Monday, June 27, 2016

The Few, The Proud

Heart of downtown this morning

I always love it when the DPW "forgets" to retrieve all the commemorative flags after one of the few holidays they are allowed to fly in the downtown.  In this particular case, Flag Day.

And by the weathered looks of it one of the original 29 commemorative flags purchased in the late summer of 2001.  Then Veterans Agent Rod Raubeson had put in a capital request to acquire the flags as part of his commemoration budget and it passed Town Meeting without comment.

But after he put them up in mid-August on a beautiful day much like today to test the apparatus, he decided to leave them up.  At that point some people complained.  Bitterly.

The illustrious Amherst Select Board, keepers of the public way, met to discuss the matter at their ever so routine Monday night meeting September 10th, 2001. 

The next morning routine went out the window.  Forever.

On August 31, after 14 years of stubborn refusal, the Select Board voted to allow the commemorative flags to fly annually on 9/11, although of the original 29 flags many have been lost or stolen.

Maybe I'll take up a collection ...

Patriotic UMass construction contractor


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

My mother got pulled over in NH in the summer of 2001 and asked why she was not displaying a flag in her car given that everyone else was.

This post, in Amherst of all places, and that event in NH remind me how much we have decoupled the flag from what it means.

It is like politicians that talk about democracy like it exists or we live in one (we most certainly do not and this is very good).

Liberty and freedom are actively opposed by most citizens and often opposed in this blog. The reverence for the flag seems to have nothing to do with these to primary principals of the failed American experiment. The results are quite Amherstian, not American.

Waving the flag in this atmosphere almost makes folks forget how little freedom they have left, it becomes propaganda of sorts.

Anonymous said...

Freedom and liberty are yours for the taking. Leftists like our president hate America. This country is not an experiment. The Constitution is there for all. Bill of Rights included.

Anonymous said...

Not sure why you would live in a country you despise so.

Anonymous said...

"Waving the flag in this atmosphere almost makes folks forget how little freedom they have left..."

Hello? I was in East Germany before the wall fell. This is not East Germany, Romania, or Poland. You've got lots of freedom and you better remember that.

Anonymous said...

People are so spoiled. Can buy beer? Lots of beer? You bet. Can you get in your car and drive anywhere you want? You bet. Can you vote for anyone you want? You bet. Get a grip.

Anonymous said...

"The constitution is there for all," including the President of the US. I'm sick of the right wing haters spewing their venom about everyone who isn't white, male, stupid, undereducated and unemployed. Right wingers are evil haters. The flag is a symbol of the country which is many things to many people. The flag certainly means one thing to the poor and another to the rich. Larry Kelley gushes on about the flag but he has never actually served his country in any way, a true chicken hawk.

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:25 has no concept of America mostly because his candidates don't win. Some people, right and left, are always saying let's take our country back! From who and for whom? I don't believe his mommy got pulled over for not displaying a flag.

Anonymous said...

Wow, talk about spewing venom. Stereotype much, or don't leftist haters do that?

Larry Kelley said...

"Chicken hawk."

I love it when a Cowardly Anon Nitwit talks about bravery.

Irony much?

Anonymous said...

You, 3:48 spew (aren't you sick of that word?) yor own brand of hatred. Be specific willya? You left wing haters love to generalize.

Anonymous said...

For starters let's take it back from the leftist idealogues who control the government. And you wonder why we need the second amendment?

Anonymous said...

Takes some to know some, I guess.

Anonymous said...

I figured a little cheese would draw all of the high school drop out, white male, gun toting right wing wankers out into the daylight. If y'all can actually read, you may well be able to find trump's name on the election ballot, but I doubt most of you can so there isn't much to worry about. Maybe there is booth where a kind little old lady will read it to you, not if she knew the darkness in your heart though.

Anonymous said...

Ed, kind of obvious that was you.

Anonymous said...

Tsk tsk. Shouldn't assume.