No, 'Guardian', Once Again., You've Picked The Wrong Group To Fear...

I blame the Union Jack cushions. The problem with cushions is that they are inherently harmless and trivial. If you get upset about cushions, people will say, quite reasonably: “Why are you getting so upset? It’s only a cushion.” The harmlessness and triviality of cushions make them perversely important. They’re in our homes, on our sofas. Their innocuousness makes them a test of the very imagery and ideas we deem innocuous. And earlier this century the Union Jack became a very popular design.

*pedant hat on* It's the Union Flag. It's only the Union Jack when flying from a ship.

But why so terrified about the flag of your country?

The drive to make the flag literally huggable is terrifying. In becoming a home decor accessory, the Union Jack has been driven deep into the realm of kitsch. This should presumably delight those commentators who called for its reclamation (cushion accomplished!) but where is the liberal dividend?

Nationalism, in its least comfortable forms, is on the abundant rise everywhere we look, predictably accompanied by racism, division and hatred.

Really? I don't think it's the people who love their country's flag that we need to fear most...

...I think it's those for whom it represents something to loathe, and spit on, and set on fire, the instant they don't get their own way.

And that's true no matter what the pattern of red, white and blue it takes. And this 'Guardian' column spells it out even further:

From what I did overhear, they resented the very existence of the Republican party, and their scorn was reserved most for people who didn’t have the strength to stop this man from being even the nominee. Their banter contained the usual unfounded complaints about Republicans – we’re racists and misogynists – but also included comments about how truly weak they thought we were as people.

...

So I voted for Trump. I wanted to prove a point and vote against those types of people who had nothing good to say about us. But it also felt good to me to support the good people I know worked so hard in an election they were told was a losing cause from the very beginning. They fought for what’s right and treated me with a lot of respect even though I remained skeptical about our Republican nominee from the outset.

Ignore it at your peril, progressives.