Historical illiteracy from the legacy media reached new heights this week as the New York Times attempted to smear Justice Samuel Alito for flying a Revolutionary War flag at his beach house.
The flag in question is the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which has its origins in the Revolutionary War and depicts a single green pine tree on a white background with the words “An Appeal to Heaven” emblazoned above the tree.
The flag’s early history is fundamentally intertwined with the history of the American Revolution and the military history of the nation. The flag was designed by George Washington’s personal secretary Joseph Reed, and served as the colors of the Massachusetts navy during the war.
The most fascinating part of the flag is the phrase “An Appeal to Heaven,” which originates from the political philosopher John Locke, whose writings served as a major philosophical foundation for the founding documents of the United States.
The specific passage is from Locke’s opposition to the divine right of kings, a principle that was at the center of several conflicts over the British crown in the 17th century. In his telling, those who depose unjust rulers, such as a king who claims the divine right, can “make their appeal to heaven.”
Locke wrote: “Therefore, though the people cannot be judge, so as to have, by the constitution of that society, any superior power, to determine and give effective sentence in the case; yet they have, by a law antecedent and paramount to all positive laws of men, reserved that ultimate determination to themselves which belongs to all mankind, where there lies no appeal on earth, viz. to judge, whether they have just cause to make their appeal to heaven.”
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This is the flag that flew outside the home of Justice Alito. The flag is also displayed outside the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). But the New York Times wants to paint it as a symbol of right-wing extremism and Christian nationalism simply because it was among the many flags waved during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The same standard would establish the flag of the United States of America as a symbol of extremism.