106 Comments

Wonderful article! I so love and appreciate your mini-history lessons. I ALWAYS learn so much!!

That photograph at the top is stunning.

Psalm 19:1 ~

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

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Amen. Thank You, Suzie! God Bless You, and our amazing UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

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Always love the history lessons Don and we thank you for that. Especially the love of the USA history lessons. But if I may take issue with one thing it would be -- not only "rattlesnakes" who run the bureaucracies, it is snakes of all sizes and shapes!

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I always thought that the rattlesnake should be one of our national critters. It just wants to be left alone. If it’s threatened it will give you a warning to back off. But, if you FA, you’re gonna FO.

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I like it. Excellent symbol. How 'bout a flag with a coiled rattlesnake over the slogan, "Back Off Asshole!"

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Once saw a Gadsden flag with the coiled rattlesnake in mid-strike. The flag said; “Time’s Up!” Always chuckle when I see it,.

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Awesome!!

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HAHAHAHHA, Thanks for the laugh, Gary Blackman! The SOUND of that RATTLE is enough to send CHILLS up and down your spine. The Rattlesnake is screaming your exact words!

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Short, but highly effective. I like it. Might have to add that to my boat.

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I'll second that!

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I propose that we quit denigrating snakes. They are far more useful than anyone in DC. If you’ve ever lived in a century old house in the country, the more snakes the better - they keep the disease-carrying rodent population in check.

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Very true. Lived around rattlesnakes all my life. They have taken on a sort of cultural myth due in large part to our old tv westerns perhaps. They should be avoided for sure but at least they warn you before striking……….most of the time. Don’t like the copperheads, cottonmouths and the other little biters though. But as you say, they are here for a reason.

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Had a run-in with a cottonmouth once, when I was a young’un. I think that we both surprised each other. He at least had the courtesy of not showcasing his ability to strike like lightning, and I returned that courtesy by executing a picture-perfect “Full Astern”. Crisis averted.

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Never liked those swimming biters down in the swamps in the south when I was in Army basic training. Had some encounters with rattlesnakes out west. Once found one at an Army training site in Washington state crawling across a paved road and his head was past the centerline and his rattles were still on the gravel shoulder. Huge snake. Ones that big will hurt you bigtime.

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Agree. The history lessons are very, very good. Do liberal sites have comparable histories? You know, the history of their depravity. I'm a little confused. Did it originate in the sixties and evolve to today's open enthusiasm for pedophilia, or does it go all the way back to Satan's first arrival on the scene?

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Gary - How could the left possibly have a comparable history site? They specialize in revisionist history - plus there is No One comparable to our beloved Surber!

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YeH, if libs wrote about anything they would have to revise it monthly as the cult changes.

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"Put a chick in and make it suck!"

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“Put a chick in it and make it lame and gay.” Love South Park.

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Sodom and Gomorrah

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Don't forget the Canaanite worshipers of Moloch back in the days of the first Israel (at least two millennia before Islam broke out of Arabia). The followers sacrificed live infants by fire to Moloch. That might make a great flag for the abortionists: a fire-belching Moloch consuming a screaming infant.

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Liberals don’t believe in history. They make up what they want you to know. Most of them believe the old cliche: history began the day they were born

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"Leftists don't believe in history"...there I fixed it for ya... stop complimenting the Leftists by referring to them as liberals, they are the opposite of liberal. Sadly the lying media has changed the language so much the meanings of words are all confounded.

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Agreed. I like to take a common symbol or name and search for its origin. Lots of good info results.

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Yes to all of the above. Don't forget the HOLLYWOOD/DISNEY invasion in the 1940's and 50's. THAT was a huge cultural shift into the desire for "A LIFE OFCONTINUOUS ENTERTAINMENT" in America.

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…Which included a huge Communist infiltration!!

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If Don had been my history teacher back when I was in school, I would have learned much more. Yes, they really did have history classes back then.

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Used to have Civics class back the, as well.

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They still teach it. But now it centers around how white Americans caused all the worlds problems.

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Heard an Israeli citizen say the other day that when he attended an US University class on American History back in the late 90’s, early 2000’s, only he and one other student who was from Japan, defended the USA. All the other American kids only denigrated it at every opportunity.

And it only gotten horribly worse ever since.

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Will never understand why so many people hate the US. I think most of the time they are just ignorant or easily led. Suspect most have never visited foreign countries, especially former USSR counties and third world countries. Go into Mexico sometime and get away from the tourist resorts. That's poverty. Talk to people who have lived under communism like I have. Have traveled a lot but never found a country, western influenced or not, that was better than the USA. None even close. Time to take the sheltered and ignorant of this country and have them live and work in foreign countries for a while. They will change their attitude quickly.

