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 ...
Be careful. I posted similar views on a similar thread and was attacked for having a “POS opinion”. Other posters joined in on the fun and berated everything about me. Of course, they never refuted the facts.
I swear I thought I had somehow stumbled onto the Daily KOmmunistS blog by mistake.
Good to know that there are still reasonable thinking FReepers around.
Keep your powder dry.
I know there are some really bad HOA/POA groups out there, but do you guys ever think that there are some good HOA/POA groups?
I purchased a home without being told that there was a POA, so what am I supposed to do? The real estate agent cut town and I am stuck either walking away from the property (and my down payment) or living by the rules.
More importantly, our POA has actually CUT our dues over the last year, cleaned up the houses that were falling down, got a crime watch going that shut down three drug labs (since the county sheriff wasn’t interested in us before the POA shamed THEM into action) and re-opened a public pool, a park and a boat ramp/dock!
Obviously, you always hear about the bad ones that demand people to take down their flags. But not all POAs are Nazi/Fascists trying to control you and infiltrate your lifestyle.
In my neighborhood, the gestapo HOA allowed the flag pole front or back. At first they were intolerant but since we are in war plus me being a vet and other homeowners we went to the meeting and kinda bully the officers. Sometimes you have to implement scary tactics to these sissy libtards.
It’s definitely a bad case to try to argue the merits of the HOA position. How do you go against a decorated war hero’s right to fly a flag? So it doesn’t matter what the rules are, or whether the HOA normally rejects these requests.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2400904/posts
Here’s the thread that has the maps and a picture of the house with the flagpole. Freeper Silly did some investigative work and posted the thread and pics on 12/5.
You purchased a home and did not know there was a POA. The POA cut its dues. The POA cleaned up bad properties.
Sir, thank you for your service to our country.
But you need to drop down on your knees and thank the Lord for His goodness to you.
You have indeed struck the HOA/POA lottery.;)
Our POA board consists of seven people.
President - Retired Navy staff-NCO
Secretary - Army Vet
One At-Large - Retired Army officer
Two At-Large - Air Force (Officer) and Marine (NCO) vets.
One Junior-At-Large: Army vet
Our last Junior-At-Large member is a military widow (Army).
Flags are NOT a problem for us. As a matter of fact, at our last meeting, one of the biggest complaints was that a recent storm had torn down our community flags and we had failed to replace them before Veteran’s Day and the Marine Corps birthday - the next day they were fixed!
Of course, the median age for our residents is about 67, so we have LOTS of military vets and retirees. A really laid back community.
As I was saying, our POA has been able to cut our monthly dues, because they hired a lawyer to go after the 200+ deadbeats that had not been paying their fair share! In March 2008, our POA had over $650K in past due dues! We are now down to only $240K in past due dues. That influx of money allowed the POA to cut back on the dues!
I do love our neighborhood and I do thank God for his graciousness to me on a daily basis! But I agree that we lucked into a really good situation.
Three years ago, the POA board here really messed over several people. They annexed some land that was sold without restrictions, and then platted the land WITH restrictions which caused a HUGE legal issue.
I found out that the shyster real estate agent that sold me the land was one of the original developers and he got the board to annex the land so that he was not held accountable for selling the un-plattted property. You see, without a filed plat, the home owners could not get water and sewer services. And the only water and sewer service provider in our county area was the PRIVATE PROPERTY of our POA. So, he tricked everyone into his legal dealings!
The POA has a lawyer after this crook too!
LOL!
I’m pretty sure that Gibbs will be hearing from the ACLU arm of the atheist Democrat party real soon.
I disagree.
Ironically, the essence of a homeowner's association is commune style marxism.
Are we living in a free country or aren't we?
“Ironically, the essence of a homeowner’s association is commune style marxism”.
...true, but it’s by choice. I live in an HOA and I knew what I was getting into when I bought. No schoolbuses parked out front, no barbed wire fence, people have to keep their yards up, you can’t just start chopping down trees etc. It works for some people. My entire cul de sac is as conservative as the day is long. McDonnel signs in 6 of 12 yards. Palin signs (last year) in 10 of 12.
Recently, the former 'Medal of Honor Society now refers to itself as the "Congressional Medal of Honor Society", offering the statement:
"The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Generally presented to its recipient by the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress, it is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor."
I used to get shirty about this, but since the Society has decided to call themselves the 'CMOHS', I guess I'll have to pull in my horns; They are the ones who had it bestowed, I'm not gonna argue with them.
On the other hand, that poster still lists a US Navy single shoulder/collar star insignia as 'Commodore', even though there have been no 1 star commodores since before WW-II. The Navy awards O-7s two stars as 'Rear Admirals, Lower Half'. This greatly irritates Brig. Generals of the Army/Air Force when they automatically salute Two-Star Admirals who are junior to them.
On the HOA subject, it seems to me that they should not be permitted to change a contract after the fact without a vote of the members of the association. Otherwise it would seem to be a method of creating 'ex- post-facto' laws, contrary to Constitutional Law. In other words, I'd find that unconstitutional.
But then, I'm just an old Vietnam Vet, not a lawyer.
Not that being a lawyer is a bad thing ... so to speak.
—ExIntrepid
Barfoot had sought permission to install the pole shortly after he moved into the community — a complex of townhouses where the grounds are community property — last June. The board denied his request in July.Now, it could be that after he asked for permission, but before they ruled, he built it -- but it is just as likely that the reporter in the story you cite was using shorthand in discussing what the daughter said, and that the pole hadn't been built yet in July when they rejected his request.But Barfoot and his family say there is no provision in Sussex Square's rules that forbids erecting flagpoles. And for Barfoot, that's a cause worth fighting for.
There is clearly a rule against the flag pole. It simply seems that there is no mention of the word "flag pole" in the rules.
THere is no mention in the criminal code about driving your car on two wheels. But if you did so down a public highway, they'd probably cite you for reckless driving. Because "reckless driving" includes all the different things you can do that would be considered reckless.
Likewise, HOA rules contain general prohibitions and restrictions that apply to classes of things, of which flag poles would be part of that class.
So while it could well be that the rules don't dictate the dissapproval of a flag pole, it is a red herring that the word "flagpole" doesn't appear in the bylaws.
BTW, the fact that he requested permission to put up the flag pole suggests that he understood they had authority to regulate items built in the front yard of his property. He probably didn't figure they'd reject a flag pole.
I’m with you guys. Since I want to fly a flag when ever I please, I will not buy a house in a development that has a “No flag poles” rule (Or a no goat grazing rule either)
In an HOA neighborhood you agree to maintain to a community standard. In a non-HOA area then anything goes.
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