Because since the first three do it so much more, the last doesn't do it at all? What, logic?

No, someone burning or raising a piece of cloth does not effect my respect for this nation. I judge the nation on its actions rather than its symbols.

Big things are made up of smaller things, Arainach. Nobody's comparing improper flag etiquette to torture, so don't you go discouting what that piece of cloth means.

Additional Spam:
And as the symbol of that nation, doesn't one's use and treatment of said "peice of cloth" mean something? Why the hell do you think people burn flags? Because they ran out of clean sheets?

I didn't realize we were talking about your respect for the nation, Arainach. I'm pretty sure that's been pretty well established anyway. What would be far more meaningful would be to talk about the people as a whole. I would say a significant portion of the population would be affected. Ergo and so forth.

I can also understand some domestic crimes because damnit that bitch was mouthin' off and needed a good shankin.

Some people being insulting and inflammatory, intentionally or not, is what people have to deal with in a free society. Whether or not the store owner intended to be an asshole is irrelevant, because how he arranges his property is his business and nobody else's.

People are free to take offense, they're not free to steal somebody else's property and violate their freedom of expression.

Aw man, Ice Burn. You totally got him there. :rolleyes:

Which is why I didn't say he had every right to take down the flag. I said he wasn't justified.

The problem with just writing this up as "racy free speech" is that there isn't a law that says I can't be a racist motherfucker, while there is a law that says I can't fly a national flag over another national flag, that I can't burn the flag unless the stars are cut off from the stripes, or whatever else. Punishable or not, the guy as a decent US citizen would want avoid breaking any sort of law.

So you're saying that we should all think of the store owner as a big fat jerk because he broke a law that if enforced would violate his Constitutional rights?

Do you think it's right to do anything as long as it's legal? =\

If you were mexican, or any other countrymen, why would you have another countries flag over yours?

Let me try to explain,

I don't think the shop owner was doing it to be an ass or try to make a "I hate US" statement. It just would not have felt right to him to have a flag over his home countys' flag. The vet's anger is perfectly understandable, though I think there could have been a better way to handle that.

Why wouldn't that be his stated reason then?

I'll have to agree with that as well. In Newfoundland I've seen plenty of homes fly the flag of their own country above the actual canadian flag. I'm not aware of anybody that has really took offence to it.

I know especially back home a lot of people fly their provincial flag over the canadian flag. In Newfoundland, quite a lot of people consider themselves a Newfoundlander first, and a Canadian afterwards.

By the way if someone could enlighten me, what are the flag rules in the US/Canada in terms of states/provinces, is it illegal to fly the flag of your state or province above the the flag of your present country.

In terms of this situation. I can understand why the veteran took offence to the flag of mexico being above the american flag. He is obviously very patriotic and very proud of the country that he lives in and he doesn't want to see anything undermine that fact.

Still what he did was wrong. Bradylama is right, he did vandalize someone's private property so that he can make a statement. Their probably could of been better ways that this situation could of been handled.

Its obvious that the store-owner takes a lot of pride of his heritage and that from his possible point of view and his stance on flags that he considers himself a mexican first and an american citizen afterwards.

You kind of have to ask yourself, is when you move from own country to another you have to try your best to respect the country you live in and what they're overall laws/beliefs and morals are. A lot of countries, probably all countries take their flag very seriously, so there has to be a bit of common sense to know that somebody will take offence if you put your own flag above that nations flag.

Personally I couldn't care what flag you put over the canadian flag, but that doesn't necessarily mean that nobody doesn't care about it. This person could of been unaware of the law, you never know.

I don't nescessarily mean to add fuel to the fire, but in terms of flag identity. I would like to pose this question mainly to the residents of North America. Do you consider yourself a citizen of your province/state first or your country.

In terms of people who had to move to another country, do you classify yourself as a citizen of the country your living in, or the country of your origin.

For me I've been living in Alberta for the last year, but I do not consider myself an Albertan. I'm a Newfoundlander first and a Canadian afterwards.

Maybe the guy was just unaware. But anyhow, what was the point of stealing the guys US flag and leaving him with his Mexican flag? If I were to have been the angry old vet, I would've taken away his Mexican flag and only left him to fly the proper one.

Hey, give Rip Van Winkle a break, he just woke up from a time before the Farm Worker's Union.

He's far from justified, Brady, but I can't bring myself to make fun of the man for having an infalted sense of patriotism.

Also, Angel, many, many people have already quoted from the US Flag Ettiquette, and I linked to the Canadian one. Check the first page for these things.

Frank has the right idea. This man is only trying to protect us from the commies in the school systems, infiltrating our precious bodily fluids.

This whole thing is so impossibly banal. "Crazy old man is senile, acts cantankerously and does stupid shit". WELL FUCK, THIS IS PRIME-TIME MATERIAL

He's a crazy old man. Crazy old men go to the nursing home. Then we can all root through his house for whatever other things he's stolen to protect the nation!

... or it could be foreigners disrespecting a country's hospitality and doing so unashamedly, in full view of the public.

It's not like the fella in the video responded to why he chose to fly the Mexican flag above the US one. Maybe we should come up with CRAZY OLD MAN ideas and go STEAL THINGS.

Well, I don't know. A flag should be and only be a symbol of a nation. For the people, damaging a flag is to disrespect the whole nation. Some fanatics could burn you alive for doing it. But not me.

I don't know about tearing a flag of another country's being a crime or not. But what I know is that in my country some years around my country's independence day, some Dutch raised their flag, and an immidiate action was taken, which was to bring the flag down, tear the blue part of their flag, and raised it again, this time representing my own country.

Some fanatics heh?

That sure is something you won't see over here...
But, that doesn't really count, we Germans have huge problems with German patriotism, so you'd probably be dubbed a Nazi if you, for example, did a similar thing to a Turkish guy flying the Turkish flag above the German one. It's possible though that we also have laws for that, but I see lots of places with lots of diffrent national flags over here, mixing it with the German one, or just leaving the German flag out.

Similarly, I know a lot of people who'd dub you a Nazi or at least nationalist fuck for flying the German flag...
So, coming from a country which kind of denies itself any kind of patriotism, I have a hard time understanding such reactions in other countries.

I bet he has a stash of "Disgruntled Negro" CDs. :tpg:

A lot of this angst is a culmination of many factors. First off the guy is a grizzled war vet, therefore inherently sensitive about this sort of thing. Second, Mexican arrogance is taking its toll on their own cause. Mexicans and their whole "La Raza" attitude preaches that a section of America belongs to them.

Everyone used to think that illegal immigration was just a California problem, then predominantly Spanish speaking communities started springing up in the heartland and even up into New England. Then we have federal judges who grant rights and privileges to illegals on the taxpayer dime. This isn't exactly softening people up to the concept of taking these people in with open arms.

I'l leave at that as I don't want to derail the thread, but given all these factors, you're going to get more expressions of backlash from more of middle America such as this and potentially more violent. Somehow I don't believe that a majority of Americans would find much fault with what this man did.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/konan.jpg

http://l.yimg.com/img.tv.yahoo.com/t...1116141723.jpg

Political bastards.

Most people probably wouldn't know what the crescent and star meant, and would probably blame communism... or mexicans.

This man is obviously a proud Scott, as can be seen by the plaid kilt he is wearing under his unzipped pants.

Well, from what it seems he was only defending his knowledge and action of the U.S. Constitution. I guess, in his mind, he was standing up for the Law of the Land.

Edit: Haha, nice picture Duo. Esa vato loco consuelo and such.