However, from 1901 to 1909, this was the flag of Maine:

And people really like this design. It’s unique, it has charm, and it’s quintessentially Maine. In recent years, more modern and simplified versions of the flag have emerged, and been wholeheartedly embraced by the community.

After a decades-long movement to restore the 1901 flag, in May 2024 a bill was passed which would change the flag following a successful referendum. A website was created where people could submit designs for the pine tree, which received more than 300 entries. The final design was created by Maine resident Adam Lemire:

I personally really like it. I think it’s a nice middle ground between the detailed hand-painted flags of the 1900s and the more recent simplified versions.

I do think it would look better with brighter colors, as to me it feels somewhat dull. I’ve heard people say it would look better with a darker brown trunk, and I think I agree. I’m also a fan of the variations with a brighter buff color for the background.

That being said, I really like this design overall and I won’t let perfect be the enemy of good. One thing I really like about this is that while this design is the one that will be used by the government should the referendum pass, technically any buff flag with a pine tree and a blue star in the canton is an official state flag, meaning the older variations will remain valid, and people can draw up their own designs as they wish.

Pirates of the Legislation

* * * *

It’s worse than we thought. Alito must resign.

May 22, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

MAY 23, 2024

Yesterday, we learned that Justice Alito flew an insurrectionist flag over his residence for three days between the January 6 insurrection and Joe Biden’s inauguration. Standing alone, that lapse of ethics and shocking display of disloyalty to the Constitution required recusal and an impeachment investigation, at the very least.

Today, the NYTimes reported that Justice Alito flew a “Pine Tree” flag a.k.a. an “Appeal to Heaven” flag over his beach house. Per the Times, the Pine Tree flag

is now a symbol of support for former President Donald J. Trump, for a religious strand of the “Stop the Steal” campaign and for a push to remake American government in Christian terms.

In other words, the Pine Tree flag represents a MAGA trifecta: Support for Trump, insurrection, and Christian nationalism. See NYTimes, Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home. (This article is accessible to all.) The photos showing the Pine Tree flag over the Alito beach house were taken over three months in 2023.

Justice Alito’s credibility is compromised beyond repair. Every day he serves as a sitting Supreme Court justice, he further erodes the court's rapidly diminishing credibility.

Contrary to the original story about the “Stop the Steal” flag where Alito blamed his wife, the justice has refused to provide a response to the Times. The Supreme Court’s press relations office also refused comment.

Out of loyalty to the Constitution, regard for the Court, and respect for the American people, Alito should resign. Anything less will perpetuate the open wound on the Court’s legitimacy.

There is also a role for Justice Roberts and the associate justices in addressing Alito’s ethical violations.

Roberts should call for investigation by the Judicial Conference. He should assure the American people that the Court is, in fact, “calling balls and strikes” for democracy rather than serving as a cheerleader for the partisan and religious agenda of the MAGA movement.

The associate justices should declare in their opinions, concurrences, and dissents that Justice Alito’s continued consideration of matters relating to Trump is a violation of the Supreme Court Code of Ethics.

Democrats in the Senate must also lead on this issue. To date, leadership in the Senate and on the Judiciary Committee have responded with a collective yawn. That is a perplexing response that reflects the insular politics of cynicism that infects Congress. Enough!  

The stories about Alito’s flags are not “gotcha” journalism run amok. Alito is signaling his partisan allegiance and Christian nationalism. As I wrote yesterday, we should take him at his word. If we do not, he will continue to vote for outcomes and write opinions that are antithetical to the liberties guaranteed in the Constitution.

Apart from demanding that the Court, Congress, and the media work to secure Alito’s resignation or impeachment, what can we do?

Re-elect Joe Biden.

On Wednesday, the Biden Administration announced that it had reached the milestone of appointing 200 federal judges. See WhiteHouse.gov, Statement from President Joe Biden on Confirming 200 Federal Judges. In his announcement, President Biden noted that 64% of his appointments were women and that 62% were to people color.

Amidst the disturbing revelations of Alito’s insurrectionist allegiance, President Biden wrote the following about his 200 judicial appointments:

Judges matter. These men and women have the power to uphold basic rights or to roll them back.

They hear cases that decide whether women have the freedom to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions; whether Americans have the freedom to cast their ballots; whether workers have the freedom to unionize and make a living wage for their families; and whether children have the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water.

There are many issues that compel us to vote for Joe Biden. Reforming the Supreme Court just moved up in urgency and importance. We must adopt an enforceable code of ethics and enlarge the Court—both of which can be accomplished with majority votes in Congress and the signature of the president. Elect Joe Biden to reform the Court.

The Pine Tree Flag! (July 4th)

My next-door neighbor has affixed a Gadsden Flag to his minivan. It could be worse, I suppose. Ten years ago I’d have looked at the Gadsden Flag or the Pine Tree Flag (a white flag with a pine tree and the words “An Appeal to Heaven”) and thought the person was a history junkie. Today I look at them and think, “Well, at least it’s not the Confederate battle flag or an upside-down American flag.”…