Woman To Take Down American Flag

[Darin]

I would never ever let my kids join the military. Why fight and die for this?!? Freaking waste of a good country. It's gone, and there is no going back. I guess this is the change hoped for. I now envy drug addicts that don't care.

Is it okay to show your patriotism at the office?

For one Arlington woman, the answer was "no" after she hung an American flag in her office just before the Memorial Day weekend.

Debbie McLucas is one of four hospital supervisors at Kindred Hospital in Mansfield. Last week, she hung a three-by-five foot American flag in the office she shares with the other supervisors.

When McLucas came to work Friday, her boss told her another supervisor had found her flag offensive. "I was just totally speechless. I was like, 'You're kidding me,'" McLucas said.

McLucas' husband and sons are former military men. Her daughter is currently serving in Iraq as a combat medic.

Stifling a cry, McLucas said, "I just wonder if all those young men and women over there are really doing this for nothing."

[guitvai1]

Well it's one thing to be patriotic, it's another to go into a country you weren't invited into in the first place, put young men and women in harms way, and totally screw it up in the name of "national security" and finding"weapons of mass destruction".

[CosmicDebris]

Who has the popcorn?

[mike570]

I don't see what Obama has to do with this, but....
... regardless what some of our own people think of this country or its policies, I think if you're an "American" and you're offended that someone would fly our own flag, then maybe it's time for you to leave. Perhaps they can trade with someone in, say, Latin America who would love to be a US citizen!

[toneboy]

Originally Posted by guitvai1

Well it's one thing to be patriotic, it's another to go into a country you weren't invited into in the first place, put young men and women in harms way, and totally screw it up in the name of "national security" and finding"weapons of mass destruction".

So who exactly are you blaming for all that of that?

[guitvai1]

Originally Posted by toneboy

So who exactly are you blaming for all that of that?

You don't have to look any further than last year and the previous 7 years those 'saviors of the free world' (albeit in there own self serving interest of oil and big business) where in the White House.

[DavyH]

Darin you're stirring. Nothing more.

[nickcoumbe]

Originally Posted by DavyH

Darin you're stirring. Nothing more.

I see what you are saying, but the ideal of patriotism really carries negative connotations and that is a great shame.

If you are English it is difficult to fly the George Cross without looking like a football hooligan. As far as the Union Jack goes, forget it. The right wing Nationalist/Isolationist parties own that. It is sad, but true.

[Pursuit]

We had something like that in Australia.

Some guy had an Australian flag on a pole in his backyard and his neighbour sent him to court because he found it "offensive".



What part of their own national emblem is offensive ot them exactly? Does anyone know?

[mike570]

I think you should be proud to fly the flag of whatever country you're a citizen of. Disrespecting the flag is like disrespecting your people; all of them!
I guess there's always some complaining overly-sensitive Mary in every bunch. I could see if it was the Confederate or Nazi flag, but certainly not the Stars and Stripes.
As for the perception of Americans; we may have had a complete imbecile in charge for the last eight years but maybe we can turn things around and actually begin to make wise and responsible decisions in the future.

[eviltwin]

When it's your country's flag it's ok, just remember to observe flag protocol; take it down at night, in bad weather, fly other flags at equal height! Flying the US flag higher than others or vice versa is in essence a declaration of war. The problem lies in US flag protocol:

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/faq.htm#q76

wall of shame:

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/wallofshame.htm

What also really gets me when our flag (the flag of the Netherlands: Red, White and Blue) is used for silly decorations in the US, especially for roadside stalls selling produce.

The thing is once you display your flag, for being honestly proud or patriottic, someone else could display his, and the whole thing could become nationalistic and politised. What if your colleague or neighbour puts up a North Korean flag?

So when you're in a public place (incl work) the flag should be a public display, not an individual display. If you put up one flag it should be represent the nation you're in, next include the company's home flag, flags of guests and visiting companies/indivuals (ie customers) and, lastly, flags recognising individual workers.

On a side note, I remember that the (US!) company I worked for took down all the flags (inc US) displayed at our office, after September 11th, out of fear. Which I found paranoid and cowardly.


I found this as well, in United States' Code:

§176(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

[jemaholic]

Originally Posted by guitvai1

You don't have to look any further than last year and the previous 7 years those 'saviors of the free world' (albeit in there own self serving interest of oil and big business) where in the White House.

I don't want this to turn into a politcal flame post.

~j

[mike570]

I agree with Eviltwin in terms of protocol. It bugged me that by about April 2002, you started to see a lot of pink, white, and pale blue tattered flags on people's cars. I actually noted this to a few people where I worked at the time. Some looked at me like I had 6 heads. You should take down the flag when it gets un such a poor condition.
I have no problem if an individual wants to put up their own country's flag as long as it's tasteful and not a hurtfull symbol of oppression. I think N Korea would fall into the realm of Nazi Germany as far as flags are concerned.
I can see the potential for awkwardness, I guess, though. You see lots of people flying other countries flags in South Florida, but it's usually a heritage thing and usually people from the Caribbean or Latin America. Many of them who are US citizens are VERY proud to be citizens. Being Puerto Rican, I see a lot of PR flags everywhere, even though we're all born US citizens. Then again, some peple who fly the Confederate flag claim its out of southern heritage even though to some it's a very painful symbol. Touchy!
I still don't think a US citizen should have a problem flying the US flag, though.

[GilkyBear]

Who knows, maybe the person complaining just saw their sons flag draped coffin get wheeled off a plane and it hurts them too much to have it in their face at the moment? Not likely, but again, who knows?

The bottom line is, if we as a nation are bothered enough by it then we would change the law. Obviously enough people are not bothered by it yet.

Also, don't forget, if we made a big deal of it, changed the law to make it a serious crime to disrespect the flag, then I guarantee you would see a huge increase in these instances simply by people trying to draw attention to their cause.

In this case, perhaps they could have come to a compromise. Maybe a 3x5 foot flag wasn't entirely necessary. How about a smaller one? Where does that stop? What if she brought in a 9 1/2 X 5 foot flag and covered a wall? Would people be unpatriotic for saying it is inappropriate in their workplace? How about the state flag?

I consider myself a pretty patriotic guy, but in this particular case I would not be too butt hurt. I would simply want to know who it was that complained so I would know who it was and I simply would not want to hang around that person when I didn't have to.

I guess what I'm saying is that this doesn't 'necessarily' make them a bad person, just not a very patriotic one.

[Rotti]

Love it or leave it. I don't think that there should be tolerance for anyone who has a problem with the flag or the anthem of the country they have the pleasure of living in.

There was a school principal near where I live that banned the national anthem each morning because some kids parents didn't like it. Once the news got out he changed his policy pretty quick.