Politics & Power Quote by John Thune

Thune’s line is doing what effective political rhetoric often does: converting an object into an obligation. By insisting the flag is "more than just cloth and ink", he swats away any literal or material reading and replaces it with a moral one. The move is strategic: if the flag is only fabric, you can treat it like fabric. If it is "history" and "blood", then handling it in ways deemed disrespectful becomes not just bad manners but a kind of civic betrayal.

The phrase "universally recognized symbol" is doing quiet work, too. It paints national meaning as settled and shared, smoothing over the fact that symbols are fought over precisely because they are not universally interpreted. In contemporary American debates - from flag burning to anthem protests to the politicized display of flags at rallies - the flag is less a neutral emblem than a contested stage. Calling it universal pre-emptively delegitimizes dissent by casting it as outside the consensus.

Then comes the emotional clincher: "marked by the blood of those who died defending it". That’s not history in the archival sense; it’s sacrificial history, meant to trigger gratitude and restraint. The subtext is a warning: critique the nation if you must, but do not touch the icon, because the icon has been sanctified by the dead. It’s a classic sanctification move in U.S. politics, especially potent from a senator: patriotism framed not as argument, but as reverence - and reverence is harder to debate without looking cruel.