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Obama Spokesman: 'Silly' Not to Allow Vet to Fly Flag
AP ^ | December 8th, 2009

Posted on 12/08/2009 3:52:00 AM PST by castlegreyskull

Edited on 12/08/2009 5:39:33 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]

WASHINGTON -- White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that it is "silly" to think that a 90-year-old Medal of Honor winner is being asked to remove a flagpole from his front yard.


(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: barfoot; bhoveteran; colonel; elderly; mohrecipient; oldglory; vanbarfoot; veteran
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To: castlegreyskull

Gibbs likes to use the word “silly” doesn’t he? Unfortuately, most of what this administration does
is anything but silly to the country.


21 posted on 12/08/2009 4:36:32 AM PST by 1776 Reborn
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To: exit82
Do not buy in an HOA neighborhood.

Precisely!

funny story......... ..... back 40+ years ago in HS, my friend lived in one of those communities and was regulated to the max. Somehow, the local garbage contractor bought a home there....after a few months he started to leave 3 or 4 garbage trucks parked out front of his house, in this High Tone neigborhood....

and do you know what the committee did about it.

NOTHING, BUPKISS, ZERO, ZILCH, NADDA...

because the carting company owner was a Mafiosi....and they were scarred $h!tless of him.....

22 posted on 12/08/2009 4:39:30 AM PST by Vaquero (BHO....'The Pretenda from Kenya')
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To: Man50D
a 90-year-old Medal of Honor winner
Maybe Gibbs thinks its like winning the lottery... or winning the nobel prize.
23 posted on 12/08/2009 4:40:32 AM PST by samtheman
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To: Vaquero

The Board was not stupid—they knew they would be sleeping with the fishes if they complained.

Most Boards develop into a bunch of bullies—who only back down when you refuse to comply with their demands.


24 posted on 12/08/2009 4:42:49 AM PST by exit82 (Democrats are the enemy of freedom. Sarah Palin is our Esther.)
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To: samtheman

Gibbs meant to say “Its silly that Nobama is President”.


25 posted on 12/08/2009 4:44:15 AM PST by hal ogen
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To: pnh102; albie

“So what should Col. Barfoot do with the flag then, throw it on the ground?”

Perhaps he could fly it from a staff attached to his porch which apparently is allowed by the rules as there are others in his neighborhood who do just that.


26 posted on 12/08/2009 4:46:27 AM PST by Lee'sGhost (Johnny Rico picked the wrong girl!)
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To: castlegreyskull
Oh, By the way, Coates & Davenport, P.C. (800) 450-8311 (I suggest calling!) says,

Statement from the Sussex Square Homeowners Association Dec. 3, 2009

The Sussex Square Homeowners Association never intended its request that Col. Barfoot remove his flag pole as an affront to his patriotism.

This is not about the American flag. This is about a flag pole. And Col. Barfoot is not being forbidden from displaying an American flag.

With its request that he remove the flag pole, the association was discharging its duty to all the owners in the neighborhood. The association's position has merit and is supported by its Bylaws, Rules and Declaration of Restrictions and Covenants.

The association is optimistic that this matter can be resolved in a way that is mutually satisfactory to all parties and looks forward to Senator Mark Warner's involvement toward that end.

Anyone who wishes to offer comments may do so at colbarfootsflagpole@gmail.com

Thank you,

Coates & Davenport

Richmond, Virginia

The phoney email address at the end could have been "round_file@gmail.com" - So I suggest calling:
(800) 450-8311
Also the "Contact Us" link takes you to a form that works. That's a good alternative. The domain of the email address field must be legitimate - but that's all.
27 posted on 12/08/2009 4:58:21 AM PST by kinsman redeemer (The real enemy seeks to devour what is good.)
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To: Vaquero
....I think I would rather die than either live in a marxist society....or sign one of those draconian, POS, home owners regulations....If I want to graze goats on my front lawn, I will....and effff the neighbors....

And efff the neighbors and their free-love homosexual drug clinic next door too. ;-)

28 posted on 12/08/2009 5:01:50 AM PST by rhombus
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To: pnh102

Should the good Colonel have been allowed to abrogate all of the military regs he was subject to because he wanted to?

If the man agreed to the HOA rules, then he should abide by them or sell his house. His honor as an officer and a gentleman requires nothing less.

Your transmutation of the issue of his agreement into a suggestion to dishonor the flag does nothing to support any reasonable argument.


