Stadium of Fire Lies About Retiring a Flag

One of the most reverently patriotic things I have ever witnessed was a flag-retirement ceremony at a scout camp.

When I heard that Stadium of Fire was going to feature one, it almost made me want to attend. Yes, just for that moment.

So, imagine my shock that the ceremony was a fake.

Fifty thousand people stood in silence Saturday night as men in uniform brought a giant American flag into LaVell Edwards Stadium to be retired by incineration.

Or so the Stadium of Fire crowd thought.

In actuality, the 155-by-90-foot flag was not burned that night due to the toxins a nylon flag that size would have emitted, Provo Fire Marshal Lynn Schofield said.

"It would have been impractical to burn it in the stadium," Schofield said. "There is just no way you can burn that kind of a flag in that big of a group of people safely."

Event organizers originally planned for the no-longer-serviceable flag to be burned. But after talking to the fire marshal a few months ago, Stadium of Fire executive producer Brad Pelo said organizers realized that would not be possible in any type of container. After discussing other ways they could retire the flag, organizers did what they thought was most appropriate, Pelo said.

[...]

During the ceremony, the flag was put into a large, cauldron-like container, then flames appeared on its top. Many people teared up, including event emcee Glenn Beck, who emphasized to the audience what a special ceremony they were witnessing.

Last I checked, dishonesty was a violation of the honor code.*

-Bob

*Other lines I wanted to use there:

"False Patriotism -- the GOP Way"
"A Retirement Ceremony approved by Orrin Hatch, Maybe"
"Special -- in a short bus kind of way."

Have a Beatboxing 4th!

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More Questions on Patriotism

From DailyKos's Bill in Portland Maine, more questions about patriotism that should be asked if we're going to start questioning Obama's patriotism:

When George W. Bush puts his hand over his stomach during the national anthem, he seems to be signaling that America is a piece of chewed-up food headed straight for the crapper. Is this proper patriotism?
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Mike Huckabee says the Constitution needs to be amended to reflect God's standards, including, we assume, stonings for adultery. Is this proper patriotism?
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John McCain says we should stay in Iraq for a thousand years "as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed," even though anyone with a pulse knows that Americans (not to mention innocent Iraqis) are still being wounded and killed over there every day and will continue to be killed and wounded for as long as we're there. Does McCain show the proper patriotism by advocating this kind of head-in-the-sand foreign policy?
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When a Republican politician wears an American flag pin on their lapel that was made in Communist China, does this show the proper patriotism?
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When President Bush says "we do not torture," and we find out that we really do torture, is this proper patriotism?
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When Republicans try to scare Americans half to death by lying about the ramifications of the expiration of the "Protect America Act," is this proper patriotism?
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When the White House guts the Fourth Amendment by enlisting the phone companies to abet the most blatant and illegal form of warrantless eavesdropping and then demanding retroactive immunity for them, is this proper patriotism?
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When the vice president tells a senior United States senator to "Go [hug] yourself" on the Senate floor, is this proper patriotism?
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When a United States senator grabs a microphone and calls a brown-skinned American citizen "Macaca," and a crowd of his Republican supporters laughs and applauds, is this proper patriotism?
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When one of the most prominent Republican lobbyists working in Washington says the United States government should be "drowned in the bathtub," is this proper patriotism?

Of Patriotsm and Obama

CNN wants the Democratic race to continue until August. I can't blame them. The election is a ratings gold mine for news stations. They also want a close general election. More ratings gold.

So, when it looks like Obama could start to run away with things, they run with something from the Republicans: Attack Obama's Patriotism.

I mean, he refuses to say the pledge of allegiance. Except that he does. He refuses to put his hand over his heart. Except that in the incident so often cited, putting his hand over his heart would be inappropriate (he'd be saluting the audience). He refuses to wear an American Flag pin. Except that only one candidate from wither party has worn a flag pin on a regular basis, and the good mayor got one delegate from it. Not to mention that the people attacking him for that one aren't wearing one either.

They make it sound like all you need to do is wrap yourself in the flag and you're a patriot.

But, I rather at a loss for words here. If only I could find someone who's talked about this before, and plagiarize them. Never mind. Found one. It's me, from July 4, 2005:

oday, I will be talking about patriotism. First, let's define the word. As always, from dictionary.com

pa·tri·ot·ism n. Love of and devotion to one's country.


