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Our Story
My name is
Lucia Fulco and I live on Cape Cod with my husband, Michael Bradley and our two
young adult children. The Blue Voter American Flag pin was my idea, which with
the help and support of my family I have been able to develop from a design into
a reality that I’m pleased to say is becoming more and more popular.
I am a
life-long Democrat from a family of Democrats and an elected member of the
Democratic Town Committee of my community. My family imparted to me a sense of
civic responsibility. My father Guiseppe Fulco emigrated from Italy to New York
City in 1916 and my mother, Helen Cioffi was a first-generation American. We
spoke Italian at home and I learned English as my second language when I began
school. Yet my father never missed an election from the day he became an
American citizen and my mother was active as a member of her local Board of
Elections.
My roots are
clearly solidly planted with democratic values, but the seeds that led to the
design and creation of the Blue Voter American Flag pin were sown in late
October 2004.
I write a
column for the local weekly newspaper that covers my town, and in October ‘04
I wrote a piece about the politics of the American Flag, tracing its use, misuse
and trivialization over the last half century, which saw everything from flags
mounted on car radio antennas, left until they disrespectfully shredded away, to
decals or magnetized plastic reproductions of the flag on automobiles, and now
the patriotic stars and stripes used on the popular ‘support the troops’
magnetic car ribbons.
In the column I
concluded that our national symbol, the American Flag, had become the outward
image of partisan patriotism under President George Bush and was being used to
suggest support for the Republican agenda. The implication was that support of
our troops had become the wrapping around supporting the war in Iraq and the
current administration. The flag had ceased to represent all Americans.
When Senator
John Kerry was defeated in his bid for the presidency in November 2004, I was as
upset and surprised by the outcome as were so many other Democrats who
understood the critical need to bring the nation back to a country by, of and
for the people. And in watching Mr. Bush and the GOP declare a mandate from the
slimmest of victories, I became even more aware of the many Republicans
prominently wearing flag pins, as though the national symbol somehow now belongs
to the GOP.
The Saturday
after the November 2004 elections I was thinking about the fact that the
American Flag was increasingly being held hostage to a conservative political
point of view. The GOP and their supporters were consistently wearing flag pins,
implying that a display of the national flag indicates support for Republican
policies and viewpoints. In effect, the flag had been co-opted again, as it had
been years ago when Richard Nixon and his supporters began using it as a symbol
of support for their positions, when the oil companies complemented the Nixon
effort by providing flag decals to gas station customers and many fire and
police departments suddenly began wearing flag shoulder patches.
This time,
instead of flag shoulder patches, the GOP was encouraging and supporting the use
of patriotic ribbons to press support for their agenda and their military
operations. Just like their use of the flag pins, where suddenly to display the
flag or wear a flag pin, indicated support for Mr. Bush, et al, the ribbons left
a great number of Americans, very possibly a majority, in a situation where to
show support for the troops they would have to also indicate support for the GOP
policies
All of this
troubled me a great deal and I wrestled with the issue of how to show support of
our soldiers without implying support of the war in Iraq while still honoring
the flag. The flag, under such circumstances, ceases to represent all Americans.
I wanted to somehow counteract this cynical use of our historic national symbol.
As my husband and I discussed these thoughts, he suggested that I "put it
down on paper." I did.
I drew an
American Flag with a ‘support the troops’ ribbon behind it and colored the
ribbon blue. When I showed it to Michael, beginning to explain its meaning, he
stopped me in mid-sentence. The meaning was clear: The blue ribbon supporting
the American Flag is not a symbol of President Bush or the Republican agenda; it
is a symbol for everyone who Voted Blue, and for everyone who wants to see the
American flag represent traditional democratic values rather than GOP policies.
It is a symbol for everyone who supports the troops but not the war. It is an
American Flag and a patriotic ribbon for everyone who is a democratic American
and proud of the fact.
I hope you will
join my family and me by wearing the Blue Voter American Flag Pin as a symbol of
our pride in America, our hope for America and our desire for a return to a true
American democracy.
Thank you,
Lucia
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