Tell me what you think

mammasan

I attended a town hall meeting last night in the town I used to live in, my cousin still lives in the town and I was with him prior to going out for dinner. The town has a very diverse population, a mix of Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Portugese, and several South American nationalities the majority of which is Brazilian. A resident of the town addressed the council and all in attendance about the multitude of non-US flags being flown at people's homes due to the World Cup. They wanted the town to demand that anyone flying a flag that was not that of the US should remove it immediatly because it was an insult to this country especially around the Independence Day holiday. Other town residents where in agreement. One resident stated that they should all go back to their country and fly their flag there and stop disgracing this country. Other residents expressed that this was simply people supporting their teams during the World Cup, just like if someone has a Yankees or Jets flag outside of their home in show of support. What is your take on this?

fife

mammasan wrote:

I attended a twon hall meeting last night in the town I used to live in, my cousin still lives in the town and I was with him prior to going out for dinner. The town has a very diverse population, a mix of Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Portugese, and several South American nationalities the majority of which is Brazilian. A resident of the town addressed the council and all in attendance about the multitude of non-US flags being flown at people's homes due to the World Cup. They wanted the town to demand that anyone flying a flag that was not that of the US should remove it immediatly because it was an insult to this country especially around the Independence Day holiday. Other town residents where in agreement. One resident stated that they should all go back to their country and fly their flag there and stop disgracing this country. Other residents expressed that this was simply people supporting their teams during the World Cup, just like if someone has a Yankees or Jets flag outside of their home in show of support. What is your take on this?

the same thing is happenning here in Canada. people are saying that all the flags of other countries sould be taken down for JUly 1st (thats Canada day) me personally, i have a Portugal Flag and a Canada flag. i love canada and portugal. i still believe that being proud of country can not just mean waving a flag around. as for the guy who said that teh flags were disgracing the country that guy is an idiot. is there not more important things to be worried about?

even flow?

There is a probably more flags on cars here then houses there. And who really cares. Isn't that what immigration is. A person with roots in one country moves to another one. Sorry if the States think you are supposed to forget where you came from when you become a citizen. I think it is funny how many people in the States have the need to put out the flag on their houses to make sure they all remember where they live. So if that is pride, what would the other be????????

Anyhow, queue up the racist comments about how they should all go home and should not have showed up on your shores.

Maybe Bush can pass a law in the States (of course it won't fly with the rest of the world) to not have the World Cup or any other wordly event that may happen to fall on July 4th banned.

And.............Do people in one state get pissed off when somebody is wearing a team shirt from another state? ha ha ha ha All in a days work!

mammasan

fife wrote:

the same thing is happenning here in Canada. people are saying that all the flags of other countries sould be taken down for JUly 1st (thats Canada day) me personally, i have a Portugal Flag and a Canada flag. i love canada and portugal. i still believe that being proud of country can not just mean waving a flag around. as for the guy who said that teh flags were disgracing the country that guy is an idiot. is there not more important things to be worried about?

There is definetly more important issues to be concerned about. I was in shock when I heard some of the remarks coming from some people. What was truely troubling was that the people who where against the flags where specifically pointing out the Portugese, Spanish, and Brazilian flags, but none of them made any mention to the Italian flags I have seen in the windows of the towns Italian resturants and pizzerias our the multitude of Irish flags that are out around St. Patrick's Day.

inmytree

mammasan wrote:

I attended a twon hall meeting last night in the town I used to live in, my cousin still lives in the town and I was with him prior to going out for dinner. The town has a very diverse population, a mix of Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Portugese, and several South American nationalities the majority of which is Brazilian. A resident of the town addressed the council and all in attendance about the multitude of non-US flags being flown at people's homes due to the World Cup. They wanted the town to demand that anyone flying a flag that was not that of the US should remove it immediatly because it was an insult to this country especially around the Independence Day holiday. Other town residents where in agreement. One resident stated that they should all go back to their country and fly their flag there and stop disgracing this country. Other residents expressed that this was simply people supporting their teams during the World Cup, just like if someone has a Yankees or Jets flag outside of their home in show of support. What is your take on this?

Wow...

