Haake: Democrats are reclaiming freedom and the flag

The uplifting pageantry of the Democratic National Convention is over, leaving a national hangover of goodwill. Judging from mainstream media headlines, a national sense of relief is spreading, the page is turning, and not just for Democrats.

Ever since a certain indulged heir rode down his golden escalator, the nation was in a funk. Encouraged to hate our neighbors, a good chunk of the country did it. Coaxed to see bizarre conspiracies, many of us saw them. Pumped on political violence, too many of us went there.

It’s been a nearly 10-year slog, an emotionally draining chapter in American history that made many wonder, in earnest, whether democracy could survive. Maybe Ben Franklin’s wry quip about a “Republic, if you can keep it,’ was more prescience than cynicism.

Last week’s DNC rejoinder was that we will not only keep our republic, we’ll eventually fulfill its promise.

Democrats are reclaiming “freedom” and the American flag

Democrats are embracing unabashed flag-waving patriotism once again, after what felt like a forced hiatus. Too many images of Trump weirdly caressing the flag were a turn-off, a revered American symbol cheapened into a prop. Just as Christians refusing to feed the poor screams hypocrisy, waving the flag after Trump’s J6 mob beat police officers with it just felt wrong.

Not anymore. Harris and Walz are reclaiming flags and “freedom” as the language of patriotism, displayed in giant block letters behind many speakers who talked about how Republicans have bastardized both.

Freedom, as a construct, has been Republicans’ political football, a gaslighting catchphrase to describe the opposite of freedom. The misleadingly named Freedom Caucus, for example, strives to restrict personal rights like voting, gay marriage and abortion care, while the Freedom Foundation exists to bust worker organizations and unions. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Christian nationalist who rejects science that gets in his way, calls his legislative agenda “Individual Freedom.” Trump has gone so far as to appropriate Harris’ authorized campaign use of Beyonce’s “Freedom” soundtrack, a move that earned the Trump campaign a cease and desist threat.

At last week’s DNC, when he accepted the nomination for vice president, Tim Walz dad-splained the difference:

“(W)hen we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love. Freedom to make your own health care decisions. And yeah, your kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall.”

In contrast, Walz said, “When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office. Corporations (should be) free to pollute your air and water. And banks (are) free to take advantage of customers.”

Walz talks about how, as governor of Minnesota, he signed a law to make sure that every kid in the state gets breakfast and lunch every day. “While other states were banishing books, we were banishing hunger.”

Trump, Vance amplify culture wars

The Trump-Vance culture wars, as advanced by Republicans in Congress, are a ruse, a public relations beard to disguise the GOP’s true raison d’etre: the protection of wealth. Trump punches down on immigrants and vulnerable people with his right hand to distract supporters from what he’s doing with his left: robbing the till. He fulminates hatred — a strong psychological addiction — so his base won’t notice how he’s enriching his wealthy donors at their expense.

Trump’s top billionaire donors — corporate CEOs, oligarchs and trust fund recipients of inherited wealth — are spending hundreds of millions to elect Trump because he has promised to cut their taxes again and tank federal safety regulations that cost them money. According to Forbes, dozens of billionaires have already given more than $1 million each to re-elect Trump.

Fossil fuels, big pharma and predatory corporations know Trump will protect them but Harris will hold them accountable.

Will our better angels prevail?

The stakes in November are extremely high. It’s not hyperbole to say the outcome of this election could forever bend the trajectory of the greatest human experiment ever undertaken. Despite the MAGA base enabling a man who would do them — and us — harm, Harris-Walz are modeling Barack Obama’s advice on national grace:

“(I)f a parent or grandparent occasionally says something that makes us cringe, we don’t automatically assume they’re bad people. We recognize that the world is moving fast, that they need time and maybe a little encouragement to catch up. Our fellow citizens deserve the same grace we hope they’ll extend to us.”

Harris and Walz are extending political understanding and grace for all Americans, regardless of party.

With 71 days to go, they are spreading joy and a renewed commitment to freedom and the American flag. They are also staying on the message that economic policies, in the right hands, can benefit the common man.

Here’s hoping the common man will listen.

Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25-year litigator specializing in 1st and 14th Amendment defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.