Time for this to go

Republicans, when they’re not dodging the question about what should happen with the Confederate flag that now flies over certain state capitals, sometimes reply that it belongs “in a museum.”

That’s what former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said they did with the relic of Southern rebellion in his home state of Florida — took it down and put it in a museum. (He didn’t note that fellow Floridian Marco Rubio co-sponsored a bill that was seen as protecting public displays of that flag, however. )

But Bush and his fellow Republicans never really say to which museum the Confederate flag should go. And I have some ideas on that.

Don’t get me wrong: This is hardly the most important, most pressing issue of the day, and removing the flag that represents the treasonous rebellion of Southern states against the United States of America will not erase the hatred that still exists in far too many hearts. But symbols are important, and we should do all we can to show that we regard the Confederacy with the contempt that history demands.

So here’s what we do: We build a museum specially for that flag.

But not just the Confederate flag. No, we need to gather a few other flags to display alongside it. The Union Jack of Great Britain. The flag of Mexico, circa 1846. The rising sun flag of Imperial Japan, circa 1941. The flag of al-Qaida.

What do all these flags have in common? Two things: Each of these flags belongs to a nation, or an organization, that attacked the actual territory of the United States of America. And each of them was defeated by patriotic Americans standing to defend their homeland. (The fight against al-Qaida goes on, of course, although U.S. forces did kill the organization’s leader, Osama bin Laden, in 2011.)

Of course, the Confederate flag is unique in that it also represents treason in addition to aggression against the United States. (Treason is defined in the Constitution — at Article 3, Section 3 — as levying war against the United States or giving her enemies aid and comfort.) Therefore, it will have a special place in our museum.

Second, we will name this museum the Hall of Infamy, to properly indicate that each of the nations and organizations represented there tried with great vigor to destroy the government and the country of the nation that most of us know and love. And visitors to this museum can contemplate while gazing at each flag how different life could have been for Americans if any of the aggressors succeeded in their task.

Third, and finally, we will dedicate all the proceeds from visits to the Hall of Infamy to the care and retirement of the great patriots who have proudly and honorably served in the defense of our nation, under the only national flag that should ever fly over any U.S. state ever again: the Stars and Stripes of the United States of America.

As for those other flags, equal in their ignominy, a museum is fine, although the dustbin on history would be even better.