July 4th, the day we celebrate our declaration of independance. The day we gave a big "f-you" to our government. We wanted a better way. However, this was unpatriotic, based on the above definition. So, I'll change it a little, to say "Love of one's homeland."

Patriotism is not about waving the flag, dressing in red, white, and blue, and shooting off fireworks. It's about doing things because, well, I love this country, my homeland.

That is why I became a Democrat. Because, contrary to what Sean Hannity would have you believe, Democrats give a crap about what happens to this country. Contrary to the statements of Karl Rove, I cried on September 11. I was madder than Hell, and I wasn't going to take it. I wanted Revenge.

I'm still waiting to get revenge.

Our lack of fighting real enemies, and making up imaginary foes to fight, has ruined our country. We have now taken longer since 9/11 than it took to defeat both Japan and Germany after Pearl Harbor. We are spending more money than we are bringing in, borrowing money from our children.

And yet, I am called unpatriotic because I fight against these things. However, I do it because I love my country. I want to see her grow, to succeed.

Forced Patriotism Bill Will Do Absolutely Nothing

I sure that you have read about a plan by Sen. Allen Christensen, (R-North Ogden) to require the Declaration of Independence and US flag to be posted in every public school classroom in the state.

Well, I'm here to tell you that this is just another election year waste of time. The legislature probably will run out of time to get the puppy torture bill passed, but will pass this bill with a huge margin.

And, it's the most pointless bill in years. There aren't too many classrooms in Utah that don't have an American Flag posted. (Many are improperly posted, but given other disregard for the flag code, that probably won't change.)

And what good will it do to have the flag in EVERY classroom? I'm sure that kids know what the American flag looks like.

And for having the Declaration posted? Because kids will stop every day and read it. Memorize it even.

And, if you believe that, I've got prime real estate in western Tooele County to sell you.

And the funny thing is, even if more kids know what the flag looks like and have the Declaration of Independence memorized, it won't do what Sen Christensen set out to do.

Why?

The money Quote:

"This started off because a friend of mind did a little bit of research on college campuses and he couldn't find anybody who could tell him what the Constitution was, let alone what was in it — and these were college students," Christensen said.

Last time I checked, there was a difference between the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution......

-Bob

Patriotism

Death of the First Amendment

This sounds like something that would come ou of the Utah Legislature, not the United States Congress.

But, here it is, HR 3675: To prohibit Federal grants to or contracts with Columbia University

I'm going to skip over Section 1 (I'll come back to it later) and move to the rest of the text:

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of the State of Israel, a critical ally of the United States.

(2) In January 2007, commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno stated that the United States had traced back to Iran serial numbers of weapons captured in Iraq, including rocket-propelled grenades, roadside bombs and Katyusha rockets.

(3) These types of weapons have been used in Iraq to kill and injure members of American, Iraqi, and coalition forces and undermine the nascent Iraqi government.

(4) Despite Iran's support for terrorism, Columbia University extended an invitation to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to address students and faculty from the University campus.

(5) Columbia University dissolved its long-standing Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program on campus because of disagreement with United States military policy, and for nearly four decades has not invited the return of any ROTC program to the University campus.

(6) Despite this fact, Columbia University has continued to accept funds made available through ROTC scholarships, while University faculty continue to oppose United States military policies and law.

(7) Through their invitation, Columbia University provided a public, prestigious platform on United States soil from which on September 24, 2007, President Ahmadinejad spoke and defended his wide-ranging support for terrorist activities.


SEC. 3. DENIAL OF FUNDS.

(a) Denial of Funds for Permitting State Terrorist Access to Campus- No funds described in subsection (b)(1) may be provided by contract or by grant to Columbia University of New York, New York, or any subelement of Columbia University.

(b) Covered Funds-

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the limitations established in subsection (a) apply to the following:

(A) Any funds made available for the Department of Defense.

(B) Any funds made available for any department or agency for which regular appropriations are made in a Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

(C) Any funds made available for the Department of Homeland Security.

(D) Any funds made available for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the Department of Energy.

(E) Any funds made available for the Department of Transportation.

