Flying the colors as we honor the patron saint of Ireland
Plus, Trump's next big issue will be flag burning - trust me on this
ARREST ME NOW, DONALD TRUMP ... I figure if Senator Mark Kelly is a traitor for visiting our former ally Ukraine, our family is in big trouble for flying the flag of a foreign nation on St. Patrick's Day, a tradition my dad started back in the days of FDR.
That, plus the fact that the original Dunning clan from County Mayo was hopelessly undocumented when they jumped ship and swam ashore on the southern coast of Maine.
Being from County Mayo, however, does tend to explain my lifelong love affair with mayonnaise.
SPEAKING OF FLAGS (AND FLAG BURNING) ... The Republicans are geniuses when it comes to dreaming up culture war "causes" that fire up their base.
Take the trans athlete issue, which was a solution in search of a problem if there ever was one.
As the president of the NCAA reported, there were fewer than 10 - like maybe five - such athletes competing among the 520,000 NCAA athletes, but Republicans made it look as if they were in every sport at every level of every school in America.
All the Republicans really wanted to do was have Democrats come out in defense of trans athletes because polls show the American public was overwhelmingly on the GOP side of this issue.
The same with flag burning, which Donald Trump recently indicated is the next big thing that has to be banned to Make America Great Again.
And if the Congress won't do it, he'll come up with yet another executive order and do it on his own.
Trump can't wait for Democrats to chase him down the rabbit hole as he shows incredibly ugly videos of the 11 folks in our nation's history who have actually burned the American flag.
Democrats, of course, will take the bait and swallow it whole, defending flag burning as if it were a sacred right. And, by association, defending those despicable flag burners that no one likes.
Republicans will no doubt soon declare that every American must eat hot dogs and apple pie on the Fourth of July. Democrats, predictably, will then staunchly defend eating rhubarb pie and veggie dogs.
It might be time for the Democrats to leave the culture wars alone and stick to the issues that the vast majority of Americans care about.
Like the price of a dozen eggs at the grocery store, defense of the Constitution and protecting the jobs of our dedicated public employees.
SPEAKING OF FLAG BURNING ... The late, great Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was never popular with the left, but I suspect he would be a strong and firm voice against the unconstitutional power grab Donald Trump is attempting to pull off.
In 1989, Scalia was the fifth and deciding vote in the case Texas v. Johnson that upheld flag burning in Texas as a constitutional right.
Conservative justice Anthony Kennedy - from Sacramento, no less - voted with the majority as well.
The next year, in United States v. Eichman, Scalia voted against a federal law that banned flag burning.
Both of those decisions went against Scalia's personal values.
Later, Scalia had this to say about flag burning: "If it were up to me, I would put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag. But I am not king."
Unfortunately, Donald Trump thinks he is king.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
I have always prepared my corned beast by letting it simmer all day in a pot of almost but not quite boiling water. But today this scruffy bearded weirdo decided to shake things up, and I cooked it in the oven. 350 degrees for three hours, with a wee few minutes under the broiler toward the end. My grandmother, who is currently seated at the right hand of God making sure Jesus eats His colcannon, might not approve. Gram, I'm sorry.
One year ago today I fulfilled a lifelong goal to spend Saint Patrick's Day on the old sod. Many people gave me unsolicited opinions that this was a waste of time, as the holiday is not really celebrated in Ireland. Let me tell you, anyone spouting such nonsense has never actually spent Saint Patrick's Day in Ireland. They go nuts. It was awesome.
Spent the day in Kilkenny, which is just a delightful town. Try Matt the Miller's pub on the banks of the River Nore. They serve a mean shepherd's pie.
So, did ye fly the flag today, boyo? The Clancy Brothers and the Guinness are still flowing around Davis, but never mind, the boys in the jackboots will be at your bedroom door in a few hours. Houl yer whisht, as they say in County Mayo.