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May 26, 2010
Great PR
American Windows, originally uploaded by armando100_2000.
Oh gosh. Strange things are afoot in Osh Kosh, Wisconsin. Yes, it's that age-old tension of the authorities versus a gentle apartment renter who wants to display his American flag in the window.
Dawn and Charlie Price have been told by their apartment's management company they must take it down or face eviction.
Charlie Price is a veteran who served tours in Kosovo and Iraq.
Dawn Price says the flag is a way to honor her husband's military service and remember those who made the "ultimate sacrifice."
The apartment management company, Midwest Realty Management, says its rules prohibit the display of flags, banners and political or religious material in order to maintain a consistent living environment for all apartment residents.
The Tribune message board, as usual, is a treasure trove of hilarious comments, which can be broken down into two groups. One is "the rules are rules, tough luck sucka." The other is, "This apartment company is taking away his First Amendment rights." Another person, curiously, said it was illegal to tell someone they can't fly the American flag.
Now, I don't know where I stand on this. I do know the apartment company is perfectly within its rights to tell people they can't display flags, including American ones. People who sign leases there agree to this stuff when they sign. I have such an agreement where I live. It's not unconstitutional, because the Constitution only says the government can't tell you to put away that flag. They display that flag, so they are breaking the rules. Furthermore, it's also perfectly legal to tell people they can fly an American flag, and not a Confederate flag, Canada flag, or any other flag.
However, is it wise to tell people they can't put their flags out? I don't think it is. Every now and then a story comes out like this where some WW2 veteran wants to display his flag, and his apartment/condo/retirement home company vows to evict/fine $100 per day the person or forcibly remove the flag. The management comes out looking like idiots, or even worse, unpatriotic. Is the amount of bad publicity they're going to get for this worth it to enforce a rather petty rule? It's simple: put out an exception for American flags, and nothing else. Not even for the "Don't tread on me flag," which while technically is an American flag, it is not what is commonly understood as The American flag.
Also, I know I bitched about this before, but I'm still really irritated I can't put out my Don't Tread On Me flag without looking like a Tea Partier.
entry no. 1464
Posted at May 26, 2010 04:31 PM