The scene: Friendly's in Gettysburg, PA
The perp: dude in a baseball cap decorated with a Confederate flag and the word 'Rebel' across the front
The crime: he probably gets to vote, despite his manifest disdain for the national flag, and for the republic and constitution for which it stands
In Gettysburg, of all places. The re-enactors and fans in Confederate grey (or their Union blue) don't bother me at all. Perhaps they should, but it seems, well, historical. Ugly dude in the diner, though, not so much. I don't get to vote, since I'm a non-citizen. Fair enough. But I probably have more respect for the United States as a polity and an idea than he does. So if he wants to be a rebel, strip him of his rights as a citizen, and let him be a noisy bystander like me.
By the way, the chocolate mudslide ice cream is back, and it's tasty - particularly with hot fudge sauce.
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2 comments:
"Rebel" is a legitimate American political stance -- if freedom for all means anything, then it includes those whose opinions we despise, and who would -- given enough power -- change the established order. Would we suggest that someone wearing a t-shirt with the hammer and sickle be stripped of citizenry? Should we arrest artists who mutilate the flag to comment upon its place and function in our society? Distain for the U.S. flag must be allowable or we make it an unassailable icon -- and of what? We may disagree (and do) with this person's political opinions, ethical stances and sense of fashion, but to be a citizen does not -- and should not -- suggest that one cannot rebel.
We don't KNOW that this chap disagrees with the republic or the constitution. We just assume he does because he's comin' over all Dixie on our ass. But it's worth thinking about what Dixie/Rebel mean in our society now. Separatism? Maybe. But Texas also thinks it should be its own country. Basically, it suggests a set of beliefs we do not like but MUST tolerate. Now, if he then wrapped the Dixie flag around the next handy passing Yankee and tried to set them afire, then we can talk about distain and stuff. And jail.
You are a true voltairean in an era of small, frightened people, and I salute you.
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