Posted on 07/01/2005 6:43:59 PM PDT by okie01
Patriotism Isn't Just Red, White and Blue I asked a friend what she was doing for the Fourth, and she replied, "The same thing we always do, the parade in Huntington Beach."
She and her husband don't have young children, so they're not going for the kids. They just love a parade and, presumably, their country. I should have pressed on whether they go to celebrate the country's birthday or because they like to stand in the sun and watch people passing slowly by in cars.
Had she asked me what I'd be doing on the Fourth, I would have said, "The same thing I always do — nothing."
I haven't gone to a Fourth of July parade in more than 30 years, and that last one I went to only because my newspaper assigned me to cover it.
Nor would I fly an American flag outside my door or wear one on my lapel. I'd sooner wear stripes with plaids.
Now, before you start shaking your head and pounding the words "liberal elitist jackanapes" in an e-mail, please factor in that I consider myself a patriot.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The very model of a "moderate", I suppose...
Personally, I'm not a fan of the flag-burning amendment. Morons who burn the flag are exercising their right of free speech. By the same token, am I not free to consider their "free speech" as "fighting words" -- and take appropriate action?
Ms. Parsons, however, doesn't seem to care...one way or the other.
I'd wager she doesn't get excited by Christmas, either...
Sorry, I don't buy that widely accepted idea that the Constitution is a living breathing document.
Me speaking is speech. - Me burning the flag, or anything else for that matter, is burning something, and as such, an action.
If anyone today could go back and explain that burning the flag is "speech" to our forefathers, they would have footprints on their butt.
Republicans flew flags long before it became cool on 9-11. We also kept them on our cars last election, rather than scraping them off to be replaced with a 'Howard Dean' sticker, followed by a 'Kerry' sticker only months later.
You favored McCain-Feingold and Campaign Finance Reform, then? You would not consider money the equivalent of speech?
Do people realize a person can burn the flag in front of a veteran, but if you give that traitor the middle finger back or swear at them in public, you may be arrested for lewd and disorderly conduct? That's not right. That has to change.
Every day of my life forces me to add to the number of people who can kiss my ass.
You favored McCain-Feingold and Campaign Finance Reform, then? You would not consider money the equivalent of speech?
No and no. Money is money, not speech.
It's absurd to say that I have more protected speech if I have more money.
All McCain did was loose 13 monkeys.
Damn right.
>>I consider myself a patriot<<
Saying so doesn't make it so. That's an opinion.
I consider you (the writer) to be a moron. That is a statement of fact (based on the article).
Do people realize a person can burn the flag in front of a veteran, but if you give that traitor the middle finger back or swear at them in public, you may be arrested for lewd and disorderly conduct? That's not right. That has to change. If they do it in front of this veteran, they'll be wishing I just gave them a middle finger instead of the entire fist. I've been to way too many funerals with flag covered caskets to put up with that crap.
To whom were you addressing that comment?
I took umbrage at first blush. Then, after posting, realized what you meant. My mistake.
IF she is unclear, or unsure, she is full of BS. If she really understood the history of this nation and its founders she would most definately without a doubt know the answer, and it isn't them just sitting by and not liking it.
She appears to be committed to nothing. Is there nothing she would die for? Is there anything worth living for?
It's one thing not to actively involve one's self in "the 4th of July" festivities. Laziness is a perfectly good reason. But she seems to have no clue as to why others get excited about it.
I wonder if she realizes how much she has revealed about herself...
How do they get through a parade in California?
With all the fags workin' themselves with the flagpoles, seems it'd be hard to get the Stars and Stripes down the street.
Please do name those honored in remembrance. They must be a heavy memory on you.
Anyone following the Duke Cunningham situation can probably give you several reasons why the idea of equating money with free speech is terribly flawed.
Taken as a whole, of course not. There are aspects of it that obviously violate the first amendment, but the idea of equating money with free speech is dangerous and logically absurd.
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