A Word About The Flag
Besides being a really well-done graphic, I put the flag graphic on the site for a few reasons.
First, C-SPAN and a few other networks do not allow their on-air talent to wear flag pins or have the flag on their sets. Though this may seem unpatriotic, there is good reason for this policy. Some people believe that the nation's attacks on Afghanistan are a good thing, and some don't. The flag might symbolize a political position: support the war. In order to maintain (at least) the appearance of impartiality in reporting the news, the absence of such symbols - be they the flag or any other - makes sense.
Second, C-SPAN is mainly about American politics, though they do show politically oriented programming from other parts of the world from time to time. For this reason, the flag is on the site.
Third, I am not a graphic artist and this graphic is a nice one that made the front page look nicer.
Fourth, I love the country, and I hope the visitors and contributors to the site are too. We don't have to be impartial, since we're not reporting the news to a wide audience. Why should we be impartial? It wouldn't be much fun if we all agreed on everything and didn't have much to talk about.
--mykes