Guest Post by Mike LaRoche
What is the matter with New York these days? Not content to violate the Second Amendment rights of their citizens by restricting the ownership and possession of firearms, now politicians in that state are trampling on First Amendment rights as well. The Washington Examiner reports:
A veterans organization in a New York town is fighting for its right to fly a patriotic flag after the city council refused to let the group display the flag, calling it a symbol of the Tea Party with right-wing connotations.
The United Veterans Memorial & Patriotic Association replaced a tattered American flag at the New Rochelle Armory, flying the Gadsden Flag underneath it. The bright yellow “Don’t Tread On Me” flag has been used by the Navy and Marine Corps since 1775.
When a city council member complained to the city manager that he found the flag offensive, the city manager initially decided to let the flag fly anyway. But the city council overruled him, and the flag was taken down. On Wednesday, the council voted 5 to 2 to keep the veterans from putting the flag back up.
That’s right, a flag with historical roots dating back to the very beginnings of American independence, a flag which has been used by two of our nation’s service branches for 238 years, is now deemed a symbol of hate.
This all raises an inevitable question: what kind of person finds one of our nations oldest historical symbols, one which exemplifies resistance to tyranny and the defense of liberty, to be “offensive”?
Socialists, by my reckoning.
Well, to paraphrase Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind, socialists should be offended, and often, and by someone who knows how.
