Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Great post! We don't agree often but I enjoyed this and agree 100% I don't like people taking liberties with the flag either. My Dad was a Marine in WWII and even though he would never tell us kids anything about his experiences in combat...he would tell us certain things. One was they were in the jungle for 40 days straight. They were filthy, hungry and almost broken mentally. When they finally got relieved they marched out and when they hit the beach they saw a Navy ship with the American flag flying and every single one of them cried when they saw it. The flag meant something different to those guys as I'm sure it has to every generation who had to fight for it.
There ya go! That's what I'm talking about.
The national flag of any nation has very likely had it's genesis born from the blood sacrifice of it's citizens, regardless however; national flags are intended to epitomize the very moral, ethical and heartfelt ideals of the nation it represents. They are for al intents and purposes to be considered a living breathing entity. Ask the flag if it minds being dragged on the road by a teen as the result of a pizzing contest between another teen and a school principal.
My father served overseas and saw conflict over a 4 year period during WWII in N. Africa, Italy, Holland, Belgium, France and lastly Germany as a Troop Sergeant of a group of Shermans and Stuarts in an armoured division. Wounded twice, he, like your Marine dad, would never talk about his experiences until into his seventies and after both my older brother and I had both served time in the military ourselves, then over a couple of rums the stories would curl our hair with what those young guys were subjected to and managed to survive.
Unlike some of the "vets" on here, he would have bristled at the prospect of his flag being hung from the back of a kids school ride, and further, dragged on the street out the window of a car by another.
My only objection expressed in this thread seems lost in the patriotic fervor over an idiot bureaucrat making a stupidly bad decision while forgetting that the flag should never be the object of a cheap and tawdry display of "easy" patriotism.
I'm not taking issue with the displaying of the flag; I'm taking issue with the manner in which it's being trivialized by flying it in ignorance of all the protocols derived at to accord it the deserved respect.
First the administrator told him that the flags could possibly be "offensive" to other students, then he tried to claim that the flags were a safety hazard that could obstruct other drivers view, but the police said the flags were legal, so the school has no legitimate ground to stand on there either.
In response, several students, in a show of solidarity, arrived at the school the next morning in a convoy, their American flags fluttering in the wind behind them.....
School officials have since "made an exception" for the American flag, as if they have the authority to make such rules in the first place.....
Kudos to those who stood together in exercising their Freedom of Speech!
There is a lot more to this story than what is reported in the OP, especially with the response and the location of where this happened (South Carolina).
"The bed of a pick up truck could be presumed to be filthy in comparison to not touching anything at all couldn't it?" " There you go again with the presumptions."
Looking at the outside of the truck I would "assume" that the bed is just as clean.
"That's not sanctimony, that's simply stating an opinion. "
I disagree. You not ONLY stated your opinion but, you chastise ANYONE who DOESN'T agree with you.
"The rules are there and should not be ignored' Agreed but, here is we, and many posters and those on the scene, differ.
You and I are going to have to 'agree to disagree' on this as you are not going to cede the point that although the rules clearly state the flag should never, never be hung touching ANYTHING underneath it because presumption of inability to furl or contamination. You're willing to give that a pass because the kids truck looks clean at the time of the photo. That is the rule I'm not willing to overlook and am tacking on my own (opinion only) the flag in this instance is being used as a cheap and tawdry display of "easy" patriotism being flown from the back of a teens school ride.
That rule is clear and uncomplicated at all and not open to debate because you presume the truck is clean therefore the bed is too. It's not about the cleanliness of the actual floor it's about the rule's intent that anything the flag touches below it is presumed to contaminate the flag. Even your dining room table would not be exempt.
Many disagreeing with me has never stymied me before and I'm too old to let it now.
Had there not been the back-story of the stupid principal attempting to forbid him, I would surmise more would be on here agreeing with my stance.
Let's just agree that I'm being anally intractable about flag rules and leave it at that.
There is a lot more to this story than what is reported in the OP, especially with the response and the location of where this happened (South Carolina).
Please, please don't tell me this is a revival of the old rivalries based on an orientation of a compass point with the flag being used as a lightening rod?
I Fly from my vehicle Old Gory and my State Flag of Arizona. I hope I offend every Illegal Immigrant in South Florida and the Miami Area. Its time being American in this Country is not being in some form of bad taste. If you do not Love what this country offers to people, one should leave immediately.
There is a lot more to this story than what is reported in the OP, especially with the response and the location of where this happened (South Carolina).
When the Mexican flag can be trotted around on our soil and even flown above `Ol Glory, and we sit there and take it in fear of punishment, we should all be ashamed to be Americans.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Very Good.