I think if someone wants to fly a flag outside of their home, they can do so...I see the Stars and Bars flying all over the place...while I don't agree with it, it's that person's right...

fife

mammasan wrote:

There is definetly more important issues to be concerned about. I was in shock when I heard some of the remarks coming from some people. What was truely troubling was that the people who where against the flags where specifically pointing out the Portugese, Spanish, and Brazilian flags, but none of them made any mention to the Italian flags I have seen in the windows of the towns Italian resturants and pizzerias our the multitude of Irish flags that are out around St. Patrick's Day.

i would love to see first nation people tell america that they should take down their us flags because it is a disgrace to their homeland, and that all americans should go back to where they came from.

mammasan

I just find the whole thing ridiculous. I lived in that town for 5 years and no one ever had a problem with people flying non US flags outside their homes. Now all of a sudden since 9/11 and Iraq a wave of nationalism has swept through. Now if you don't have a yellow ribbon magnet on your car and the US flag flying outside your home you are veiwed as some traitor. It really makes my stomach turn.

hippiemom

mammasan wrote:

I attended a town hall meeting last night in the town I used to live in, my cousin still lives in the town and I was with him prior to going out for dinner. The town has a very diverse population, a mix of Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Portugese, and several South American nationalities the majority of which is Brazilian. A resident of the town addressed the council and all in attendance about the multitude of non-US flags being flown at people's homes due to the World Cup. They wanted the town to demand that anyone flying a flag that was not that of the US should remove it immediatly because it was an insult to this country especially around the Independence Day holiday. Other town residents where in agreement. One resident stated that they should all go back to their country and fly their flag there and stop disgracing this country. Other residents expressed that this was simply people supporting their teams during the World Cup, just like if someone has a Yankees or Jets flag outside of their home in show of support. What is your take on this?

My take is that these people are ignorant bigots (redundant, I know) with too much time on their hands. I don't understand how a Brazilian flag is a "disgrace" to anything.

Milhouse VanHouten

mammasan wrote:

One resident stated that they should all go back to their country and fly their flag there and stop disgracing this country.

Wow, so you used to live in the same neighborhood as Lou Dobbs?

I'm saddened to learn that there are ignorant xenophobes in all parts of the country, not just mine.

CenterCity

i can't think of many other countries where such a thing could be done.
makes no sense: i think it'd be cool to see a diversity of flags that do make up our heritage. that doesn't take away from the states at all. its for the world cup.....crying out loud......kids still play soccer.
its a virtue.

surferdude

Seems like a waste of city council time. And seems like people have to much free time when they're worried about the flag someone is flying every four years during the world cup.

It equally saddens me that people need to be reminded that out of respect for their current home country that the only flag they should fly on July 4 is the US flag. But the tendency now a days seems to disregard respect for anything and anyone.

Pacomc79

mammasan wrote:

I attended a town hall meeting last night in the town I used to live in, my cousin still lives in the town and I was with him prior to going out for dinner. The town has a very diverse population, a mix of Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Portugese, and several South American nationalities the majority of which is Brazilian. A resident of the town addressed the council and all in attendance about the multitude of non-US flags being flown at people's homes due to the World Cup. They wanted the town to demand that anyone flying a flag that was not that of the US should remove it immediatly because it was an insult to this country especially around the Independence Day holiday. Other town residents where in agreement. One resident stated that they should all go back to their country and fly their flag there and stop disgracing this country. Other residents expressed that this was simply people supporting their teams during the World Cup, just like if someone has a Yankees or Jets flag outside of their home in show of support. What is your take on this?

while it would be nice perhaps if they also fly a US flag, people that concern themselves with the flag in others yards are essentially losers. My ancestors were scottish and I'm presbyterian my sister even had bagpipes at her wedding, should we have changed and had a jazz band? No that's ludicrous. Everyone has roots from somewhere it may even be more American to celebrate them while celebrating love of this country as well. The people flying flags are not harming anyone or denying anyone elses right to do the same. It's more offensive to me that people are trying to shout down liberty on the eve of independance day.

