Indulge me this one story.
It features no tie to Jack Abramoff, doesn’t explain why Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) is in so much trouble, deconstructs no real estate scams and exposes no outlawed travel. It just reminds me of why I love this country.
In San Bernardino, Calif. — right around where the edge of Los Angeles suburban sprawl meets the yawning California desert — a scandal erupted yesterday, Flag Day. It appears the city owns a giant flag, but refuses to display it.
When I say giant, I mean giant: at 30 feet by 22 feet, it may even surpass Cadillac-dealership-flag big. It’s got more square footage than my apartment. The city first used the flag after the Sept. 11 attacks, draping it over the municipal building, but it hasn’t displayed it since.
Townsfolk and even a couple councilmembers have tried in vain to goad the city into using the flag again, most recently to rebuff pro-immigration protesters who were expected to wave Mexican flags. City staff rejected the idea, primarily (it seems) because the logistics of safely displaying a giant flag cost the city between $3,000 and $5,000 per hanging. That’s no small beans for a city budget.
But Flag Day — perhaps the highest of the flag-related American high holidays — practically demands a giant flag, doesn’t it? I mean, if you’re not going to show the world your giant flag on Flag Day, you might as well, well, burn it. (That’s not a sign of disrespect; in fact, it’s the proper way to honorably dispose of a flag that’s no longer usable. All you would-be constitutional amenders, look it up.)
But the city wouldn’t do it! So the pro-giant-flag contingent (“led by car buff Lyman Stucky,” reports the San Bernardino Sun, which broke the story) went radical: they held a protest.
“If we’ve got this huge American flag, we shouldn’t be afraid to fly it,” Stucky told reporters:
Stucky began to rally support for bringing back the flag after he heard that the City Council had voted against it.
“We want to show these four anti-American flag politicians what we think,” Stucky said.
The push began in May. Responding to Stucky and his crowd, the city did in fact begin displaying a bigger American flag — but not the giant one.
That bigger flag was big, but it just wasn’t big enough. So Flag Day came, and the protesters showed up from all over:
Protesters, many who showed up in vintage vehicles, sported all varieties of red-white-and-blue garb [ed. note: that’s considered an offense to the flag] on Wednesday. They spoke out angrily about the council’s decision not to drape the flag.
“We think it’s disgusting that an American city would think it’s offensive to fly the American flag,” said Gayle Nyberg of Murrieta. “This is our flag.”
Congressional candidate Scott Folkens urged the protesters to attend the next council meeting and speak out.
“This is America,” he said. “People’s voices have the right to be heard.”
Indeed, they do. So thank you, Mr. Folkens, and Ms. Nyberg, and Mr. Stucky the car buff. You may not have gotten the giant flag displayed, but you gave us all a giant display of why America is the greatest country on earth. And it didn’t cost a penny.
