Community Chat

[NickNack]

I don't think this is true.  I Googled it and could find nothing about it.  I think it would be all over the news if this really happened.

[Sooner]

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@newname0 wrote:

What would you do if you saw someone in a parade ripping apart an American flag?

That happened at the BB parade in Chicago and it was televised on t.v.  The police could do nothing because they said it was her 1st Amendment right.

She even went to the sidelines and encouraged young children to help her rip up the flag.

Something is wrong here.

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@newname0   What you can do is make something right and support our country.  There are many ways to do this, and I'm sure you know what they are. 

Breaks your heart doesn't it to see things like this?  I am sorry it happened and you had to endure it.  

[RollTide2008]

There are countries where ripping apart a flag or criticizing the government are illegal and punished as a crime. If you prefer it to our system, North Korea and China are that way.

[Johnnyeager]

Prior to the first Supreme Court decision which decided this issue, 48 states had anti-flag desecration laws, so we have had that type of legislation in this country historically.

[QVCkitty1]

 I would be grateful that I live in a country ( so far )  where protest is allowed.  Check out the news from Korea today, is that what you want ?

[Imaoldhippie]

If its true it is not freedom of speech.  Speech is verbal talking.  Destroying something  is not.

[SANNA]

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@newname0 wrote:

What would you do if you saw someone in a parade ripping apart an American flag?

That happened at the BB parade in Chicago and it was televised on t.v.  The police could do nothing because they said it was her 1st Amendment right.

She even went to the sidelines and encouraged young children to help her rip up the flag.

Something is wrong here.

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Offending or destroying of the flag should be a federal crime.

[SunValley]

This is a tenant of freedom that defines us as Americans. One can love their country yet want to see changes. How one expresses their dissatisfaction may not sit well with everyone else, but they have the right. I'm sure the British in 1776 thought their American colonists were disrespectful and unpatriotic for demanding changes. I would have just kept walking. What I don't agree with was approaching children; that is not appropriate.

[on the bay]

I always get kind of sad when I see the flag or hear and sing the national anthem. It makes me cry. It reminds me of how we want our country to be.

I would probably never do that, disrespect our flag, because it is a symbol of how we want our country to be, but I understand their anger.

And no, our country is not so good for everyone here. Veterans on streets, immigrants and children in jail like conditions, mass shootings, addiction and mental illness, homelssness and poverty.

To say people don't realize how good it is are just burying their head in the sand, or turning a very blind eye.

It makes me really sad to see our country have so many heartbreaking problems. And we all should acknowledge it and do what we can to make it better! For everywhere and everyone we meet!

There are many wonderful things still about our country and the people in it. I always celebrate and hope in that.

[Cakers3]

Of course it was her right to destroy the flag, although there are much more mature and effective ways to get a message across.  Anybody can destroy a flag; it is an easy out for those who cannot express themselves verbally, lacking debate skills, manners, and decent use of language without "f" bombs, etc. Never mind facts.

What I have a problem with is her encouraging children to help her.  She took her right to desecrate the flag and tried to impose her right on others.  Those children have their own rights, too, and do not need her imposing her own views on children.

Did anybody stop and think that those children may have been offended by her actions?

It goes both ways.

Whether this story is true or not, and it really doesn't matter, it's another round of "freedom of speech" that has extended to cheap and easy ways out of using that precious right.