So who are these people? It is ironic that both instances have happened in the South. One was in April and one in May. It is too bad Rod Serling is not around. He could do a Twilight Zone episode on these.
Consider the following:
1. In April, peaceful Tea Party Protestors were planning an event in Raleigh , North Carolina
Suddenly, there is a ruling announced at the State government level that flag staffs or flag poles will not be allowed at the demonstration because of the possibility that they could be used as weapons.
I started reading about the event at that point and I marveled at the resiliency of the protestors. Soon there were people attempting to distribute itsy-bitsy flags for people to waive. I wanted to offer the suggestion that they ignore the ruling and bring lots of flags on poles. I wanted to see if the clod who wanted to enforce the ruling would make the State Police charge the Tea Party and rip American flags out of seniors’ hands and arrest them. That would have made a great You Tube video. The people who made this ruling were nameless. At the last minute they reversed their decision and allowed flags on poles. Too bad.
2. In May in Port Wentworth, Georgia, the members of the Ed Young Senior Center were given a daily meal that is provided with Government funds. Another government official suddenly ruled that the seniors couldn’t pray before their meals because of separation of church and state. Again, someone offered a compromise solution: they could observe a moment of silence, but they could not pray. And again, I was hoping to actually see the confrontation on You Tube. It would have been remarkable to see officials grabbing a half eaten chicken fried steak away from a senior because he prayed before he ate it. “Cough it up, Gramps, or you’re going to jail.!” Perhaps at that point seniors would have grabbed flag poles to defend their peach cobblers.
Apparently it took the town’s mayor to intervene and grant permission to the seniors to be able to pray before their meals. Good Grief!
These incidents are funny, but we should not just view them as bizarre isolated instances. We are witnessing a pervasive assault on our First Amendment right. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are not limited to what some government bureaucrat thinks they should be. Who would have thought that American citizens would be challenged about waiving our flag or praying before our meals?
