Man burns flag, gets duct taped to flag pole for 6 hours

[SwordoftheVistula]

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...storyID=846181

The young man was given three choices: get turned over to the police, go one-on-one in a fight with a seasoned war veteran, or be duct-taped to a flagpole for six hours with a sign around his neck identifying his alleged crime: flag burning.

It was the third option that would still have the small town buzzing a week after a 21-year-old was hunted down and forced to endure a public humiliation with its roots dating to the Middle Ages. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1938 were incensed enough to tie up the man last Sunday after they accused him of setting the flag in front of their building on fire.

Post Commander Nick Normile, a Vietnam War veteran, said the man came into the post's bar Sept. 18 on Poplar Avenue and was eventually turned away for not having a proper ID.

Apparently angered, the young man, who Normile did not want to name, cut the rope of the American flag flying overhead and used a cigarette lighter to set it on fire, Normile and others said.

The man sat pilloried as the village had its fall youth soccer picnic with children passing in front of him.

"He'll never disrespect the flag again, I can tell you that," Normile said.

Normile said the flag had at one point flown over U.S. troops in Iraq had special significance.

Veterans, both local and nationwide, responded to the event as accountings were posted online to the official VFW Facebook page and national Web site. Comments posted supported the act and added ideas for further punishment.

Other nearby business owners said they knew of the event but refused to give an accounting. Unconfirmed reports by citizens said the alleged flag-burner was a relative of a previous commander of the post.

Calls made to the alleged flag burner and a spokesman for the national VFW organization for comments were not returned. The Rensselaer County Sheriffs office confirmed knowledge of the event, but said they were not involved. State Police in Brunswick were contacted, but a trooper said no record of the event could be found.

The flag will be disposed of at a formal ceremony, Normile said.

[Octothorpe]

Good! An old-fashioned example of 'social sanction,' where the community, not a distant and uncaring judicial system, punishes the acts of a criminal.

[Cato]

This scummy flag-burning American wench (Rachel Corrie) got an even better punishment: plowed by an IDF bulldozer.

Moral of the story: flag-burning is a potentially dangerous activity, either around U.S. veterans or heavy equipment driven by Jews.

[Majar]

He didn't commit a crime. False imprisonment is a much more serious crime than burning the star-spangled rag- a symbol lacking any real meaning anymore. They make American flags in Chinese sweat shops, people purchase them at Wal-Mart and fly them on their porches to support wars for Wall Street because one of Rupert Mordoch's babes told them to. 'Scuse me while I vomit a bit.

To see a flag as "special" because it once flew over an illegally occupied country where at least a million of people have been murdered is rather sick. I'd like to burn that flag and piss on the ashes when I'm done.

[Cato]

He didn't commit a crime.

Trespass? Illegal conversion of property? Vandalism? Attempted arson? I'm sure any halfway decent prosecutor can dredge up some breach of tort to charge the moron with.

"I'd like to burn that flag and piss on the ashes when I'm done."

Would you do it in full view of the vets it belonged to? Hehehe. Probably not.

[SwordoftheVistula]

False imprisonment is a much more serious crime.

This isn't 'false imprisonment' since he submitted to it by choice rather than be turned over to law enforcement.

an illegally occupied country

According to this, it is legal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_v._Bush

[Sol Invictus]

According to this, it is legal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_v._Bush

Over a million dead Iraqis, thousands of American soldiers.

No WMDs. No links to Al Qaeda.

Not a goddamn thing.

But it's 'legal' - And you're bitching about your flag being burned.

Glad we have our priorities straight.

[SwordoftheVistula]

Over a million dead Iraqis, thousands of American soldiers.

No WMDs. No links to Al Qaeda.

Not a goddamn thing.

But it's 'legal' - And you're bitching about your flag being burned.

Glad we have our priorities straight.

Unwise policy, sure, but I don't see how that justifies this guy being a douchebag

[Cato]

The duct-taped idiot wasn't protesting the Iraq war, he was trying to buy booze without an ID. The slaphead got what he deserved.

[Cato]

The flag idealizes what the nation stands for, just as the SPQR flags symbolized the glory of Rome (for example). Many of millions of men and women have worn the uniform to serve and defend their country and many of them have paid the highest price- the Tomb of the Unknowns being the best example that I can think of. Both grandfathers were a WW2 vet; my uncle is a Vietnam vet; my brother is an Iraq War vet. Health problems, personal indecision and young age (16; I enlisted in the U.S. Army and failed due to the mentioned reasons, hurhur) prevented me from serving in the colors as my kin did but I hold vets and active duty personnel in the highest regard- they are my nation's unsung heroes (along with law enforcement and emergency responders).

Any flag-burning sack of trash is just that: a sack of trash that needs to get burnt.