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From the "New York Times" a few years ago: "After thousands of miles through more than two dozen countries, Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan’s journey came to a violent end on the side of a highway in Tajikistan. That’s where five men who had pledged their allegiance to ISIS ran the couple and their travel companions down and stabbed them to death." These were Americans born and raised in America. In the article, Lauren Geoghegan claimed that she believed that she and her comrade would be safe. She claimed that evil didn't exist. Well, like gravity, evil didn't give a $h!t whether Ms. Geoghegan believed in it or not. That's what an expensive college "edumakshun" told her and her friend.

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Favorite line from Don's column today: "The media exists only to enable idiots to spread their lies." Zinger!!!

Runner-up: "Rattlesnakes were plentiful in the original 13 colonies. We sent them all to Washington where they now run the bureaucracies." Also loved the phrase "snooty scorning".

Plus the history lesson and the cool Flag Cloud picture at the top.

Why I've never missed a Don Surber column in years now.

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Coffee. breakfast pastry. Surber before I do any thing else.

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Coffee, bagel, screen/keyboard protector, Surber. Because you never know.

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C’mon, man! Who needs June 14th? We got Juneteenth! Not a joke. PAUSE. (How far we have fallen.)

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Stupid dems couldn't even get the date right for the Juneteenth event FJB (love it!) attended this week.

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Juneteenth was a suck up to the black population much like the student loan forgiveness was a suck up to Gen Z. The funny thing is, according to the polls, neither suck up is going to keep many in both groups from abandoning FJB.

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In honor of President Joe Biden, I propose on flag day we commission a flag in his honor: A white color flag with a brown triangle in the middle (shit symbol), which represents everything that Mr Biden is: Shit. It also can be flown upside down by his staff when his depends need to be changed. FJB

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As a symbolic gesture to the work he has done, Biden has taken two notable opportunities to demonstrate his work to our international colleagues, most recently at the D-Day tribute. His "bend over and shoot straight" posture will be legend.

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One of my friends informs me that college kids are incorporating that posture into one of their dance moves. Don’t tell me that the kids don’t have a sense of humor sometimes.

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It is his one solid (or not) creation that he contributes regularly.

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Oof !

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God bless us for giving us His Son, Jesus Christ.

God bless us for this country and our flag.

God bless us for the Army, the best of the forces, but all of the forces. And the men and women who served and died.

God bless Donald Trump. And I hope He gives him 4 more years to work at undoing the damage.

And God bless you, Don. You and all of your family. You're brash, blunt and honest. We've exchanged a few emails, rarely do I disagree with you

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Forgot to say thank you for your service and for those in your family that served.

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i can go either way on trump winning. it depends on how much info i take in that day. so either i'm a gullible old man who is easily swayed by nefarious chicanery or i actually believe that the stolen elections of 2018, 2020 and 2022 will not be repeated and have been fixed.

1/2 empty or half full. one aspect i don't waver on....if trump does pull this off thune and his cabal of globalist shills will surely thwart president trump's agendas and i wouldn't count on the house either.

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I am trying desperately to believe he will be President but those aforementioned snakes in Washington are poised to prevent it at all costs.

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I prefer calling them “demons”. No use in insulting snakes, one of God’s creations.

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If there is a GiveSendGo -- or even a GoFundMe (ptui!) -- campaign for the skidmark kids, I will donate, but I couldn't find one in a quick search with Brave and DuckDuckGo.

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I propose we get Congress to declare June as Flag Month so we can fly a different flag from our history during each of the four weeks in the month. Based on today's history reminder, it could include the Pine Tree Flag, the Gadsden flag, the original Betsy Ross flag, and our current flag. I'm tempted to try to work in the "Come and take it" Texas flag as well since that notion is as meaningful today as it was in the struggle between Texas and Mexico.

This, of course, is also to minimize attention to Pride month and Juneteenth.

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Great column again Don. Just got back from another driving trip out west to visit family and friends. Gone five weeks. One thing that I wasn't too surprised at was the number of bumper stickers or campaign flags this year. Hardly any to be seen. Lots of old Trump campaign signs still up but only a few new ones. Only one billboard from the Biden campaign. I chalked this up to the divided nature of our country this cycle. It has become too toxic for people to display election signs. Thats so sad to see.If people are too nervous about displaying their choice for the WH we are really in a bad way. I really miss the bumper stickers and billboards roasting Clinton that were so prevalent in 2016. But one thing is so obvious. As you leave the east coast states and drive west, more and more US flags are seen. Even in rural eastern Oregon where I ended up at the son’s ranch. Some people still “get it”. You don’t mess with ranchers! A tip of the hat to those folks living in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Nebraska. Lots of American flags flying everywhere. They don’t need a holiday to show their colors in those parts. No LGBTZ signs or flags that I saw. Did see one sign on a barn that read “Praying for more global warming and sea level rise. Time to get rid of the “red” states”. By red it was clear the author was referring to commie states. There was a nice reference below it: MAGA. Gosh I love those western folks.

