Vēritās wrote: ↑Mon Jun 30, 2025 7:38 pm
Anyway, there are regulars who have been working there for more than 10 years wearing "Don't Tread on Me" shirts and the like. None of on the left ever once expressed being offended. We believe in freedom of speech. I just think it is funny the bizzaro world Trump has put us in. Literally everything they whine about the Left is actually true of the Right.
I don't think "Don't Tread on Me" is overtly supporting a particular candidate or ideology. I'm largely centrist (or at least I think I am -- others probably would put me in the Marxist Socialist Leftist Liberal Progressive camp), and I had a Gadsden flag parody decal on my last truck ("No Step On Snek"). The LGBTQ+ self-defense organization Street Patrol also used a variation of it. After a conservative extremist murdered a bunch of gay people in Florida back in 2016, a rainbow Gadsden flag became a symbol for people to rally behind.
While I know it's generally associated with right wing terrorists, like the conservative couple who murdered police officers here in Vegas, the Gadsden flag is one of those symbols for freedom that is somewhat malleable. It's a symbol for freedom, and I don't think any particular political party gets ownership of that kind of symbolism.
I think that things (clothing, flags, decals, banners, etc.) that advocate for or against a given politician, or a specific political party, should generally be eschewed in three particular spaces. Church, bars, and work. There's too much potential for acrimony. Those spaces should be free from politics as much as possible, in my opinion. I'd personally never wear anything pro-or-anti a given political candidate in any of those spaces. Nothing good can possibly come from it.
My $0.02 (not adjusted for inflation)