Bush Frees Up Flag Displays

[kskiska]

President Bush on Monday signed a bill that would bar condominium and homeowner associations from restricting how the American flag can be displayed.

Sponsored by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., the resolution would prohibit those groups from preventing residents from displaying an American flag on their own property.

It was passed unanimously by both the House and the Senate.

more…
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/07/24/national/w144746D97.DTL&type=politics

[leftchick]

1. Oh Thank God! I am SOOOOO Relieved!

This is THE issue I have been most worried about! God Save The Flag!

:sarcasm:


:puke:

[TexasLawyer]

16. Yes. our glorious leader

comes through for us yet again! It was a brave stand.

[bennywhale]

19. I'm from the Uk so don't know about

this issue.

Were people honestly banned from displaying a flag on their own property???

i find that astonishing, whats that got to do with anyone else????

I thought it was a free country

[Demeter]

23. Condos Can Be VERY Restrictive

And Co-ops, too. We have rules on what cannot be done: No signs (not even for sale, except during open house times) no storage outside, no advertising on cars (if you have a business vehicle, for example, no lettering on it), no use of strong-smelling incense, spices, or cooking. It goes on for pages. The goal is to make living tightly together bearable.

[bennywhale]

25. I thought America had loads

of space. Living together tightly?? I live and learn. I live in a old redbricked terraced flat with families above below and to the sides of my walls. We get on fine (ish)

I suppose if people enter voluntarily thats fine. i just suddenly thought this was nationwide. Thanks

[Javaman]

28. I finally shook off the shackles of a home owners assoc...

We wanted to hang a clothes line in our back yard. Wouldn't been seen from the street. Hell, we wanted to save money and energy instead of running the damn dryer.

when I mentioned this at a meeting, they looked at me like I was crazy.

Fine, I said, we are moving anyway. But one day, you will recall what I have said here when energy prices go sky high, then I won't sound so nuts.

They rolled their collective snooty eyes at me.

I now am in a home owner association free zone and we have our clothes line up. :)

Those restricted neighborhoods will be the dead zones for living in the near future.

[bennywhale]

29. Its strange, because 'Homeowners association' and 'collectives'

sound actually very European and socialist. They sound empowering and liberating through collective action. But by the sounds of what you are saying they are just ways to control the way other people live, to homogenise a place.

They actually sound pretty creepy

[Javaman]

33. They are very creepy and yes it's all about control...

They want to have these Utopian looking neighborhoods, for what ever reason, but at the same time, they make no bones about the concept that it is a total power trip to those that sit on the board.

They actually get off on it.

I have had a member tell me with a smarmy sort of smile, "if you don't like it, move" then laughed in my face. Like their neighborhood was the only one in the universe. It was weird. If I wasn't an adult, I would have punched him in the mouth.

The best description of these HOA's is: medieval fiefdoms.

I could go on and on, but I'm away from those control freaks now.

[MrPrax]

30. Even Xmas Lights!!!!

This makes my Diety mad!!!

It certainly won't be presents that Rudolph and the boys will be dropping next time!!!

[Julius Civitatus]

27. These people have a FLAG FETISH

It's starting to become a pathology.

[DianeG5385]

2. Does this apply ONLY to the American flag?

What if some folks wanted to hoist the confederate flag or the skull and crossbones? A Raiders banner????

[Kagemusha]

4. I remember this. The Daily Show did a piece on this stuff.

The homeowner association head came off like a zoning nazi too.

I suggest reading the bill to find out but, I imagine it only applies to the American flag. Whether it applies to flying the flag correctly, I don't know.

Sounds like this bill is meant to remove any limits on say, size, too

[RoseMead]

12. We have a pirate flag

that we put out so visitors can find our house. Or any other time we want to scare the neighbors. :7

[Bassic]

31. Best. Idea. Ever.

:rofl:

[kskiska]

3. Suppose someone wanted to fly the flag upside-down?

The condo board couldn't stop them.

[Captain Hilts]

7. Then you'd have to deal with the condo assn. buster! nt

[54anickel]

5. Arrest, Death Threat, for Farmer with Upside Down Flag

So will he protect this guy since he the bill is about NOT restricting how the American flag can be displayed?


http://progressive.org/mag_mc071906

Dale Klyn raises beef cows in Corydon, Iowa.

For the past six years, he has been flying an American flag on his property.

