Live and Let Live

One of the effects of greater security in this country is greater limitations on public access to military installations. It’s possible to visit SAFB, Ft. Leonard Wood, etc. It’s just a little harder. Before the public could easily enter the facility at dawn or dusk & watch everyone stop.

At reveille & taps, for the raising & lowering of the colors, people stop. Whether they’re walking, running or driving, they stop. They stop & face the flag. The military in uniform salute. The civilians & military in civilian attire place their hands over their hearts. They remain this way until the music stops.

This level of respect occurs nowhere else. During parades, the colors pass. The crowd watches. During sporting events, the anthem plays, & the colors fly. The crowd goes about it’s business.
Some of these people fly their flags at home, day or night, in all weather conditions, completely unfamiliar with the Flag Code. Some human behavior doesn't change even after 200+ yrs, & once again, legislation is in the House to ban flag burning.

For me, the U. S. Supreme Court has already ruled on this issue – A law banning flag burning is inconsistent with the First Amendment: “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. Punishing desecration of the flag dilutes the very freedom that makes this emblem so revered, and worth revering.”

I choose to remember the words of Evely Beatrice Hall, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” It’s a live & let live approach. – as long as these misguided fools never burn a U. S. Flag near me or on my property. That’s when I choose to remember the Second Amendment. I have the right to bear arms – during PMS.

Which reminds me -- My IL FOID is up for renewal.