"Plausible deniability" is an euphemistic phrase often used, it seems, by the CIA, among many other spying agences around the world, that really means "lying."

Is "lying" what our flag stands for? Is "lying" what we really want our flag to stand for?

When push comes to shove (too often, literally, as in "off the cliff"), that's exactly what it stands for.

What a morally grotesque, spiritually denuded flag we therefore salute unwittingly.

TOD HOWARD HAWKS