I may not idolize the United States flag like some might. I may even cringe at overly-"patriotic" displays of the United States flag on occasion. I
may even support the Supreme Court decision to allow burning of the United States flag as protected under the First Amendment. Still, even I know it
is not only immoral, but a violation of Civil Liberties and Constitutional Rights to deny another the ability to fly Old Glory.
Apartment residents told to take down U.S. Flags
At the Oaks Apartments in Albany, the management can fly their own flag advertising one and two bedroom apartments - but residents have been told they
can't fly any flags at all.
The ban includes even flag stickers on cars.
The mother of one soldier fighting in Iraq put up a poster in her son's apartment window when she learned of the ban. Her son's roommate said he'll
risk eviction to make sure it stays.
The thing that makes this sting even worse is that they aren't preventing people from posting flags to their property, but threatening to evict those
who put up posters, or have stickers or flags attached to their own private property such as motorcycles and cars!
Does that mean that if you have a tattoo of a United States flag on your own body that you would be evicted for violating your tenet rules of not
displaying a U.S. flag?
This is wrong on so many levels, and what makes me even more irate about this is that it is happening in my State! My State might be pretty liberal in
some respects (while simultaneously pretty conservative in other respects) but this is going too far.
Someone needs to put the smack-down on people that attempt to do such things as this. Sure, it is their property that they are leasing out to renters,
and they can make rules that dictate what can or can't be done to their physical property, banning permanent fixtures such as flag poles. That is
their right. However, it is not their right to declare what one can or can't openly display without physical harm to the Property Owner's physical
property, such as hanging a flag, or a poster, or putting bumper stickers or flags on a tenet's own vehicle or body...especially when you are talking
about the U.S. Flag in the United States!
Where is the ACLU when you need them?