On Appeal to Heaven: This is the Scandal, Not That
Editor’s Note: Erick Erickson is one of the creators of Peach Pundit and still holds the title of Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. He is also a nationally syndicated talk show host and has his own substack. This post originally appeared there and you can subscribe at this link. It appears here with his permission.
We now know the Washington Post had the story of Sam Alito’s wife flying the flag upside down back when it happened. But they concluded, at the time, that it was a neighborly dispute.
Only now, as the Court is set to decide several controversial cases, have the press and left worked hand in hand to turn the flag stories into controversy.
The real scandal is not Sam Alito’s flags. The real scandal is how the left and press have collaborated together to destroy the reputation of the United States Supreme Court. They are the threat to the republic they have been telling us about.
In 2019, the San Francisco City Hall flew the “Appeal to Heaven” flag.
In 2021, after the January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol, the New York Times did a big story titled “Decoding the Far-Right Symbols at the Capitol Riot.” The story focused on plenty of flags. In one video, an “Appeal to Heaven” flag is seen and the Times zooms away from it to a Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. The story covers the Gadsden flag, a South Vietnamese flag, the Trump flag, various QAnon flags, etc. It never lists the “Appeal to Heaven” flag as a “far-right symbol.”
In 2022, the good progressives on Martha’s Vineyard marched with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag on Independence Day.
In 2023, the San Francisco City Hall was still flying the “Appeal the Heaven” flag. When Rolling Stone magazine chose a picture to use to show the flag, it chose a picture of the flag flying on the flag pole of the Minnesota State Capitol.
The federal government turned the Appeal to Heaven flag into a postage stamp. Legislators have worn it as a lapel pin including CNN’s Geoff Duncan, the former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia.
But, because Sam Alito flew it at his vacation house before San Francisco flew it a second time, it is suddenly a symbol of insurrection.
The real scandal is not the flag. The real scandal is how easy it is for left wing operatives to seed their narratives with the American press. From the front page at the New York Times to continuous coverage on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, etc — the press corps ran with the left’s narrative, packaged as the left packaged it, and dared anyone to question them.
This is how CBS’s Evening News covered the “controversy.”
“Flags linked to the insurrection” is something no one thought until a week ago.
They only thought that because the left is trying to undermine an American governmental institution it does not control it.
The American press corps helped the left in its quest.
Both are showing themselves to be the threats to the republic they claim Donald Trump is.
MSNBC has already provoked two men to attempt mass assassination attempts of political rivals.
Now CNN, ABC, CBS, and PBS are in on the game of pushing left wing talking points to undermine republican institutions and fame the flames of hate. You guys in the press are playing with fire and your excuse making is just that — excuse making.
It’s also becoming an annual tradition. Right before the press hoists their rainbow flags, they annually attack the Supreme Court in anticipation of decisions the left hates.