But since May 21, that flag has been upside down.

He gives two reasons.

First, he’s angry at a judge for allowing a debtor of his to declare bankruptcy. The debtor, who had bought a business from Klyn on a contract and still owed him $282,000, now only has to “pay me six cents on the dollar,” says Klyn. “The judge approved that on the 18th of May. I was pretty upset about that.”

Second, he wants to show solidarity for Terri Jones.

She’s the Iowa mom who has been flying her flag upside down after her son returned from the Iraq War and committed suicide. (Klyn had never met her before.)

“When I got the Des Moines Register and read the article about Terri Jones and how her son didn’t get the medical attention he needed, I decided I’m going to support her and oppose what the judge had done and fly my flag upside down,” he says.

It got a reaction.

more...

[CornField]

26. I'm ashamed this is happening in Iowa eom

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. Can they hang the flags with the GOP politicians still stuck to them?

[RangerSmith]

24. Did you miss

the "unanimously" part?

This will eventually end up in the Supreme Court.

As long as you are notified before you buy or move-in, this shouldn't be an issue.

I've about come to the conclusion that my vote is going to go to whomever in the race isn't the incumbent.

[lumpy]

8. Another freedom of individuality

and self-determination bites the dust. "Gotta' git' all them flags and ducks in a row. Keep on printin' them flag stamps and strike up the band fer' the star spangled banner. Might be a fabulous idea to ask our supporters to hang my pitcher in the barber shop, mebbe Walmart; big posters just like Saddam. Anyone heard about that plan to put me on Mt.Bushmore or whatever?"

[saigon68]

20. Here is the Big Chimpanzee in all his glory

[Charlie Brown]

9. I don't understand the point of this law

I guess I agree with the law in principle. I just don't know why it's limited to the US Flag, and why Homeowners would need permission in the first place.

Homeowners have a legal right to display whatever they want on their property without the Associations interfering.

It seems like this is giving the Homeowner Associations MORE authority to dictate what can and can't be displayed by legitimizing authority they do not have in the first place and making out like the US Flag is somehow sacred.

[951-Riverside]

10. Hey he forgot to include Satellite Dishes and TV Antennas

:rofl:

[54anickel]

11. Wonder if I can get him to add allowing clotheslines in that bill? Maybe

even permission to park in the driveway overnight and leaving the garage door up for the day? Those were just some of the restrictions of a home owners association down the road from my brothers' place in Florida.

Hey Bush, howz-bout it?

[HuffleClaw]

13. why people would agree to such restrictions is beyond me

and THEN whine about 'their rights'?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

14. It's official: The House is more stupid than I thought. n/t

[ThsMchneKilsFascists]

15. did the house & senate vote on motherhood and apple pie as well?

The posturing knows no bounds while real and pressing issues fall by the wayside

[w4rma]

17. This must be the only law I've ever seen him sign that I agree with.

It took the Republican leadership long enough though. They could have passed this law years ago back when the controversy was in the news. And of course Democrats supported it wholehartedly.

[BrightKnight]

18. A BS law but I agree with it

I have flown a flag from a mount that I installed on the balcony of my apartment. I fly it on major holidays and when I have another good reason. I always fly it properly. The management has never said anything to me. ANYONE THAT TRIES TO TELL ME TO TAKE IT DOWN CAN GO TO HELL!! (with or without a law)

[tanyev]

21. Woo-hoo! Now I can buy 700 flags, stitch them all together,

and wrap my entire house in them. USA!USA!USA!USA! :woohoo:

[Thor_MN]

36. I'm surprised that Home Depot doesn't sell a shingle kit for a flag roof.

Red, White and Blue 20 Year Asphalt Shingles. Be the first on your block to wave the flag on your roof... Tell your neighbors how patriotic you are.

[riona]

22. Now that this thorny issue has been resolved,

health care, Social Security, energy, and world peace should be a snap.
:patriot:

[OneBlueSky]

32. well, that'll certainly save lives, stop global warming, . . .

end the war, raise the minimum wage, and help rebuild New Orleans . . .

way to go, George! . . .

[Floogeldy]

34. Good! Now we can display the flag in a big bottle of urine!

:smoke:

[Rambis]

35. It reminds me of fletch

they are in the den and Stanwyck is holding a gun on them. Chief Karlin enters the room...
"oh good the police"

[leesa]

37. Now THAT'S fucking important.