
following complaints by local veterans in Florida.
An American flag with President Obama’s image in place of the stars flew over a Florida county’s Democrat headquarters long enough to enrage local veterans who called the altered banner “a disgrace.”
Lake County Democratic Party officials took down the flag, which flew just below a standard Old Glory on the flagpole outside headquarters in Tavares following complaints by local veterans. But merely taking it down wasn’t enough for several local veterans, who said they fought for the flag Betsy Ross made famous, not one with a politician on it.
“It’s absolutely disrespectful,” Jim Bradford, a 71-year-old veteran who participated in the Bay of Pigs Invasion told FoxNews.com. “It’s totally ridiculous. To put somebody’s picture there, to me, it’s a disgrace to do that.”Bradford, an organizer with the Veterans Memorial at Fountain Park in Leesburg, Fla., snapped photos of the flag and distributed them to fellow veterans and friends. By late afternoon, he and several other veterans delivered a copy of the federal flag code to Nancy Hurlbert, chairwoman of the Lake County Democratic Party.
“We read that to her, but she would not accept that,” Bradford said. “The discussion finally got a little bit heated.”
The flag, which had been flying for several months without complaint and is available online for $12.95, was later removed by Hurlbert.
Bradford said Hurlbert apologized for the incident, but did not offer any promises that it wouldn’t fly again.
“What really upsets me is that the flag had apparently been flying for months and no one had done anything about it,” Bradford said. “I’ve got no hard feelings toward [Hurlbert], but people will be driving by there to make sure it doesn’t go up again.”
Hurlbert said Tuesday’s incident was the first time anyone had complained about the flag, which she received as a gift two months ago.
“It leads me to believe that it’s not about the flag,” she told FoxNews.com. “Certain elements cannot accept Barack Obama as president.”
Hurlbert said she intends to contact an attorney regarding the matter and remained non-committal as to whether she’ll fly the flag again.
“I won’t say no and I won’t say yes,” she said. “We want to find out what our legal rights are.”
Also reporting, Lake County, FL’s “Daily Commercial”.
President Obama’s face in place of stars on an American flag flying at Lake County Democratic Headquarters in Tavares irked a group of veterans on Tuesday, who found themselves engaged in a verbal confrontation and the threat of police action when they requested the flag be taken down.
The matter was resolved peacefully when Democratic party officials removed the flag.
The Obama flag had been flowing for two months underneath an American flag before it was noticed by the veterans, who argued that it was a desecration of the flag and in violation of three codes passed by Congress about displaying the American flag.
“We were given this as a gift,” said Nancy Hurlbert, chairwoman of the Lake County Democratic Party. “We are proud of our president, we’re proud of the United States, and we felt it was time to display that.”
Leesburg veteran Jim Bradford recalled he did a double take when he saw the Obama flag with red and white stripes for the first time over the weekend.
“When I saw the picture on the flag, I thought this is wrong,” he said. “I really hate seeing the flag not being respected, and to me this was not respectful.”
Bradford took pictures of the flag and sent them, via email, to friends and veterans groups.
“The general reply has been this is not right,” he said, adding politics has nothing to do with the issue.
“I really don’t care what party it is. If it had been a picture of Romney on the flag, I would have done the same thing,” Bradford said.
Korean War veteran Don Van Beck of Tavares spearheaded the veterans’ visit to the Lake County Democratic Headquarters, where he was joined by a dozen veterans and media on the front steps of the Main Street building.
“There are laws against desecrating the flag,” Van Beck said, right before he read out loud the federal flag code, public law 344, section 4G to Hurlbert: “The flag should never have placed upon it or any part of it, any marks, insignia, letters, words, figures, designs, picture or drawings of any nature. We would like to ask you to take it down please.”
This is a disgusting display. Imagine if Republican placed the picture of President George W. Bush on the flag instead of our failed President 0-bama?
I thought the flag was great made me think of toilet paper and what i can do with it, obama is the biggest piece of crap this country has ever seen …
Yet the left accuses Republicans of mindless worship of it’s leaders.
Left wingers are sick. Diseased.
Oh like I needed this after my breakfast. Do these clowns bow towards WDC 7x day (or where ever he’s flitted to today), uttering hosannas to their Dear Leader.
Do a Google image search for “campaign flags” and count how many past presidential images have appeared on such a campaign flag in the star field.
Notable republicans who have appeared on a flag include Abraham Lincoln.
Speaking of disrespectful use of the flag, how do you like this example?. Who’s the man in the picture, folks?
@Greg: Given the source I’d expect no less. I’d prefer Bush’s signature on a flag he respects vs a image of a Socialist on the flag of a country he obviously disrespects.
When you take away the star field, you’ve got a red white and blue campaign banner that resembles a flag but isn’t.
When you sign your autograph on an actual flag as if it were a bit of paper, you’re doing something else entirely.
It was people who were incapable of making such distinctions that elected GWB in the first place.
