Over the Top or Not?
This Frank Gray column caught my eye this morning in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette about a Decatur businessman who has flown his flag upside down since Tuesday’s election victory for President-Elect Obama.
None of this attracted much attention until, shortly after Tuesday’s election, Townsend hoisted the flag, which has long flown in front of his shop, in the upside-down position, a distress signal protesting the election of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden.
It didn’t take long for the reaction to come. A 17-year employee told Townsend he was quitting. The phone calls started, about 300 in the past few days.
Almost all have been in support, Townsend said, but some clearly weren’t. Shortly after noon Friday, a woman called to raise hell with the employee who answered. There was no mistaking what the call was about.
No, the female employee said, it has nothing to do with the fact that Obama is black. It’s about abortion. Obama is a supporter of abortion, and the business owner is absolutely opposed to it, period.
The call dragged on for several minutes, and it wasn’t friendly.
Then Townsend, who had been tied up on another call, hung up and explained himself.
Some have protested that flying the flag upside down is a desecration, but it’s not, he says, and firmly so, pointing to a printout of flag regulations.
An upside-down flag is a distress signal, indicating that people’s lives or property are in danger. With the election of Obama and Biden, lives are in danger: all the unborn babies that will die as the result of abortion.
And property is at stake. The recent bailout wasn’t a bailout of the American people, he said. It was the bailout of a bankrupt and foreign-owned Federal Reserve system.
The Indy Star now reports that the businessman has decided to take down his flag.
What do you think? Over the top or not?
November 8th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
definitely not over the top…i don’t blame him whatsoever.
November 8th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Please ask yourself if the roles were reversed and this was a Democrat doing this, how would you feel?
November 8th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
In the 1990s, there was a veteran in my county who flew a flag in front of his house upside down because of Bill Clinton.
November 8th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
As for the positions being reversed, we have already seen every form of vile hatred and foul disrespect from Democrats and individuals in the seats on the left, ranging from “Bush assassination chic” to all manner of attacks and depredations of the military simply because of what their Commander in Chief ordered them to do (let alone Jim’s own citation above from the Democrat national convention).
It will take a lot more than flying the flag in distress to equal that sort of disgusting behavior, not that we should be in a hurry to match it.
November 8th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I’m sure there is plenty of disgusting behavior on both sides. Watching the crowds outside McCain/Palin rallies smear Obama was pretty disturbing. It doesn’t mean that all Republicans are that way. If we continue to justify bad behavior because ‘the other guys did it too’ we will never get anywhere.
November 8th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Oh, and by the way Scott, that was the DemocratIC National Convention, not the Democrat National Convention, thanks!
November 8th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Nope, sorry. It’s the Democrat Party. There’s nothing democratic about it.
And the flag upside down? Mr. Townsend should have stuck to his guns.
November 8th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
If you don’t even have the respect to say the name of the party correctly you really don’t deserve much respect in return.
November 8th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
When the Democrat party starts showing respect for the sanctity of human life, than we can talk about showing the party respect in return.
November 8th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I’m sure you’ll really get a lot of them to respect you and listen to your position with that attitude.
November 8th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Actually, I do get them to respect me and listen to me. I guess you haven’t seen that I’ve teamed up with Jen Wagner, the former State Democrat Communications Director to work in a bi-partisan effort to advocate on behalf of the Kernan-Shepard report.
I can respect the people. It doesn’t mean I have to respect the party.
November 8th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
The party is made up of people. I would love to reach common ground on abortion between the parties, as I too oppose abortion, but I don’t think that cause is served by childishly refusing to say the name of the democratic party correctly. It turns people off and shows a lack of respect for others. You may not care about that, but it’s true.
November 8th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Oh, and by the way the omission was intentional, thanks!
November 8th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Of course it was intentional. Thought I would ask nicely for you to show some respect, but that is pointless here. Have a nice weekend guys.
November 8th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Easy guys.
1. Is flying the flag upside down over the top? I would say so right now. Let’s remember that one of our primary arguments against Obama is that he hasn’t done ANYTHING in his life. I expect it not to take very many days after Obama takes office that it will not be over the top, but let’s wait until he actually does something worthy of criticism to declare that the country is in distress.
2. I don’t care what you call the Democrats. I don’t care what they want to be called. The name IS the Democratic National Committee and they are Democrats. Big deal. Their use of fringe groups like ACORN and others show what their real dedication is to these principles.
There are plenty of real things for us to fight over: principles of life; limited government; freedoms such as defeat of the fairness doctrine; wealth redistribution; taxes in general; Federal spending and regulation. Let’s not waste energy fighting about flags and names.
November 8th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Flying the flag is a signal of physical distress. If pirates or terrorists have taken over the business and are holding the employees hostage, flying the flag upside down should be a way of silently yelling “Help” to the police department for assistance.
If there is no need for police intervention, that is, the owner of the flag is in emotional distress because the wrong guy got elected, or the guy hit his thumb with a hammer, or his wife is leaving him, then flying the flag in this manner is almost equivalent to calling 911 with a spurious complaint. I say almost because it appears that the act of flying the US Flag upside down is NOT considered an act of distress by the US Flag Code; it’s simply a violation, no different than flying an unlit flag after dark, flying a flag in the rain, or flying a flag which is frayed and worn, all of which happen fairly regularly by people who insist that they don’t countenance disrespect for the flag.
In this case, the flag is privately owned, it’s being flown on private property, and if the guy wants to announce to the world that he’s a jerk, he should be allowed to do exactly that. That’s part of the First Amendment. Nothing says that people can’t refuse to buy from you, work for you, or sell to you because you’re a jerk. And, in fact, some people would prefer to do business with you because you’re a jerk.
We all want “transparency” in business. This guy is offering it. It’s the “jerks in stealth mode” that we need to beware of.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Yes, this is over the top. He should be free to do it, mind you, but it’s a poor decision.
I would also argue the GOP loses the sanctity of life argument via its fondness for neoconservative foreign policy.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
What the businessman did was the entirely appropriate. I regret that he took it down. My flag also hangs upside down. I do not recognize Barack Hussein Obama as my President….and never will.
He’s a corrupt, empty suit puppet of the NWO. He refuses to show a valid birth certificate proving he’s a citizen. I believe he was born in Kenya. If so, his Presidency will be illigitimate; and every thing he signs will be invalid.
He’s a gun-grabbing socialist and stooge for Israel.
He’s going to finish off what’s left of America…
Jean Allen
Tuscaloosa, Alabama