What does the American Flag Symbolize to you?

[BoomerD]

I'v e always considered myself to be VERY patriotic. I enlisted in the USMC to serve in Vietnam, instead of looking for draft deferments, or waiting to be drafted. I've flown my flag almost every day of my life, and do so properly and with respect. To me, the flag IS a symbol...a symbol of the things that make America great. Freedom, democracy, the "right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"...No, I wouldn't burn a flag, but I will defend the right to someone else doing so in protest. If we put a symbol up so high that it can't be burned as a means of protest, then it becomes an object of worship, which is not what this country is about.
It makes me sick, that since 9-11, the Repukes have made "Patriotism" a dirty word...
"You're either with us, or you're the enemy"...