by Don Hull

We've been hearing a lot about the flag lately.  We've even been told that the Stars & Stripes is the Flag of Freedom.

People all over America are responding by flying the flag from their cars, houses, businesses and shops.

This is not to impugn anybody's patriotism, but for historical accuracy, we should recognize that the Stars & Stripes we know today is not the Flag of Freedom.

The old "Don't Tread on Me" flag is the Flag of Freedom.  The rattlesnake, entwined around itself, coiled and ready to strike, above the legend "Don't Tread on Me," inspired the patriots of the day to action.

It was "Don't Tread on Me" that the American colonists rallied around in the 1770s when they threw off the oppressive British.

It is the flag that inspired our ancestors to found a new nation, based on individual liberty and the consent of the governed.  It is the flag that symbolized our founding fathers' decision to declare their independence, create a constitution and a bill of rights, spelling out clearly, for all time, what freedoms we are to enjoy, and declaring clearly that our rights are natural rights that come from God, not from our neighbors, the mayor, the chief of police or even the Constitution.

The Stars & Stripes we know today, with 50 stars, has become the flag of big government, representing the American Empire. The TWO TRILLION dollar budget. The income tax.  The criminal IRS.  The forcible confiscation of 22% of our production. And unconstitutional federal police state agencies such as the FBI, ATF, DEA and more.

It is the flag of Washington, D.C.  Of centralized government and centralized decision-making.

It is the flag of licenses and permits. Of government code enforcers, seatbelt laws, gas mileage laws, limitations on cash transactions, and other intrusions into our peaceful activities.

It is the flag of federal micro-management of our lives, writing rules on everything from which drugs we can take and what our kids should learn in the government propaganda schools, to the design of showerheads and toilet bowls, even washing machines. Yes, the U.S. Congress is telling Maytag how to build washing machines. NONE of these things are authorized by the Constitution.

Finally, it is the flag of foreign military adventures, of the $380 BILLION military budget, with U.S. troops based in 145 countries around the globe, with perpetual meddling into the affairs of other nations, the results of which we saw on Sept 11.

True patriots will learn the true facts about our glorious history and be proud to fly the TRUE flag of freedom, "Don't Tread on Me."

The time has come to restore this nation to its founding philosophy of individual freedom and personal responsibility, where the power resides in the people, not in the government, and certainly not in some faceless bureaucrat.

Show the tyrants we are taking back our lives and freedom from the leviathan state.  We're re-establishing possession of our inalienable rights as endowed by our Creator.

Salute, celebrate and fly the true Flag of Freedom—"Don't Tread on Me."