This is a line from the first verse of the old patriotic song “O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean.” The entire verse is as follows:

O Columbia! the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of each patriot’s devotion,
A world offers homage to thee;
Thy mandates make heroes assemble,
When Liberty’s form stands in view;
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white, and blue.
When borne by the red, white, and blue,
When borne by the red, white, and blue,
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white and blue.

This is rather frothy stuff, but still it would have been a better national anthem than the impossible “O say, can you see.”

What I’ve been thinking about is the line: “Thy banners make tyranny tremble.” The United States of America is forsaking its role of leadership of the free world, reneging on its promises and treaties, and colluding with tyrants of every type. Pretenses to “Moral Leadership,” already called into question by torture of prisoners and “collateral damage,” are made truly ridiculous by our President’s expressions of admiration for and uncritical association with tyrants world-wide. Who is it trembles at our banners now? The upright, I would say, the idealistic, those who collaborate in service of justice and peace. They are the ones now afraid of the United States.