Word: flagging
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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With this blatant appeal to rally around the flag one more time before President-elect Bush takes over, Reagan launched a discussion about what he thought represented the nation's most pressing dilemma: a possible "eradication of the American memory that could result ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit." And he offered a solution: Americans ought to pay "more attention to American history and [put] a greater emphasis on civic ritual...
Despite their bright prospects, the three manufacturers have been cautious about expanding their commercial production facilities in response to the orders. They know that a recession could cause a rash of order cancellations, though the volume of orders from foreign flag carriers lessens that risk. Most important is a concern that corners might be cut as production speeds up. * British Airways, Japan Air Lines and other Boeing customers have complained about sloppy work on some aircraft produced in the past three years. The company may face criminal charges in Japan because of faulty Boeing repairs that...
What happened? In all three countries, the left-of-center party has allowed the party of the right to become the nationalist party and claim all the national icons, foremost among them the flag. In Britain, Labor has never recovered from its embrace of unilateral disarmament. In Israel, where politics does not suffer from subtlety, Likud and its allies simply call themselves "the national camp." Of course, parties of the right always appeal to nationalism. But formerly the nationalist idea was successfully challenged by an equally compelling idea: socialism or social democracy...
...cannot, flounder. American Democrats began absorbing that lesson four years ago. Having sought vainly for some new, galvanizing social vision in the New Deal-Fair Deal-New Frontier tradition, and having found that mere nostalgic invocation of the past does not work, they figured they had better retake the flag...
Accordingly, four years ago in San Francisco, they filled the convention hall with a sea of waving flags. That did not quite do the trick. So this year they went one step further. They started bashing foreigners -- not Communists, to be sure, but second best -- ruthlessly efficient Asians. Starting with Richard Gephardt's "$48,000 Hyundai" ads and finishing with a Dukakis TV spot that featured a rising Japanese flag, the Democrats' appeal to economic nationalism has not been subtle. Attacking allies is not nearly as satisfying as attacking enemies (say, the Evil Empire), but it is a start...