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I just saw the first 2024 bumper sticker I’ve seen this election season. It said:

“Make America Care Again - Biden 2024”

Its colors were in blue and green, of course.

What does that even mean??!

Not to mention the direct steal from MAGA.

They had another sticker that said, “My cat is a Democrat”

Figures. 🙄

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It's always about the motion, right? Doesn't have to make any sense I guess to a liberal or translate into something that actually helps people move forward and get ahead in life. My conclusion is that liberalism is an emotional state of mind that means different things to different people. It stands for nothing that is of value to the country.

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Exactamundo!

It’s like saying: “ fill in your grievance about the US here”.

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Cats are notoriously fickle. He might just be BS’ing his wine aunt.

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The two most important groups in American that hardly ever get their due are farmers and truck drivers. Without them, we are all in big trouble. God bless your son.

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Thank you Jim. I agree on your two choices. No farmers or ranchers, no eat. Both my sons are hard workers. They are both bright too and understand how political forces affect their lives more than any other cause. If the world falls apart , my wife and I are heading for the ranch. Both occupations you mentioned are being crushed by fuel prices. Both occupations are required for people to eat. Just wait until ranchers, farmers, and truckers say “enough” to high fuel costs. Solar power and windmills arent going to feed the world……ever.

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John & I have no desire to become targets of crazies, therefore no more yard signs and we never did the bumper sticker thing. That's just asking for your car to get keyed. Just as we choose to use our handicap parking hang tag rather than have a handicap license plate - no need to announce one might not get around quite as well as we did at one time

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I was at the 1998 World Series where the New York Yankees played the San Diego Padres in San Diego. During the playing of our National Anthem an American flag that covered the ENTIRE field was displayed. I stood in the upper deck, (a perfect vantage point to witness the immense size of Old Glory), weeping like a baby at the image. As a US Army veteran who served our country, the image remains foremost in my memory 26 years later.

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The flag song I remember from being a kid was "Fifty nifty united states from 13 original colonies!" Very poppy and upbeat.

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Now it’s 57 states. Progress through Obama.

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Thank Confederate Texas’ port City of Galveston for Juneteenth, telling slaves the yankee slaves were emancipated up north years ago (incl Rhode Island and Providence Plantations).. Understand it is celebrated in DC slave-built White House on June 12th now. Post offices in Dallas also take time off for it on the Wednesday the 19th - guess not as important as Washington’s birthday, which is always celebrated on a Monday, regardless of the actual day February 11th falls on. /s

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Even worse than changing the date, Washington’s Birthday is now President’s Day - which honors the likes of Wilson, FDR, LBJ, Carter, Clinton, 0bama and Biden. In our house, we still celebrate Washington’s Birthday on his actual birthday.

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It is still George Washington's Birthday. The media came up with the president's day jazz

Only unanimous choice for prez. Ran on the slogan "Make America."

(Actually, they had to talk him into taking the job)

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Great pic, Don.

In 1998 I was appointed Village Administrator of Archbold, OH. One of my mandatory memberships was the Northwest Ohio Mayors and Managers Association. At the first meeting I attended I met a former mayor of Napoleon, OH, a city about 17 miles from Archbold.

That gentleman's claim to fame was that at 17 years of age he was given an assignment in his American history class. Bob's project was to redesign the US flag. He cut up a flag that had been a wedding present to his parents and and sewed it back together adding two stars. This was 1958, and there were only 48 states. The instructor gave Bob a B- because of the 50 stars. Later, after Hawaii and Alaska had been accepted into the union Dwight Eisenhower summoned Bob to DC for the official adoption of his design as the new American flag. His history teacher then retroactively changed his B- to an A.

In 2022 some liberal academic published a "debunking" of Bob's redesigning of the flag. However, I met and came to know the man fairly well, and his account was widely known and accepted. I later on met some folks who attended high school with Bob in Lancaster, OH and they say his account was 100% accurate.

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Awesome story Dennis.

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What a great photo!!!!! I’m sure I am not the only one who thinks so.

I'll be singing "You’re a Grand Old Flag" all day today. I can gear Cagney singing it now. That and "I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy" because “I am that Yankee Doodle Boy”

Charging those boys in Washington State with a first degree felony is outrageous!

I really miss June and Ward Clever.

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He was born on July 3rd

Close enough

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June, yes. Ward, not so much. He was always too hard on the Beaver.

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Ooohhhhh. Old joke. Very old.

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Well, I’m an old fart anyway. So that joke inspires me. LOL

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RE: Pine Tar Flag

Ordinarily I’m a big George Brett fan (as well as of cousin Wade).

But given the state of war we’re in, I want the Repubs in both houses to fly the Billy Martin flag (would that be the Au Contraire flag?)

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"Au Contraire flag" LOL. Good one, Mr. Boggs!

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I'll never forget the pine tar bat incident when George Brett came running out of the dugout with the tobacco chew drooling out of his mouth. He was not happy!

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To say the least!

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