Connecticut’s cities and towns might do well to take note of Wethersfield’s experience this year with the use of government flagpoles for political propaganda.

At the start of the year the Town Council had a policy of allowing only government flags to be flown on town government flagpoles. But in February the council changed the policy to oblige a request to fly the "pride" flag on the pole at Town Hall to show support for sexual minorities. Some council members foresaw the problem this would cause — that the council soon would have to choose among controversial and politically propagandistic requests.

Indeed, in voting to fly the "pride" flag, the council didn't inquire seriously into what the flag represents. Was it representing only the rights enjoyed by all people under our constitutions and laws? Or did the flag also represent the claims of men to participate in women's sports, use women's restrooms, and, if imprisoned, to be held in women's prisons? The "pride" flag is flown by many advocates of transgenderism.

But the council voted anyway to change the policy so the "pride" flag could be flown, and, sure enough, another flag request became controversial in June. The family of a Wethersfield native who became a Hartford police officer and was killed there in the line of duty asked the council to fly the "thin blue line" flag at Town Hall in his memory. The "thin blue line" flag is a U.S. flag with its middle white stripe colored blue to honor police officers.

Whereupon a council member complained that the flag would be construed as racist because some police are racist and some people who wave the flag are racist.

The complaint was a wild stretch, but it was made by a Democratic member of the council, the council has a Democratic majority and Democrats are easily intimidated by complaints of racism, no matter how crazy. So the council's majority rejected the request to honor the Hartford officer by flying the "thin blue line" flag at Town Hall.

Dozens of Wethersfield residents were enraged, as were many other people throughout the state. The town got lots of unfavorable publicity for seeming to be advocating transgenderism while disrespecting cops.

So the other day the council decided unanimously to revert to the old policy: Now only government flags are to fly on Wethersfield town government flagpoles.

Council member Emily Zambrello explained her reversal.

"This isn't something I wanted to change back," she said, "but circumstances have changed, and we can now see that this is way too much to continue to deal with. We can't keep having ideological discussions on flags. It's not a good use of anyone's time, and it's ultimately not helping people more than it's hurting them."

That is, like most municipal councils, many of which also have had to confront the flag issue, Wethersfield's has plenty of ordinary work to do without enlisting on one side or the other in the culture war. The culture warriors can carry their flags into battle everywhere, parade with them and fly them on their own property, but government flagpoles should remain neutral ground — if not to be fair to all, then at least to spare elected officials from becoming casualties of the culture war.

What about abortion regulations?

In early September the state Public Health Department held a hearing on its strange proposal to repeal three regulations that impose small impediments to abortion, regulations consistent with the principles established by the U.S. Supreme Court’s famous decision in the case of Roe v. Wade and the principles of Connecticut's own abortion law.

The proposal seemed inspired by state legislators who say they want to "go beyond Roe" — that is, to authorize late-term abortion, the abortion of healthy and viable fetuses.

The department has yet to decide on repeal of the regulations, and refused to reply to this writer's inquiry as to whether it was delaying a decision to avoid renewing the controversy while candidates were campaigning for the General Assembly.

Chris Powell has written about Connecticut government and politics for many years. He can be reached at CPowell@cox.net.