With the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, one need not look very far to see signs of the Ukrainian national flag prominently displayed as a show of support for the plight of the Ukrainian people.  I do find it odd that many who now proudly display the flag (and I support this)

1. before the conflict, had no idea where the country of Ukraine was located, let alone what its flag looked like, and

2. would not be caught dead having an American flag displayed on their lapel or their personal property.

This in spite of the fact as we approach Memorial Day next month, this nation has had a grand total of over 1,354,664 recorded deaths in all of America's conflicts ranging from the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terrorism.  To put this in perspective, each one of the fifty stars that adorns our flag represents the deaths of roughly 27,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, who paid for the freedom we enjoy today.

The war in Ukraine should crystallize what is at stake here in our own recent fight over our national identity.  The very things that have united Ukrainians against an external aggressor are what many in our nation seem most eager to dismantle.  Perhaps most egregious is the proliferation of a revisionist history of America as a systemically racist and unjust society that oppresses "persons of color."  We should note that this is the same theme that the Soviets also sought to push with their propaganda throughout the Cold War in an attempt to promote racial unrest.

Many of those now proudly sporting a Ukrainian flag lapel pin called our former President Trump a "Nazi," yet the rationale Putin used to invade Ukraine was to cleanse Ukraine of Nazis.  Go figure.

So, I find it most perplexing that those who are most eager to proclaim their zeal for Ukrainian "patriotism" fail to embrace patriotism for their own native land.  There appears to be a sense of guilt and entitlement that causes them to want to tear down their own nation yet come to the defense of a nation they could not even identify on a map six months ago.

Image: The Presidential Administration of Ukraine via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.