(F) Any funds made available for the Central Intelligence Agency.

(2) Any Federal funding specified in paragraph (1) that is provided to an institution of higher education, or to an individual, to be available solely for student financial assistance, related administrative costs, or costs associated with attendance, may be used for the purpose for which the funding is provided.

(c) Notice of Determinations- Whenever the head of a Federal department or agency makes a determination under subsection (a) or (b), the head of such department or agency--

(1) shall transmit a notice of the determination to the Secretary of Education, to the head of each other department and agency the funds of which are subject to the determination, and to Congress; and

(2) shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of the determination and the effect of the determination on the eligibility of Columbia University for contracts and grants.

By even debating this resolution, Congress delivers a vctory to those who hate the Frst Amendment.

The terrorists have won.

Oh, and what does section 1 say? It gives an allowed short title of the bill:

This Act may be cited as the `Restore Patriotism to University Campuses Act'.

Forced patriotism was a hallmark of the Nazis, wasn't it?

-Bob

The Simpsons and flag burning

Proper Respect for the Flag

TITLE 4 > CHAPTER 1 > § 8

§ 8. Respect for flag

(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature. (Source: Cornell Law School)

AMERICABlog:

A US embassy staffer in Vienna writes AMERICAblog and says [President George W Bush defaced American flags]. Reportedly, a slew of conservative Republican Bush supporters wanted to get Bush's autograph on US flags. And Bush signed them. Right on the flags. Kind of ironic right before Senate Republicans force us to debate "flag burning," again, simply because they have no more ideas left.

Burn The Flag

OK, now that I've gotten your attention...

There was a great piece in Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune written by former Marine Sgt. Jaime Melquaides Logoria about the proposed constitutional amendment to ban flag burning.

Liberty was never meant to be easy. The First Amendment challenges us because it doesn't just protect the views of the majority, it also protects the voice of the minority. It is in tolerating forms of expression that most of us, for perfectly good reasons, disagree with that we preserve and promote democracy. I think it is a small price to pay for living in a nation built on such strong principles of freedom.
I love the flag, but I will not stand by while it is coddled at the expense of the freedoms it is meant to represent, the freedoms I served to protect. Freedom is simply too precious to throw away to admonish the actions of a handful of dissenters.

Plato's Cave has this to say:

Actual military veterans who oppose the cynical, useless and freedom-squashing constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning are more numerous than one might think, despite what folks like Sen. Orrin Hatch might tell you. To find more of them, read about the organization Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights.

-Bob

Flag Burning Amendment

Since we have no other concerns in this country, the Senate is poised to discuss for the upteenth time the flag burning amendment.

there is a great diary at DailyKos with some facts about it, where I picked up this gem:

FACT: Currently only China, Cuba and Iran have national laws against flag burning. Iraq, under Saddam Hussein also had a national law against the act.

Great countries to look up to, don't you think?

-Bob

"Ashamed to be an American"

Sometimes, te best content on a blog is not in a post, but in the comments after a post. This one was one AMERICAblog had:

I had a friend die on 9/11 in Tower One, and the son of another friend in the Pentagon (I live in Maryland). I was heartbroken and angry as hell at Osama. I felt more patriotic than usual -- and I am usually very patriotic (even if what we did to Native Americans always pissed me off). But now, unfortunately, Bush has ruined my feelings for this country. I'm ashamed. 9/11 has become a sort of bastardized event where the sadness I feel now is directed at how 9/11 has been used and abused. Osama wanted to destroy our infrastructure and Bush played right into his hands. I'm so angry. And why this man is not impeached just kills me. I believe America has been lost. It started under Reagan, and now it is complete. I have no more hope. I think 9/11 actually destroyed us. The problem is it really wasn't Osama that did it -- it was Bush, the media, and the scores of ignorant Americans that have forgotten what we stand for. I actually hate the America that now exists. Thanks, George.

Patiotism, Canada style

Over the past two years, I've heard at least 200 versions of the national anthem, some good, some downright awful.

Few have stirred me because of their beauty.

This one I saw on you tube stirred me.

O, Canada:



BTW, when was the last time that US television, other than huge mega-events, showed the singing of the national anthem?

-Bob