@Greg: Obama does think he’s up there with Lincoln. Ahead of Lincoln.
@Greg:
I think that the point here is that a group of people learned, or knew, enough about about the federal flag code to protest the use of it in such a way. Now, you may be thinking that we on the right, in general, are being hypocritical on this situation, since we haven’t commented on other examples of those on the right violating that code, and that our only real objection is that the picture is of Obama. Ok, and for some on the right you may be, and are probably correct, in pointing that out.
However, the fact is that this does violate the federal flag code, regardless of what has been done in the past. Moreover, you do not know how many conservatives, for example, did, or would have, objected to, say, Lincoln’s image being on it, or the pic of Bush signing one.
And, on top of that, and somewhat in defense of the situation above, many people in the US do not have a clue when it comes to the flag, and how it should be treated, so actions like this are not necessarily unprecedented, nor likely to stop.
I guess we should all be grateful that they didn’t fly the “Obama and Stripes” above the actual American flag.
For whatever it’s worth, I don’t much like seeing anyone’s likeness on anything too closely resembling the flag either, and probably would call in a complaint were I to see anything like that locally. I don’t think that’s actually a partisan sensibility. It’s an American sensibility. Or at least it ought to be.
@Greg:
Agree. What’s right is right, no matter who is doing the wrong.
Greg steps in it again.
Greg, how old is that flag? Was it a violation of the code back then? Not to mention Lincoln IS considered one of our greatest presidents ever.
As for Bush signing the flag, it’s no big deal to me. That is the same as if Clinton had signied it or even obama.
I do object to Bush or obama being on the flag. I especially object to obama as he is a racist who hates what it stands for.
@Hard Right, you have it exactly right.
US Flag Code, 4 USC § 3 – Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutilation of flag, codified in 1947 with amendments in 1968.
Three instances I know of are US Presidential elections… Lincoln’ s flag in 1860, Horatio Seymour’s flag when running against U.S. Grant in 1868, and Rutherford B Hayes’ flag in 1876… all prior to US Flag Code passage. Historians say, however, they were popular mostly between the 1840s and 1890s, because there was little means of mass communication available to voters.
Naturally, it becomes very interesting that MSNBC’s Martin Bashir isn’t screaming bloody murder about this. After all, he was on a tirade, accusing Palin of violating US Flag Code by having a flag painted on the side of her tour bus. Notably missing was a self-portrait, superimposed on that flag.
’tis a pity that so many pundits don’t recognize the difference between Old Glory, adorning the side of a bus, or even as part of MSNBC’s own graphics from time to time, and using the flag as the backdrop billboard for photos, slogans, advertising etc. As the US Flag Code makes clear above, it’s the alteration of the flag, not it’s mere use as Old Glory in all her pristine glory.
However if they want to play nuances with the code, they can point to the restrictions “within the District of Columbia” for an out. And, of course, flag code is pretty much voluntary, and never likely to be enforced because of potential conflicts with the 1st Amendment.
It is, however, a mark of respect as to how it’s used. So it’s no surprise that some Democrat, clueless to that respect, gifted this abomination to the Lake County Dems, and that they were clueless to it’s offense.
A personal flag, autographed by a US POTUS, is not mutilation for advertising purposes, Greg. Unrelated straw man.
Back in the day.
Keyser, I didn’t know about Rick Monday and that moment. Such a great vid, I had to embed it in your comment as a easy/must watch.
@MataHarley:
Thanks Mata…just goes to show, the Cubs don’t always disappoint.
@Greg: Having voted for Bush in 2004 (voted Libertarian in ’00), at least I can say that I never worshipped the ground he walked on or any other politician for that matter unlike the Obama supporters. If Bush did something I disagreed with, i.e. his immigration policy and his deficit spending, I criticized him for it. Obama supporters worship him like a god who can do wrong. Scary.
@Keyser Söze: I remember watching the game live on WGN. Jack Brickhouse (the Cub’s announcer) described what was happening on the field because their cameras were purposely focused elsewhere. He said that WGN wasn’t going to do the assholes (he used a different word obviously) the favor of giving them air time. Afterwards, Monday said in the paper that too many people had died for the flag to let them disrespect it the way they were. It’s sad to think, but if it happened today, there are plenty out there who would criticize or mock him for what he did.
@another vet:
aVet…it sounds like we are close to the same age. I watched it on the local news that night after work.
Yes…the Lib’s of today would be screaming for his head and trying to sue him on a “depriving of their First Amendment” guarantees.
Definately a 10 in baseball history…especially if you look in the background at the 370 wall marker…3+7=10. Hearing the “Twilight Zone” music…
@another vet: Obama is the Chicago Jesus and the left does indeed worship him.
@drjohn: What would happen he served up some Jim Jones’ kool aid?
tim, the Godless Heathen. over at Brutally Honest pointed out the absurdity of the excuse given by the flag’s flyer.
Then tim opines:
Her ”apology” carries no promise not to repeat her offending act, either.