Perlstein's Visible Bridge

So this guy, wrote an article for Newsweek explaining how the POW/MIA flag is racist:

You know that racist flag? The one that supposedly honors history but actually spreads a pernicious myth? And is useful only to venal right-wing politicians who wish to exploit hatred by calling it heritage? It’s past time to pull it down.

Oh, wait. You thought I was referring to the Confederate flag. Actually, I’m talking about the POW/MIA flag.

I told the story in the first chapter of my 2014 book The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan: how Richard Nixon invented the cult of the “POW/MIA” in order to justify the carnage in Vietnam in a way that rendered the United States as its sole victim...

If you read the article, there's really no reason why you should, but if you do click through, you'll see the author doesn't explain how the POW/MIA flag is racist. The author is simply trying to use the Confederate flag controversy to plug his own book. I support him fully in that.

Over at NRO David French says about what I wanted to say:

It's not a battle flag, nor is it a flag of conquest. It's a flag of remembrance.

But that's the entire point. Perlstein hates that people don't remember the Vietnam War the way he wants it remembered, as a racist, unlawful enterprise. The POW/MIA flag is merely a pretext for him to repeat the tired arguments of the 1970s, arguments that lost their sting when the NVA finally triumphed, and the world watched a Communist dictatorship work its vengeance on the South Vietnamese population. He won't bring down the flag, but he apparently does want to re-start a historical battle that the Left has largely and rightly lost since the Fall of Saigon. His piece is further evidence that the defense of history - like the defense of liberty - requires constant vigilance.

This narrative is still incredibly important to the left.

I latched on to the POW/MIA issue in the 80's mostly because of Uncommon Valor. Actually a cousin of mine is in the movie. Anyway, the flag and movement became annoying for me in the 90s. It was clear by then that the Vietnamese weren't holding Americans prisoner. French is right. The flag today is one of remembrance. To fly it means your thinking about those who are there and those who aren't coming back.

I believe it was the great Ed Driscoll who noted 'the left's dark obsession with Richard Nixon.' Dick sure is Pearlstein's obsession. The Invisible Bridge seeks link to Nixon and Reagan, as if that linkage is enough to delegitimize Reagan. Of course it is, in Perlstein's eyes.

I admit to being deeply confused about the left's hostility to Nixon. Abuse of power? Have they noticed what Obama has done lately? Let's look a bit deeper. Nixon supported the Earned Run Average Amendment, founded the EPA, passed the Clean Air Act, Welfare, détente with the commies, and by the way, got us out of Vietnam. If you're a leftist, where's the problem?