Man kicked out of town meeting for refusingto stand for Pledge

[Pennywise]

Part of living in a civilized society is not being an obstinate ass just because. If you aren't crippled, stand up and be quiet.

how unamerican

I'm largely a traditionalist and if something is traditional and is not harming anyone, only a childish twit would make a spectacle of himself over it. Pretty silly.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Indeed. A person who won't stand during the singing of the National Anthem, or refuses to recite the Pledge, or won't be man or woman enough to cover their heart when the Colors are presented - are scum.

This country and her people had better come to terms with their "feelings" about the United States and they had better do it quickly because their resolve is about to be tested mightily.

What do I tell these assholes? You hate this country so damned much? Get the **** out of it. But disrespect the flag in front of me and I will knock the shit out of you. punk ass clowns piss me off.

Good, get the **** out.

The Dem Party should have had a similar policy with this scumbag. Had Richardson kicked Obama in the ass, I would have voted for him

Indeed. A person who won't stand during the singing of the National Anthem, or refuses to recite the Pledge, or won't be man or woman enough to cover their heart when the Colors are presented - are scum.

This country and her people had better come to terms with their "feelings" about the United States and they had better do it quickly because their resolve is about to be tested mightily.

What do I tell these assholes? You hate this country so damned much? Get the **** out of it. But disrespect the flag in front of me and I will knock the shit out of you. punk ass clowns piss me off.

What, are you the etiquette police? Have you considered just grunting real loud? It would have the same effect.

And wow, who would have ever thought you would want to recite a pledge that had been written by a socialist.

Did you also know that the first salute that was required for the pledge looked exactly like the nazi salute? Well, well, well, a couple of smart people caught that one in 1942 and changed that....

**** you nazi. How is that for proper "form"? You don't like this country? get the **** out piss ant.

Oh, you are just sooo scary!!! Mebbe you should just grunt louder: TEA!!! TEA!!! TEA!!!

 

[Statistikhengst]

Part of living in a civilized society is not being an obstinate ass just because. If you aren't crippled, stand up and be quiet.

Spoken like a true authoritarian. You know what other countries behave that way? China, North Korea, Cuba, and every other despotic regime on the planet. Salute the state or be punished. As I've said before, it's amazing how much conservatives have in common with the dictators and Communists you all despise.

His unwillingness to stand is protected speech under the First Amendment. That's what freedom is.

Yepp.

 

[LiberalMedia]

Part of living in a civilized society is not being an obstinate ass just because. If you aren't crippled, stand up and be quiet.

Spoken like a true authoritarian. You know what other countries behave that way? China, North Korea, Cuba, and every other despotic regime on the planet. Salute the state or be punished. As I've said before, it's amazing how much conservatives have in common with the dictators and Communists you all despise.

His unwillingness to stand is protected speech under the First Amendment. That's what freedom is.

I'm not claiming he didn't have the right to be an ass. I'm just pointing out that he was a childish ass. See the difference?

I didn't before, but I believe I do now; you're saying that he has the right to be an ass, but that living in a civilized society means not exercising that right, so rather than jailing or executing him, we should simply exile him to either the woods, desert, or the world-famous libertarian paradise, Somalia. An interesting choice of alternatives. Thank you for your insightful post, fellow lybyryl.

 

[Statistikhengst]

lol!!!

 

[Pennywise]

Part of living in a civilized society is not being an obstinate ass just because. If you aren't crippled, stand up and be quiet.

Spoken like a true authoritarian. You know what other countries behave that way? China, North Korea, Cuba, and every other despotic regime on the planet. Salute the state or be punished. As I've said before, it's amazing how much conservatives have in common with the dictators and Communists you all despise.

His unwillingness to stand is protected speech under the First Amendment. That's what freedom is.

I'm not claiming he didn't have the right to be an ass. I'm just pointing out that he was a childish ass. See the difference?

I didn't before, but I believe I do now; you're saying that he has the right to be an ass, but that living in a civilized society means not exercising that right, so rather than jailing or executing him, we should simply exile him to either the woods, desert, or the world-famous libertarian paradise, Somalia. An interesting choice of alternatives. Thank you for your insightful post, fellow lybyryl.

Your meds need a tad more adjustment, but thanks for the deranged extrapolation.

 

[ogibillm]

Part of living in a civilized society is not being an obstinate ass just because. If you aren't crippled, stand up and be quiet.

how unamerican

I'm largely a traditionalist and if something is traditional and is not harming anyone, only a childish twit would make a spectacle of himself over it. Pretty silly.

i'm with you on this. it wouldn't have hurt the man to stand - at least not for the pledge. more than that though it wouldn't have hurt the mayor to ignore it and conduct business as usual. one person in that scenario had the power to create a scene, and it wasn't the man in his chair.

 

[Camp]

CNN Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

A first amendment activist was escorted from a public meeting in Winter Garden FL for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance

This country would be a lot better off if people realized that just b/c they CAN do something, doesn't mean they SHOULD do it.

I'll compare it to open carrying in cities.

Hey **** heads knock it off, you're scaring people. DUH

The same idiot champions Michelle Obama forcing kids to eat government school lunches- IDIOT

How do you force kids to eat when they don't want to eat something? I never mastered that skill.

 

[Statistikhengst]

So, let me get this straight.

A christian socialist named Francis Bellamy writes a piece of prose that becomes our pledge of allegiance. Originally, the words "under God" were not in that pledge. And the original salute to said pledge looked exactly like the Hitler-salute of the 1930s:

Pledge of Allegiance - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

At some point in time before 1942, probably in 1941, someone decided that the regulations for the US Flag code should be applied to the pledge, which means standing up, saluting and saying the pledge. Who knows, maybe they are the same people who decided that the Hitler-salute was prolly not such a great idea, after all.

