In the latest edition of ‘what the hell is wrong with people’ is starting to hit the national news cycle. This weekend a 39 year old man assaulted a 13 year old kid who did not remove his hat for the national anthem. He slammed the boys head into the ground causing him the bleed out of his ears and start seizing. He was flown to the nearby children’s hospital where he was diagnosed with a skull fracture
When bystanders rushed to the boys aid, the perp said the boy was disrespecting the national anthem so he had every right to do that. Oh, and he is currently on a 10 year probation for an assault with a weapon charge in 2010
I to don’t understand this obsession, be it in your country or mine.
There’s always the commentary, “my great grand father fought for that flag…”
Oh no they didn’t, they fought for their country, of which the flag is merely a symbol.
A christian cross is merely a symbol of the the religion as is the star and crescent is an iconographic symbol used in various historical contexts but most well known from the mid-late 20th century as a symbol of Islam.
A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a country, the design of which may be altered over time or as required.
A national flag is not the country.
To beat up on a child for “disrespecting the flag”. well, golly… you’ve gotta be kidding me.
** Sounds like a guy just looking for a reason to fight. The flag was his excuse**
Fight? I don’t think this event could be labeled as a fight. A full grown man blind-siding a middle school boy does not qualify as a fight. It’s a bully with anger issues assaulting a kid who didn’t deserve it.
Not sure this story has anything to do with obsession about the flag. This sounds like it’s just a bad dude with a tendency towards assaulting people.
Of course not. He’s probably mentally ill
Don’t rush to conclusions. It could be video games.
Given that this POS has lived about 15000 days and apparently on >99.98% of those days has managed to resist this kind of assault, and given the perp’s own words, I’m willing to bet that the toxic jingoism growing in Trumpistan had a major role in prompting his patriotic act.
Not sure this story has anything to do with obsession about the flag. This sounds like it’s just a bad dude with a tendency towards assaulting people.
Of course not. He’s probably mentally ill
Don’t rush to conclusions. It could be video games.
Given that this POS has lived about 15000 days and apparently on >99.98% of those days has managed to resist this kind of assault, and given the perp’s own words, I’m willing to bet that the toxic jingoism growing in Trumpistan had a major role in prompting his patriotic act.
I’m shocked… This made it past 10 posts before some blamed and or mentioned Trump. Kudos LR!!!
Not sure this story has anything to do with obsession about the flag. This sounds like it’s just a bad dude with a tendency towards assaulting people.
Of course not. He’s probably mentally ill
Don’t rush to conclusions. It could be video games.
Given that this POS has lived about 15000 days and apparently on >99.98% of those days has managed to resist this kind of assault, and given the perp’s own words, I’m willing to bet that the toxic jingoism growing in Trumpistan had a major role in prompting his patriotic act.
I’m shocked… This made it past 10 posts before some blamed and or mentioned Trump. Kudos LR!!!
That swooooshhhh you felt was the 5th post going over your head.
I to don’t understand this obsession, be it in your country or mine.
There’s always the commentary, “my great grand father fought for that flag…”
Oh no they didn’t, they fought for their country, of which the flag is merely a symbol.
A christian cross is merely a symbol of the the religion as is the star and crescent is an iconographic symbol used in various historical contexts but most well known from the mid-late 20th century as a symbol of Islam.
A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a country, the design of which may be altered over time or as required.
A national flag is not the country.
Billboards have popped up in Michigan with an American flag and the text. “We believe it’s more than just a symbol.” I saw several of them on a road trip last weekend and they genuinely left me scratching my head. What could be the argument that they are something more than a symbol? The only thing I can think of is that they feel calling it a symbol somehow cheapens it and offends them. Very confusing.
This was a number of years ago. I deployed to the Gulf. I brought back one of the flags we flew at camp. I struggled, a lot, after returning from the deployment. Shortly after my return, one of my best friends, who had a wife and 5 kids, was killed when his helicopter was shot down. Same route I took on a regular basis. I was single at the time. Struggled for years over the guilt of it being him and not me. Anyhoo … I promised my guys I would fly the flag until they all came home. After I got out of the Army, I started flying the flag at my house. I have a full size flag pole in my front yard. I had lights on the pole so I could fly it at night. I checked with my buddies every day to find out who was still there and I flew that flag every day and I cried, every now and then, without warning, when I looked at the flag. The flag had been through a lot and was started to get worn. Protocol says to destroy it, but, I couldn’t. I made a promise. We have a local fair in our neighborhood every year. It is huge, two days, 10-12k people each day. During the fair, a police officer knocked on my door. It was a guy who knew me by sight, but, didn’t really know me personally. He told me an elderly gentleman, a WWII vet, had gone to the police trailer at the fair to report my flag that was in ill repair and should have been retired. The officer apologized, but, knew I was a vet and wanted to let me know. Through tears of sadness and anger, I explained why the flag was still up. The officer was visibly shaken. I asked him to try to track down that elderly gentleman and explain. I then created a small sign at Kinko’s, explaining the flag, and posted it on my flag pole. I did that until my last guy came home. Then, I took down the flag, took it to the local VFW, and retired it.
To both me and the elderly WWII vet, the flag was more than just a symbol.
Of course, none of this is to condone or justify violence and the guy in the story in the OP needs to go to jail for a very, very long time.
Well, this is the LR so no better to place wade into a pointless debate, here goes. You make a compelling case that the flag is a very powerful symbol but I still don’t see it as more than a symbol. Materially it is a piece of cloth. For you it represents some very powerful life events but the flag is not those events. The flag is something you associate with those events. It’s the definition of a symbol.
Hoping you don’t take any of this as disrespectful.
Second, is it simply protocol that it be taken down or a law?
Third, while I point out at work to the grounds keeper sometimes that the flag needs to be replaced, I do it because I know that someone will get bent out of shape about the flag being torn and complain and he’ll get shit for it. I can’t imagine going to the police to report a ripped flag.
This was a number of years ago. I deployed to the Gulf. I brought back one of the flags we flew at camp. I struggled, a lot, after returning from the deployment. Shortly after my return, one of my best friends, who had a wife and 5 kids, was killed when his helicopter was shot down. Same route I took on a regular basis. I was single at the time. Struggled for years over the guilt of it being him and not me. Anyhoo … I promised my guys I would fly the flag until they all came home. After I got out of the Army, I started flying the flag at my house. I have a full size flag pole in my front yard. I had lights on the pole so I could fly it at night. I checked with my buddies every day to find out who was still there and I flew that flag every day and I cried, every now and then, without warning, when I looked at the flag. The flag had been through a lot and was started to get worn. Protocol says to destroy it, but, I couldn’t. I made a promise. We have a local fair in our neighborhood every year. It is huge, two days, 10-12k people each day. During the fair, a police officer knocked on my door. It was a guy who knew me by sight, but, didn’t really know me personally. He told me an elderly gentleman, a WWII vet, had gone to the police trailer at the fair to report my flag that was in ill repair and should have been retired. The officer apologized, but, knew I was a vet and wanted to let me know. Through tears of sadness and anger, I explained why the flag was still up. The officer was visibly shaken. I asked him to try to track down that elderly gentleman and explain. I then created a small sign at Kinko’s, explaining the flag, and posted it on my flag pole. I did that until my last guy came home. Then, I took down the flag, took it to the local VFW, and retired it.
To both me and the elderly WWII vet, the flag was more than just a symbol.
Of course, none of this is to condone or justify violence and the guy in the story in the OP needs to go to jail for a very, very long time.