Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Another liberal with flag allergies...

commercial exploitation of the flag
Robert — (archived)

Maybe it's just me, being a Liberal and all, and not sharing the belief that "the business of America is business", but I find it offensive that Massengill was exploiting the flag to make a buck. She affixed advertising to each one, touting her services as a real estate agent. This wasn't about patriotism, it was about commercialism.

Doesn't it bother you that she transgressed against private property, and committed minor vandalism by affixing her flags to other people's property? Doesn't it bother you that she placed flags not knowing if anybody was around to take it down at night and show it the proper respect? Doesn't it bother you that many people's reaction was "I'll just leave it up until it [the weather degrades it into] a stick", and other people forecast that dogs would pee on it?

I doubt Conservatives would share this view, but because the flag is the symbol of America's civic religion, doesn't our freedom from religion make this a case of proselytizing by force? How would you feel if a Jew planted a menorah in your front yard, or a Christian a cross...and speaking of crosses, should we be OK with the Klan burning crosses in people's front yards? Does the fact that it's a cross make it protected religious expression? On somebody else's lawn?

Is degrading the flag through crass commercialism, and in the process encouraging disrespect toward it, any better than burning the flag? If you think so, then you're enlisting the flag in a partisan political debate, which not only diminishes it, but by putting the flag into play that way you're inviting it to be burnt as a legitimate political expression. Anyone who disagrees that America is about nothing but money can legitimately express that point of view by burning a commercialized flag in protest.

I know that Conservative outrage is always a case of "ready, fire, aim", but do you really want to fight this fight and open this can of worms?

I'll tell you something, Tom: If Massengill had planted one of her flags on my lawn, I would burn it as the most appropriate way to signal my displeasure with her abuse of the flag. BTW, do you know the one time it's not only permissible, but required, to burn the flag? When it's been damaged or otherwise sullied, through accident or through misuse through actions such as Massengill's. Burning a Massengill flag would be a sign of respect for the flag.

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