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Originally Posted by BigBaldRon
While this is true, the man who tore down the flag readily admitted to his crime and had no problem with people knowing who he was and why he did it. The store owner claims ignorance, and wouldn't be interviewed (which is his right) to explain his side of this situation to possibly curtail some of the hot emotions coming from the situation.
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What I mean to say is ignorance of the law isn't really an excuse.
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Originally Posted by BigBaldRon
And here lies the problem. I don't know you personally, but I think the fact that you found it inoffensive and not worth the actions taken, a bit telling. The guy was in the army. He may or may not have served his nation (meaning me and you) in a battle in a far away land. He may have served his nation (meaning me and you) overseas, miles from his family. He may have served his nation (meaning you and me) by making personal sacrifices, like missing holidays with loved ones, missing birthdays, anniversaries, home cooked meals, perhaps the birth of one of his children, all for the sake of protecting the nation that he unquestionably loves. To say he isn't entitled to a reaction, or to say that his reaction was wrong, just doesn't make sense to me.
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He's entitled to be pissed, but just because he was in the military doesn't make him a hero. Just because I don't miss Christmas doesn't mean I love my country any less, necessarily. BTW, unless he's a WW2 vet (which would make his feat amazing), he wasn't in a war defending the US from anything. He served political interests, whether he was brave to do so or not. My grandfather used to tell me about Korea before he died and all of the soldiers he knew understood that they weren't fighting for the US. He wasn't entitled to break the law.
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Originally Posted by BigBaldRon
It would seem to me that the flag somehow means more to him than it does to you. His status as a Veteran shows that he's a bit more personally invested in his nation than the average citizen.
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I don't know if it's quite that simple. I don't want to get too much into a tangent, but leave us say that what's tantamount to flag worship signifies an individual is willing to suspend reason in favor of belief. The flag, in and of itself, is a piece of cloth. It's like any other symbol in that it can be used in certain ways and can mean different things to different people. I think dedication to the flag, though, makes no sense. It's nationalistic grandstanding, which again makes no sense. In my opinion, I've done far more in my 24 years for the US than he may have done as a soldier. Soldiers follow policy. Protesters and politically active people change policy. But, again, it's all a matter of perspective.
So, no, 'the flag' doesn't mean anything more to him than me. It just means something different. To me it represents positives like the revolutionary war and the Constitution, and it also represents negatives like mindless dedication to the state. It represents some ideals to me personally, but more importantly I recognize that because it means so many different things to different people it's harder to define a standard of dedication.
Had I seen the flag up there, I might have simply told the shop owner that he or she was breaking the law, and while I understood they didn't mean disrespect necessarily, laws are laws. If they didn't take it down after that? I don't really care. I think they have as much a right to be here as I do, so it's no big deal.