GA Girl Cries "I'm sorry" for Flag Display

Okay, I know that this is not the proper way to display the flag, and it may not BE the most patriotic way to be, but DANG it! Why make a little girl cry and apologize for her patriotism? And from a vet???

According to the Al-Jazeera Constitution ~ahem~.. I mean Atlanta Journal Constitution today, a girl in Duluth got in trouble for painting the American flag on a rock in the cul-de-sac of her neighborhood. According to the story today,

Flag painters' hopes take a scrubbing

Duluth accepts recommendation to remove 'graffiti'

By STEVE VISSERThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 01/10/06

Even in Duluth, a city that prides itself in being the flag capital of the U.S.A., the star-spangled banner can a be divisive symbol — especially when everybody wants to wave it and protect it in their own way.

The City Council recommended Monday that a painted image of Old Glory be removed from a street in Mayor Shirley Lasseter's own neighborhood. Children and their parents had painted the banner the last Fourth of July in a display of civics and patriotism. But the city lawyer warned it could set a precedent for some neighborhood Nazi's planting a swastika or some other offensive symbol on a city street if the flag symbol remained.

The flag issue created angst for the council and the mayor, who elected not to order City Administrator Phil McLemore to remove the painting but instead unanimously accepted the "recommendation" of council member Jim Dugan that the painting be removed by April 1. The politicians thus avoided actually ordering a direct attack on the Stars and Stripes.

Three residents were much more straightforward: Linda Hutchinson, whose Vietnam vet husband had helped organize the flag painting, asked the council to spare the image as a patriotic message to children; Don Ogden, an 81-year-old World War II vet who spent time in a POW camp, demanded the painting be removed because it denigrated the flag; and Rachel Renbarger, age 9, who admitted to wielding a paintbrush, just took responsibility.

Her voice was both humble and candid, and she pretty much stole the show in the small, packed City Hall.

"I am so sorry," said Rachel, her voice cracking and her eyes tearing up. "We will do whatever it takes to remove it — me and my sister. I am so sorry."

Rachel Renbarger, 9, spoke during the meeting and was apologetic to Don Ogden (below) for painting the flag on the road in her neighborhood.

The mayor, the City Council, Hutchinson and Ogden all assured her she had done nothing wrong.

Ogden made it clear he never believed the neighborhood residents meant to defile the flag but had only made an error in flag etiquette, one that deeply angered him. He argued the federal rules prohibit a banner or even its image from being on the ground and at risk of being underfoot.

Don Ogden said the flag painting on a Duluth cul-de-sac was disrespectful.

'It is beautiful, but it doesn't belong
on the ground.'

Hutchinson noted that even if it were a cloth banner, they should have the right to display it in the manner they
chose.

"As Americans, we have the right to treat the flag in any manner we see fit," she said "That is what freedom is all about." "The sooner it goes, the better," he said to the council and the public. "It is beautiful, but it doesn't belong on the ground."

The controversy has its roots in a neighborhood spat that quickly spread to the broader Duluth community and beyond. Several people complained to the city administration that it was either inappropriate to paint any graffiti on city property — patriotic or not — or disrespectful to paint the flag on the ground.

The city of 23,000 claims bragging rights as the most patriotic town in America and flies 600 flags on Memorial Day to show its respect, Lasseter said.

Officials at the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars national offices, however, objected to the flag being painted on the ground as degrading the image.

The flag became a controversy when two neighbors complained to the city administrator's office in December that the flag was still there.

Please tell me if I'm in the wrong here, folks.... my heart tells me I'm not, but is there some hard and fast rule about what could and should be the proper treatment of "flags" of this nature? I know I'm not a veteran, but I am a human. Is this an egregious error? What about flag tattoos? Flag bandanas? PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong!

I wonder if the ACLU will be beating down her door to defend HER First Amendment rights? Oh, yeah, that's right... they're too busy with NAMBLA, CAIR and the other folks who are offended by Christian terms and symbols that 90% of Americans want to display.

Please, I'm urging you to email or write the city of Duluth, GA, at least in an effort to try to stop this travesty before it's too late. I am STILL in disbelief that this is happening in the deep south!?!? I know Ogden is a vet, and there are specific ways in which you are supposed to treat the flag, but can't you find some softness in your heart for this patriotic girl who loves her country?

Here is the City's contact information:

For those of you who want to write the Mayor of Duluth, GA, here is the city's webpage: http://www.duluth-ga.com/

Here's the info for email to the Mayor & the City Council:

Mayor & Council
3578 West Lawrenceville Street
Duluth, GA 30096

Email Us <----------- Duluth Mayor & Council

NOW, GO! GET INTO ACTION!

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