It's time to chalk another mark in the "what were they thinking?" column. Apparently the city of Pahrump, Nevada has banned flying the flags of other countries unless the US flag is flown above it.
The town council voted last week, 3-2, to approve an ordinance that makes it illegal to display a foreign flag -- unless an American flag is flown above it. Scofflaws face a $50 fine and 30 hours of community service.
Pahrump resident Michael Miraglia proposed the ban because, he said, he got upset when he saw immigrant activists marching through U.S. cities last spring, waving Mexican flags. Mr. Miraglia told USA Today that he was especially miffed that "we had Mexican restaurants closed that day."
Shocking news - intolerant imbeciles hate Mexicans! But apparently still like their food, as the chief instigator complained that Mexican restaurants were not open earlier this year during the massive demonstrations in favor of immigrant rights, many of whose participants were of Mexican origin. And so the town council patriotically decided that the best way to celebrate true American values was to stomp on the free speech of residents by preventing them from flying the flag of another country.
Granted, it is considered to be in poor taste to fly any flag higher than the American flag. But if we were allowed to legislate taste you can bet that our representatives in Washington would look a lot different than they do. And it's difficult to imagine the same kind of uproar stemming from the public display of an Irish or British flag being shown. It's another excuse to enact racist laws targeting a specific population in the guise of patriotism. It would seem to me that the most patriotic way to treat immigrants would be to make them feel welcome so that they would choose to fly the American flag as their own.
Volokh had an interesting post about this. One of his observations:
This is one of the rare ordinances that not only violates the Court's First Amendment precedents, but actually violates the very first Supreme Court decision to hold that a law facially violated free speech, Stromberg v. California (1931). Stromberg held that people have a constitutional right to fly a red flag as a symbol of anarchism. It's hard to see why one wouldn't have an equal right to fly a foreign flag, as a symbol of affection for or even loyalty to that country. And of course Stromberg, while old, is hardly obsolete: It's been reaffirmed and broadened since 1931. That's a mighty strong constitutional tide that Pahrump is swimming against.
You know, I was listening to Jed the Fish, a DJ for KROQ in LA awhile back. He brought up an interesting topic. How far does the right have to push us as Americans before we get totally fed up and start over. He suggested we might not learn our lesson until we have the most right-leaning, neo-conservative, asshole president ever. Sort of like Bush on crack. Outlawing freedom that even the so-called "America lovers" (i.e. Fox News viewers), enjoy. So far right, banning most if not all civil liberties and provoking another country into a major conflict with us (i.e. a real war, nuclear war even).
I mean, banning foreign flag doesn't seem anywhere close to that scenario, but is that not the track we're heading down as a nation?
Granted, it is considered to be in poor taste to fly any flag higher than the American flag. But if we were allowed to legislate taste you can bet that our representatives in Washington would look a lot different than they do.
Of course, though it's federal law, there's no penalty, and it's unenforceable. First Amendment and all that. The parts in question also apply only when the US flag is flown with other flags, which isn't the case here. As far as I know, it doesn't say you can't fly any flag you want.
Are there any restrictions about which flags you can fly under the US flag? It's not legal in the UK to own certain flags because of terror laws. (eg: Hamas).
It'd be odd if people were free to fly Nazi flags so long as they're under the US flag.
dem_z said:
Are there any restrictions about which flags you can fly under the US flag? It's not legal in the UK to own certain flags because of terror laws. (eg: Hamas).
It'd be odd if people were free to fly Nazi flags so long as they're under the US flag.
This is America - where we are free to profess our love and admiration for all things idiotic, stupid, and offensive in a peaceful manner. Afterall, but for this principle, UpTight would not be a "politics editor" at SG.
Pahrump is awesome. meth labs, whorehouses, stray dogs, appliance and automotive landscaping... I didn't realize they had mexercans there that live long enough to erect flags.
my father is english, and my parents have both the union jack and the stars and stripes flying outside the house. the US flag is positioned higher because that's the country they live in, and because my family is patriotic. my dad is a very proud englishman who still retains his UK citizenship even after over 30 years of living here in the states. if he has no problem with the US flag being above his, why the hell are all these damn hippies getting so up in arms? seriously, sometimes i feel ashamed to look at these individuals and call myself a liberal.
you can fly your country's flag all you want, just so long as you have a US flag above it. it's the country you live in, and furthermore, the country that gives you the right to fly said flag. what's the big fuckin deal?
Trucker_Fiction said:
my father is english, and my parents have both the union jack and the stars and stripes flying outside the house. the US flag is positioned higher because that's the country they live in, and because my family is patriotic. my dad is a very proud englishman who still retains his UK citizenship even after over 30 years of living here in the states. if he has no problem with the US flag being above his, why the hell are all these damn hippies getting so up in arms? seriously, sometimes i feel ashamed to look at these individuals and call myself a liberal.
you can fly your country's flag all you want, just so long as you have a US flag above it. it's the country you live in, and furthermore, the country that gives you the right to fly said flag. what's the big fuckin deal?
It's also the country that supposedly give you the right to fly whatever flag you want, however you want. I would imagine that is the big fuckin deal.
Ignorance abounds. Some towns wave it like a flag.
I did see that episode of Studio 60. The timing is great. I hope the writers of that show continue that storyline (somehow) and work this new bit of news in it. Maybe they can have Audioslave as their guest band for the week. Since he has a lot to say on this very topic, Tom Morello could square off with J. Goodman's character. It won't ever happen, but it would be fun to see.
legionnaire
Belgium
November 2003
NOV 20, 2006 07:57 PM