Me years ago emceeing the American community's 4th of July party at the American club in Hanoi (circa 1998 - I think)

Description: http://rockandrolltavern-hanoi.com/ac.jpg

For three years running I was the emcee of the American community's 4th of
July celebration in Hanoi, Vietnam. I stopped doing this after I moved back
to Saigon. I had a friend, Steve Bruny, who just wrote me with this photo
asking whether I still had this "Republican tie", as he called it. I was
perplexed. I am pretty sure Jay Ellis, owner of the R & R Tavern at the
time, had this one from somewhere. Why is the American flag considered
"Republican"? I am neither Republican nor Democratic. I am a registered
Libertarian, which most everyone who knows me well knows this fact about me.
Nonetheless, the tie was a gift from a Vietnamese in the first place. And
maybe I do still have it?