usflag.org/flagdesigner.html
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