Red flag
To the editor:
WHAAAT! Really. Is that absolutely necessary? What’s that supposed to achieve? How exactly can it help — anything? or anybody? That mind-jarring rapid-fire stream of unvoiced queries arose as spontaneously as my audible gasp the other day as I walked past one particular home in our beautiful, peaceful island community.
I am painfully aware of the, quite frankly, perilous rift in our political environment. Let’s make no bones about it — I have no respect for the former, yes, the former president of our country. I do not support the man or his enablers. But there’s no way I am going to broadcast vulgar slurs, or fly a flag defaming him. My dear parents would surely have frowned upon that. Maybe some people were not similarly fortunate in having loving nurturing parents who showed me that anger is the opposite of love and, ultimately, self-destructive; and that obscenities only reveal one’s vocabulary deficiency. Or have they turned the photos of mom and dad face down on the piano, and joined the crass lowest common denominator of a sector of the electorate? Why, I ask myself, would a person pay good money for a big flag that reads “F*** BIDEN” and display it outside his/her house? Why not send a check to F.I.S.H. of Sanibel-Captiva or the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation or Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife and support something positive that actually benefits people, our planet — our own backyard — and all creatures great and small? I just don’t get it.
While I am not so naive, it was easier living in this insular bubble — now burst, alas. The vitriol just popped up too close to home for my comfort. It actually took my breath away, momentarily, in a gasp.
I am entitled to my considered opinion and my vote, as is my neighbor. Our First Amendment right is to be cherished and protected (enjoyed here with a free press). But can we exercise it without trashing civility, please. I suspect our forward thinking founding fathers were more articulate.
Patricia Wilson
Sanibel