Maine State Flag Referendum: Media Insult Voters’ Intelligence

It wasn’t enough for national media to concoct a story that the flags flying at Justice Samuel Alito’s properties proved that he supported the January 6 Capitol protests. Local papers in Maine are now publishing equally specious stories tying the national debate to a statewide referendum on changing Maine’s flag. This insults Maine voters’ intelligence and smears the historic iconography of my beloved home state.

In the wake of the New York Times running a series of reports about which flags Alito and his wife have flown over their properties, including the Revolutionary War–era Appeal to Heaven naval ensign, progressives everywhere swiftly got with the program. CNN proclaimed the Appeal to Heaven flag “controversial.” San Francisco City Hall dutifully removed the Appeal to Heaven flag from its plaza, where it had flown undisturbed for the past 60 years. Rolling Stone reported that the flag also flew above the Maine summer home of Leonard Leo, a prominent figure in the conservative legal movement.

JE

About the Author

James Erwin

James Erwin is a native of Yarmouth, Maine, and an alumnus of Bates College. He works on free-speech and tech policy in Washington, D.C.

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It wasn’t enough for national media to concoct a story that the flags flying at Justice Samuel Alito’s properties proved that he supported the January 6 Capitol protests. Local papers in Maine are now publishing equally specious stories tying the national debate to a statewide referendum on changing Maine’s flag. This insults Maine voters’ intelligence and smears the historic iconography of my beloved home state.

In the wake of the New York Times running a series of reports about which flags Alito and his wife have flown over their properties, including the Revolutionary War–era Appeal to Heaven naval ensign, progressives everywhere swiftly got with the program. CNN proclaimed the Appeal to Heaven flag “controversial.” San Francisco City Hall dutifully removed the Appeal to Heaven flag from its plaza, where it had flown undisturbed for the past 60 years. Rolling Stone reported that the flag also flew above the Maine summer home of Leonard Leo, a prominent figure in the conservative legal movement.