Wonderful peice written by Ward Parker, Omaha, NE.

Let it sink in.





For those of you who believe you ought to be able to burn the American flag, go ahead and torch it. The thick-skulled patriots who condemn you for wanting to burn Old Glory don't really have a firm grasp on freedom anyway, right?
Old Glory is nothing but a symbol anyway, and symbols too often represent cultural bigotry and prejudices, right? We should be more enlightened as to show reverence for a stupid, out-dated symbol such as a flag whose presence draws some ire and hatred from certain people, right again?

Isn't it silly to drape a coffin of a dead soldier with a trite symbol like Old Glory and then fold the flag and give it to a grieving widow or mother? Aren't you embarrassed for those old veterans standing on the sidewalk who salute Old Glory when it passes by during Memorial Day parades? That's as shallow as it gets, right?

I'm sure those of you want to burn Old Glory to bring visibility to whatever cause you are championing today had no problem whatsoever when the “artist” dipped the cross into a vat of urine a few years ago and called it art. No big deal. The cross is just a symbol. Faith is so much more than a cross, right? Think of it: if Christians did away with the cross as a religious symbol, maybe the radical Islamists wouldn't hate us so bad.

Monuments are also silly symbols. I've been to many, if not all, of the major monuments in Washington, DC. One of the more moving ones is the Viet Nam memorial. I've actually seen Americans shed a tear or two as they walked silently through it. Wouldn't it be more appropriate if those of who want burn Old Glory would also throw a bucket of urine on The Wall as an expression of your disdain for war and war-mongering politicians who get us into wars? That would be a cool expression of freedom, right?

Expressing your freedom by burning the flag is so much more important than the overwhelming majority of Americans who believe Old Glory represents all that is good about America, right? Your individual rights are much more precious and valuable than the silly patriotic sensibilities of millions upon millions of Americans who cherish Old Glory and get upset that you want to burn it, right?

While you're burning Old Glory, you might want to consider not taking off your hat or holding your hand over your heart when the National Anthem is played. That would be another way you could protest America. The National Anthem is really only a song anyway, right? And if you listen to the words carefully, it's a song about a battle. Who needs a war song about a battle as a National Anthem, right? Wouldn't it be more appropriate if our National Anthem was, say, something like "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing"?

Whatever you do, teach your children to never, under any circumstances, say the Pledge of Allegiance. In its simplest form, isn't the Pledge of Allegiance really about mind control anyway? No free country should ever force its young children to learn a Pledge of Allegiance, right? Wouldn't it be better if we taught our children to sing John Lennon's song "Imagine" instead?

Symbols are so passé. We don't need a symbol like Old Glory to remind us of who we are as a people and our history, right? So you go right ahead and burn Old Glory. And just before you set it on fire as your way of expressing your freedom, pause for a mere second or two before torching it and think about all those veterans lying in graves who died so that you could be so damned selfish and pathetic as to figuratively urinate on their graves by burning Old Glory. Yeah, you’re a real freedom fighter, right?

Rocker, I know Ward Parker and he's what you would call a straight shooter. He's definitely a good American.

quote:

Originally posted by NWI:
Rocker, I know Ward Parker and he's what you would call a straight shooter. He's definitely a good American.

That he is poot, that he is...

Poot? that must be an interesting story!

That was one crazy flick. Some of Nolte's best work. And what the heck ever happened to Mac Davis, anyhoo???

I remember reading that President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin were good friends and Bush calls him--I am not making this up--"Pooty-Poot". If I am the president of one of the most powerful countries in the world, and possess thousands of nuclear weapons, no one and I mean NO ONE calls me "Pooty Poot". Bush has a way with nicknames though. I read that his nickname for Karl Rove--again, not making this up--is "Turd Blossom".

The last I knew of Mac Davis, his career was still trying to recover from starring in "The Sting 2".