Lynnwood, Washington Councilmember Isabel Mata went to bat for flying a Pride flag year-round in a public park this week — then casually admitted on camera that she would never raise an American flag at her own home. And no, she wasn't joking. She said it in a government meeting, on the record, with cameras rolling.
You really can't make this stuff up. These people tell us who they are every single day, and we should believe them.
Mata's exact words during the council debate were something to behold. "To me, a pride flag is way more relatable than an American flag," she told her fellow council members. Let that sink in. An elected official — someone who swore an oath to the Constitution — finds a rainbow flag more "relatable" than the flag that represents the country paying her salary.
But she wasn't done. Mata then volunteered this gem: "I would not raise an American flag at my house because I wouldn't... I wasn't even born here." Then, without missing a beat: "But I would raise a pride flag."
So being born in another country means you can't fly the American flag — the flag of the country that took you in, gave you opportunity, and elected you to public office — but a Pride flag? That one's fine. That's the logic we're working with in Lynnwood city government.
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The clip was posted by journalist Ari Hoffman and immediately went viral, as reported by Twitchy. And why wouldn't it? It's the most honest 30 seconds to come out of a government meeting in years.
Columist Miranda Devine had perhaps the best response to Mata's "I wasn't even born here" defense. Her reply was short and devastating: "Then shut up."
Here's what kills me. The city of Lynnwood already has a rainbow-colored "All are welcome" sign. Already there. Already up. But that wasn't enough for Mata. She needed that flag in the park — a flag she finds "way more relatable" than the 27 iterations of the American flag that men and women have fought and died under for 250 years.
Twenty-seven versions of Old Glory. Wars fought. Lives lost. Freedoms secured. And this councilwoman finds a flag that's been around since the 1970s "way more relatable."
We talk all the time about how the left hates America. We get told we're exaggerating, that we're being dramatic, that they just "want to make things better." And then Isabel Mata walks into a council meeting and says the quiet part out loud, on camera, in a government building.
She didn't misspeak. She didn't get taken out of context. She made a passionate argument for one flag and then specifically said she'd reject the American flag at her own home. That's not a gaffe. That's a confession.
This is what we're up against in local government. Not just in Washington, D.C. Not just in Congress. Your city council. Your parks department. People who think the American flag is less relatable than a political symbol — and they want to use your tax dollars to prove it.
Remember this clip next time someone tells you the culture war is a distraction. Isabel Mata just told you exactly where she stands. Believe her.