Essentially, this was a tactic to forge more patriotism during WWII.

Now, personally, I like the pledge.

But some in congress found it terrible without a reference to G-d, so in 1954, the US Congress voted to add words to Bellamy's text - "under God". This wasn't the first time that people tinkered with his text. "Flag" was also changed to "Flag of the United States of America" - with the argument that immigrants would known exactly which flag was meant. Ok, I'm cool with that.

So, a tradition was established during a time a war, one that applied mostly to public schools, but soon, the reciting of the pledge and/or the singing of the national anthem began to be used all over the place. And I'm cool with that, too.

However, it still is voluntary and not mandatory and reciting it or not reciting it has nothing to do with a person's patriotism.

So, to throw someone out of a public meeting for not standing up really does hearken back to the tactics of fascists 80 years ago. All hail the American Taliban!

The Mayor who threw that citizen out is a nutbag.

 

[g5000]

The totalitarians are out in force in this topic. It is funny how they get you should not force someone to buy the Pill for their employees, but don't get you should not force someone to speak words they don't want to speak.

Reminds me of the bad old days of loyalty oaths.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

CNN Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

A first amendment activist was escorted from a public meeting in Winter Garden FL for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance

Mayor Forces Man To Leave Public Meeting Because He Won t Stand During Prayer ThinkProgress

A Florida mayor ejected one of his constituents from a City Commission meeting on Thursday because he declined to stand during the invocation and pledge to the flag at the beginning of the meeting.
Winter Garden Mayor John Rees, a nonpartisan official leading an Orlando suburb of about 37,000, was caught on video demanding that an audience member stand for a prayer, which thanked God for “allowing us to live in a country where we’re free to believe, think, and pray.”
The audience member responded, “I don’t believe I have to do that, thank you.” After the prayer, Rees again instructed the constituent, identified by the Orlando Sentinel as Joseph Richardson, to stand for the pledge to the flag as “children have to in school.” Richardson again politely declined.
“Okay. I asked him to either stand or please be escorted out as we do the Pledge,” Rees says in the video. “It’s just not fair to our troops and people overseas, sir.”
City police then enforced the mayor’s demand and Richardson left.

It's this sort of ignorance of, and contempt for, the Constitution and its case law by elected officials that results in most of the unnecessary conflicts and controversies of the day.

 

[Plasmaball]

What good is a pledge if you are forced to give it?

Any pledge should by definition, be voluntary

He was asked to stand, not recite it.

so what

 

[Plasmaball]

Oh, I think the 1st amendment activist was a dick for doing what he did.

Only, he has a right to do it.

Gunnutz should be defending this guy to the hilt.

The Mayor had the right to have him escorted out too.

based on what? His freedom of speech was violated here.

 

[Darkwind]

I don't pledge my allegiance to a symbol. My allegiance is to America and our people.

I don't need a symbol of our nation. I've got the real thing here everyday. I have traveled to almost all of our nation and guess what? America is a great nation. We have great people. Great places and such beauty that it's literally breath taking. We have people who are so wonderful it moves me.

No piece of cloth can symbolize America to me. I like the real thing.

If you need that cloth symbol, have at it. Knock yourself out.

Just leave me alone while I sit quietly.

Like I said, lacking education.

 

[Darkwind]

The totalitarians are out in force in this topic. It is funny how they get you should not force someone to buy the Pill for their employees, but don't get you should not force someone to speak words they don't want to speak.

Reminds me of the bad old days of loyalty oaths.

Care to point out where anyone said he was required to recite the pledge?

 

[Darkwind]

CNN Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

A first amendment activist was escorted from a public meeting in Winter Garden FL for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance

This country would be a lot better off if people realized that just b/c they CAN do something, doesn't mean they SHOULD do it.

I'll compare it to open carrying in cities.

Hey **** heads knock it off, you're scaring people. DUH

The same idiot champions Michelle Obama forcing kids to eat government school lunches- IDIOT

How do you force kids to eat when they don't want to eat something? I never mastered that skill.

You take away something more important than their aversion to what they won't eat. Kids do know how to prioritize.

 

[g5000]

The totalitarians are out in force in this topic. It is funny how they get you should not force someone to buy the Pill for their employees, but don't get you should not force someone to speak words they don't want to speak.

Reminds me of the bad old days of loyalty oaths.

Care to point out where anyone said he was required to recite the pledge?

He was punished for not speaking them, and denied the ability to participate in the process of government, and several people here have applauded that action.

Totalitarian whackjobs.

 

[g5000]

He wasn't being forced to take a pledge or give an oath.

He most certainly was. And because he did not, he was punished. That is force.

 

[Darkwind]

Part of living in a civilized society is not being an obstinate ass just because. If you aren't crippled, stand up and be quiet.

how unamerican

So, manners are now unAmerican.

Do you really wish to know what is unAmerican?

It is not having a single good thing to say about America.

 

[Darkwind]

The totalitarians are out in force in this topic. It is funny how they get you should not force someone to buy the Pill for their employees, but don't get you should not force someone to speak words they don't want to speak.

Reminds me of the bad old days of loyalty oaths.

Care to point out where anyone said he was required to recite the pledge?

He was punished for not speaking them, and denied the ability to participate in the process of government, and several people here have applauded that action.

Totalitarian whackjobs.

Point out where he was required to recite the pledge. Being kicked out (another stupid move in a series of them by all parties involved) is not being required to recite the pledge.