Future American Vexillological Iconography
The American Flag: Thirteen red and white stripes and a blue canton containing fifty five-pointed white stars. Nice flag. But I've got an idea on how it might be changed in the future, based on the following trends I've noticed:
1.) Federalism is dying. The concept of dual-sovereignty was a bit suspect to begin with, and these days the trend seems to be towards one-size-fits-all policy handed down from Washington D.C., as opposed to fifty separate testing grounds for policy, affording individual states/regions the opportunity to craft policy that best benefits parochial interests. The "sovereign" States are becoming provinces or administative districts, and our utterly tortured Commerce Clause logic basically gives the federal government carte blanche to "regulate" anything.
2.) Constitutionally divided government is dying. As Hamilton predicted, the Executive branch has been aggrandizing its own power more and more, using the party-division distractions to usurp prerogatives of the Legislature. Take, for instance, the power to make war: this is now the president's job (even though the Founders feared a King so much they gave that job to the Congress). Or the power to break treaties, something once assumed to require the advice and consent of the Senate. And of course we all know about executive orders which apparently can simply supercede Amendments I, IV, V, VIII, IX, and X (IX and X are a freaking joke anymore - see no. 1. above) Once upon a time, the Legislature used to be considered the most legitimate branch of government, a first among equals (after all, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were approved by legislatures), but just like the Roman Senate under Augustus, the legislature seems perfectly happy to allow a lightning rod president to make inappropriate decisions, and the motive seems cowardice: they can simply say, "Hey! It wasn't our call! Blame the president!" The presidency is rapidly turning into an elective monarchy.
3.) As the Legislature's power slides over towards the Executive, the Legislature has been usurping Judicial powers: minimum-sentencing and jurisdiction-stripping laws are making the courts less and less useful. Sadly, the Judiciary can't positively defend its own power until and unless a case comes to it which involves those issues. And, you know, the president can simply ignore the Judiciary like it can the Constitution. In the immortal words of Andrew Jackson, "[Supreme Court Chief Justice] John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it." Yeah, our president-king has got all the guns, remember?
So, unless some radical change to American politics pops up, we're headed down the road of elective presidential monarchy (and, you know, dare anyone complain, they'd just be standing in the way of national security, and so they're a traitor and get to go to Guantanamo or some secret prison in Eastern Europe or hell, even a local prison cut-off from any public oversight because that too would endanger the safety of the Children, for whom it is far better to live in safe slavery than dangerous freedom).
And so, my proposal is that one day the flag of this nation should be changed to reflect this. The first thing I noticed was all those fifty separate stars. They're not so important; they don't need to be so prominent anymore as they no longer represent sovereign entities, and they kind of call to mind an obsolete Legislature of representatives from fifty States. But, at the same token, simply obliterating them from the design might seem unpatriotic, as we all know that patriotism means stars and stripes. So, keep the stars, but reincorporate the motif.
The stripes have to stay. And they have to be thirteen, for any other relevant, larger number is too hard to draw. And I think there are songs about "Thirteen Original Colonies". Red and white are fine too. In fact, the whole red-white-and-blue scheme is perfectly fine, recalling our historical ties with Great Britan and France (though I know the Bourbons who helped us actually didn't use the revolutionary French tricolor, but just go with it...).
So what change? Well, remember: it's all about the preznit. The Decider. So, I propose incorporating the Presidential Seal into the flag. It's still got the fifty stars, though they are necessarily no longer as important. And lo! What's this? An eagle? Oh yes! Pretty Ameribird. That will definitely do. Also, the eagle is holding the olive branch of Peace and the arrows of War, which is perfectly appropriate - the Decider decides that stuff on a whim. So here it is, my proposal for a new American flag, say fifty years from now (providing we don't add any "States" by then - and even if we did, modifying the circle around the eaglesymbol of our Dear Leader would be an artistic snap):
So, do you like it? I think you do. I know I do. It's got that sexy, powerful feeling to it. Can't you just see that eagle swooping down and smiting Evil-Doers around the world and at home? (Sure, we're gonna want to switch the hands for the olive branch and arrows, but that's heraldic trivia - and no one would probably notice anyway). But yeah, we'll all Love the President by then, for the simple reason that so much of our welfare will be entirely dependent upon his benevolent guidance and leadership. E pluribus unum indeed.