29 posted on 12/08/2009 5:05:39 AM PST by MortMan (Stubbing one's toes is a valid (if painful) way of locating furniture in the dark.)
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To: joe fonebone; albie

Joe is probably correct, ‘aesthetics’ covers whatever someone wants to complain about loudly enough. My mom lived in a HOA neighborhood. Each townhouse had a small area in front, people filled them with stones, or shrubs, flowers etc. One person put a small, *very* small fountain in. Suddenly, it was against the rules because ‘some child might fall in’. Someone else placed a small park-type bench in theirs. Suddenly it was ‘no furniture allowed in front’. One family put a small pool out for their children (pool was emptied and put away nightly) and the kids hung their towels over the back porch rail to dry. ‘No clothes allowed to hang over railings’. Someone complained because a house installed blue mini-blinds in their bedroom facing the street, thought they should be a ‘neutral’ color.

To be fair, most of these complaints came from Mr. Picky, the name given to the HOA president. But there was nothing in the HOA paperwork that said anything about these issues. Often it’s just left to individual interpretation, whoever complains loudly enough (and there’s always one) or the HOA pres, who tends to be the Mr. Picky type.


30 posted on 12/08/2009 5:07:46 AM PST by ktscarlett66 (Face it girls....I'm older and I have more insurance....)
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To: Vaquero

yeah but when the neighbor paints his house bright neon pink, puts up Gay Pride signs all over the yard or turns the place into a junk yard you might think again. They effectively lock you into your home because no one will buy it with that eyesore. HOAs are designed to keep things a certain way for a common benefit.

On the other hand, if you have enough land to live on your own then rock on....


31 posted on 12/08/2009 5:13:48 AM PST by misterrob (A society that burdens future generations with debt can not be considered moral or just)
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To: castlegreyskull
"silly"?? How about hate-filled, anti-American, and fascist?
32 posted on 12/08/2009 5:17:47 AM PST by chuck_the_tv_out ( <<< click my name: now featuring Freeper classifieds)
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To: castlegreyskull

Has Gibbs come out and said the HOA acted stupidly?


33 posted on 12/08/2009 5:34:48 AM PST by Rebelbase (Green bean casserole is a culinary curse upon mankind)
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To: Man50D
It says "awarded" it later on. Personally, my view is that in damn near every case one earns it. Awarded can be taken to mean something like the old Soviet commissars being given the Hero of the Soviet Union award, basically for breathing. Winning may actually be a better word.

HOAs should not exist, at least not with the power of compulsion over private property. That privilege should lay solely with governments subject to Constitutional limitations.

34 posted on 12/08/2009 5:35:01 AM PST by E Rocc (: "fixing" the economy with socialism is doing laundry with raw sewage.)
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To: E Rocc
Winning may actually be a better word.

That is not the terminology used by the military.
35 posted on 12/08/2009 5:36:11 AM PST by Man50D (Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it! www.FairTaxNation.com)
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To: Silly
'Silly' Not to Allow Vet to Fly Flag

Dude, you need to back the hell off and let the man fly his flag.

36 posted on 12/08/2009 5:40:06 AM PST by Petronski (Global warming is indeed man-made: it was created by man-made manipulation of the data.)
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To: Lee'sGhost
"Perhaps he could fly it from a staff attached to his porch which apparently is allowed by the rules as there are others in his neighborhood who do just that."

Great point. I do wish people would actually research the issue rather than just react to headlines.

-The man is allowed to fly his flag
-The man is allowed to have a flagpole attached to his house
-The man asked to build this flagpole on community property and was told no
-The man built it anyway on land he does not own
-This is one of those weird neighborhoods where people own the home and not the land

Just a FYI:

This same issue came up in Florida when the HOA nazis tried to stop people from building flagpoles. The state passed a law that said HOA's could not stop people but...the pole would have to be built on the homeowners private property. So even supporters of flagpoles and enemies of HOA nazis recognize the fact that you need to build it on YOUR OWN PROPERTY!

37 posted on 12/08/2009 5:54:01 AM PST by icwhatudo ("laws requiring compulsory abortion could be sustained under the existing Constitution"Obama Adviser)
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To: Vaquero; albie

This pretty much brings into conflict our patriotism and freedom of expression with the precedence of contracts or even zoning laws and codes too

but this is a bad case to uphold homowner association regs on


38 posted on 12/08/2009 5:54:31 AM PST by wardaddy (Angel Flight by Radney Foster on GAC, if you don't tear up then you must be mighty cold)
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To: Man50D

yeah, thats just the liberal mentality. Nothing is ever earned. Everything is given.


39 posted on 12/08/2009 5:56:02 AM PST by envisio (The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.)
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To: misterrob
yeah but when the neighbor paints his house bright neon pink, puts up Gay Pride signs all over the yard or turns the place into a junk yard you might think again. They effectively lock you into your home because no one will buy it with that eyesore. HOAs are designed to keep things a certain way for a common benefit.

If I am interested in controlling what happens to the house next door, I should purchase it. Otherwise, I should shut up and mind my own business.

40 posted on 12/08/2009 6:01:51 AM PST by Sloth (Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8)
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