Title 4, Section 8 of the United States Code -- federal law -- is titled "Respect for the Flag." Trump and his supporters make a big deal out of respect for what Trump calls "our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG" (no need to yell, lay off the Caps Lock button for God's sake).

Surely Trump supporters -- who excoriate athletes who kneel during the national anthem to protest racism -- wouldn't do anything contrary to 4 U.S.C. Section 8, the federal law having to do with respecting OUR GREAT AMERICAN FLAG (sorry, hit Caps Lock by mistake).

Well, 4 U.S.C. Section 8(g) says:

The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

Hmmm.

Desecrating the Flag — Desecrating our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG for Trump

Desecrating the Flag — Desecrating our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG for Trump, Take Two

Desecrating the Flag — Desecrating our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG for Trump, Take Three

Appropos of this last photo, 4 U.S.C. Section 11(a) provides:

The Flag should never be kissed or slobbered on in a such a manner as to nauseate or disgust any citizen or resident of the United States, nor should the flag be used for the purpose of imposing any form of government in violation of Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution.

Ok, I made that last one up. But not this one: 4 U.S.C. Section 8(j) says in part, "No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform."

Desecrating the Flag — Section 8(j) Violation Desecrating our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG

I recognize that the Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Amendment has (correctly) limited the legal force of the statutes I quote above. Trump supporters, just like other Americans, have a constitutionally-protected right to desecrate the flag. The problem is that they don't even seem to be aware that they are doing it. So to those friends of mine who might be Trump supporters, take this as a public service announcement -- if you are genuinely interested in respecting the flag, you need to stop doing a lot of what you're doing with it. Otherwise you just might been seen as hypocrites.