1.) Federalism is dying. The concept of dual-sovereignty was a bit suspect to begin with, and these days the trend seems to be towards one-size-fits-all policy handed down from Washington D.C., as opposed to fifty separate testing grounds for policy, affording individual states/regions the opportunity to craft policy that best benefits parochial interests. The "sovereign" States are becoming provinces or administative districts, and our utterly tortured Commerce Clause logic basically gives the federal government carte blanche to "regulate" anything.
2.) Constitutionally divided government is dying. As Hamilton predicted, the Executive branch has been aggrandizing its own power more and more, using the party-division distractions to usurp prerogatives of the Legislature. Take, for instance, the power to make war: this is now the president's job (even though the Founders feared a King so much they gave that job to the Congress). Or the power to break treaties, something once assumed to require the advice and consent of the Senate. And of course we all know about executive orders which apparently can simply supercede Amendments I, IV, V, VIII, IX, and X (IX and X are a freaking joke anymore - see no. 1. above) Once upon a time, the Legislature used to be considered the most legitimate branch of government, a first among equals (after all, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were approved by legislatures), but just like the Roman Senate under Augustus, the legislature seems perfectly happy to allow a lightning rod president to make inappropriate decisions, and the motive seems cowardice: they can simply say, "Hey! It wasn't our call! Blame the president!" The presidency is rapidly turning into an elective monarchy.
3.) As the Legislature's power slides over towards the Executive, the Legislature has been usurping Judicial powers: minimum-sentencing and jurisdiction-stripping laws are making the courts less and less useful. Sadly, the Judiciary can't positively defend its own power until and unless a case comes to it which involves those issues. And, you know, the president can simply ignore the Judiciary like it can the Constitution. In the immortal words of Andrew Jackson, "[Supreme Court Chief Justice] John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it." Yeah, our president-king has got all the guns, remember?
So, unless some radical change to American politics pops up, we're headed down the road of elective presidential monarchy (and, you know, dare anyone complain, they'd just be standing in the way of national security, and so they're a traitor and get to go to Guantanamo or some secret prison in Eastern Europe or hell, even a local prison cut-off from any public oversight because that too would endanger the safety of the Children, for whom it is far better to live in safe slavery than dangerous freedom).
And so, my proposal is that one day the flag of this nation should be changed to reflect this. The first thing I noticed was all those fifty separate stars. They're not so important; they don't need to be so prominent anymore as they no longer represent sovereign entities, and they kind of call to mind an obsolete Legislature of representatives from fifty States. But, at the same token, simply obliterating them from the design might seem unpatriotic, as we all know that patriotism means stars and stripes. So, keep the stars, but reincorporate the motif.
The stripes have to stay. And they have to be thirteen, for any other relevant, larger number is too hard to draw. And I think there are songs about "Thirteen Original Colonies". Red and white are fine too. In fact, the whole red-white-and-blue scheme is perfectly fine, recalling our historical ties with Great Britan and France (though I know the Bourbons who helped us actually didn't use the revolutionary French tricolor, but just go with it...).
So what change? Well, remember: it's all about the preznit. The Decider. So, I propose incorporating the Presidential Seal into the flag. It's still got the fifty stars, though they are necessarily no longer as important. And lo! What's this? An eagle? Oh yes! Pretty Ameribird. That will definitely do. Also, the eagle is holding the olive branch of Peace and the arrows of War, which is perfectly appropriate - the Decider decides that stuff on a whim. So here it is, my proposal for a new American flag, say fifty years from now (providing we don't add any "States" by then - and even if we did, modifying the circle around the eaglesymbol of our Dear Leader would be an artistic snap):
So, do you like it? I think you do. I know I do. It's got that sexy, powerful feeling to it. Can't you just see that eagle swooping down and smiting Evil-Doers around the world and at home? (Sure, we're gonna want to switch the hands for the olive branch and arrows, but that's heraldic trivia - and no one would probably notice anyway). But yeah, we'll all Love the President by then, for the simple reason that so much of our welfare will be entirely dependent upon his benevolent guidance and leadership. E pluribus unum indeed.