Are we still the United States? Would a redesigned American flag with alternating red and blue colored stripes separated by neutral white ones be a better representation of our country’s present political turmoil? Should ideologically crafted polarization of opinion on a broad array of pressing domestic governance and international diplomacy issues dictate their variable width from one federal administration to the next?

Is cultivated party loyalty, however valid, narrowing neutral spacing between red and blue? Does there remain a meaningful body of educated, persuadable moderates and independents who can help to bridge a widening chasm of divisive separatist thinking, issue by issue?

White stripes of some dimension separating party colors could be a helpful reminder of the danger of authoritarian red or blue rule. What should be feared is a “white-stripe surrender” to either partisan side, signaling an end to Constitutional democratic governance as envisioned by the nation’s founders. Long live the red, white and blue!

Phil Osifer