The San Bernardino (Calif.) City Council recently decided to not drape a big American flag against the side of City Hall on other patriotic holidays and Sept. 11.
Local car groups have decided to protest the council's decision and say they will consider a boycott of the city's largest event, the Route 66 Rendezvous, in September if the city doesn't relent. The city says it has better things to worry about, and it says that draping a 30-by-22-foot flag at every patriotic holiday would cost taxpayers $3,000 to $5,000 a year.
You can read about the story in full here.
City Hall already has American flags flying in front of it. It's not like San Bern's city fathers have Old Glory hidden away.
The guy quoted in the story, Lyman Stucky, isn't just a simple car buff. A Google search shows the self-described "Ambassador to Patriotism" been heavily involved with the Minutemen, illegal-immigration issues, and the Pledge of Allegiance. The links on his Web page go to several far-right-wing sites, and he has a PayPal account for donations.
In other words, Stucky isn't an ordinary joe who suddenly became involved in local issues. He's a professional rabble-rouser with an agenda to advance.
The First Amendment allows Stucky to speak out as he sees fit. However, I'm fairly certain that Stucky's motives in this issue aren't pure. He's not in it for patriotism — he's in it for Lyman Stucky.
And, no, I don't appreciate Stucky using the rather innocuous Route 66 Rendezvous as a political football.
I’d like to be the first to offer Lyman Stucky directions back to the interstate where he belongs. Route 66 should NEVER be used as a tool for advancing someone’s personal political agenda. If he really cared about this issue, he’d get busy raising the necessary funds to display the giant flag instead of demanding that the taxpayers do it for him.
Well:
How exactly does it cost 5K to hang a flag…no matter how big?
I'm guessing there is a local VFW that would hang it for nothing, even if half the guys needed help out of their wheelchairs to do so.
I'm guessing the local municipal county worker's union or whoever the hell thinks they need five grand to hang a flag will be feeling and looking pretty stupid at the time.
Not for nothing, it was 239 years ago TODAY that the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as out National ensign.
Lyman Stucky can kiss my decorated sweaty two-tour veteran b*lls. And he better do it with a smile
Tim