The whole idea of liberty and freedom is disgusting to many people in this country. That's the irony of Independance day celebrations. People will be waving their flags and shooting off fireworks. Sneering at their neighbors. They are disgusted anyone could possibly have an opposing view, opinion or belief. We want the government to protect us from everything and curtail morals and behavior to keep "those people" who may not actually infringe on anyones right to life liberty property or pursuit of happiness but simply have a lifestyle that may be objectionable to others. To me that throws more piss and flames on the symbol of this country than flying another countries flag as a show of support in a tournament that the majority of this country could give shit all about.

Rooting for Cameroon if you're born there dosen't make you un American. Celebrating the freedom one has to fly that flag in support may well make you more so than the people shouting it down.

We're becoming consistantly less free and independant everyday, I'm not so sure that's worth celebrating.

Eliot Rosewater

Here's what I think - Nationalism sucks. But then again I'm sure there are people who are actually proud of their country and have good reason to be. I for one am not. I've never been more embarrassed and ashamed for my country. And yes I mean government, which supposedly represents country so it's all the same to me.

That being said, I think its anyone's right to fly whatever flag they want to fly. I personally will not be flying an American flag anytime soon....in fact there's a far greater chance that I'd be burning it and let me explain why. I do believe in the constitution, but it's been basically shredded in my mind. I believe in democracy with all my heart. I also believe that America is a very, very distant relative of democracy. You know, far enough distance that the two could still be legally married and not have fucked up kids.

So my unwillingness to fly the flag isn't because I disagree with the concepts of democracy or our constitution, but rather a protest against our government, especially the current administration. Some may disagree and say that I can support our country and not the government by flying a flag. I strongly disagree with this because it's all about perception. Americans are stupid. We are, there's no denying it. Look at who we elected....look at how we let this entire administration and many before it run amock and destroy anything good that was left in our government. A smart people would have stopped it before it got to this point or even at this point would revolt. My point is that I won't fly a flag because Americans are stupid and brainwashed and would perceive flag-flying as support of this administration, and that I simply cannot risk.

farfromglorified

mammasan wrote:

I attended a town hall meeting last night in the town I used to live in, my cousin still lives in the town and I was with him prior to going out for dinner. The town has a very diverse population, a mix of Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Portugese, and several South American nationalities the majority of which is Brazilian. A resident of the town addressed the council and all in attendance about the multitude of non-US flags being flown at people's homes due to the World Cup. They wanted the town to demand that anyone flying a flag that was not that of the US should remove it immediatly because it was an insult to this country especially around the Independence Day holiday. Other town residents where in agreement. One resident stated that they should all go back to their country and fly their flag there and stop disgracing this country. Other residents expressed that this was simply people supporting their teams during the World Cup, just like if someone has a Yankees or Jets flag outside of their home in show of support. What is your take on this?

Yikes. Double yikes.

mammasan

Pacomc79 wrote:

while it would be nice perhaps if they also fly a US flag, people that concern themselves with the flag in others yards are essentially losers. My ancestors were scottish and I'm presbyterian my sister even had bagpipes at her wedding, should we have changed and had a jazz band? No that's ludicrous. Everyone has roots from somewhere it may even be more American to celebrate them while celebrating love of this country as well. The people flying flags are not harming anyone or denying anyone elses right to do the same. It's more offensive to me that people are trying to shout down liberty on the eve of independance day.

The whole idea of liberty and freedom is disgusting to many people in this country. That's the irony of Independance day celebrations. People will be waving their flags and shooting off fireworks, and sneering at their neighbors because they want the government to curtail the behaivor of "those people" They are disgusted anyone could possibly have an opposing view, opinion or belief. We want the government to protect us from everything and curtail morals and behavior to keep "those people" who may not actually infringe on anyones right to life liberty property or pursuit of happiness but simply have a lifestyle that may be objectionable to others. To me that throws more piss and flames on the symbol of this country than flying another countries flag as a show of support in a tournament that the majority of this country could give shit all about.

Rooting for Cameroon if you're born there dosen't make you un American. Celebrating the freedom one has to fly that flag in support may well make you more so than the people shouting it down.

I couldn't have said it any better. There sense of uber-nationalism is basically against the founding ideals of this country, yet these people are either too stupid or ignorant to actually see that. Several houses that I have noticed flying another nation's flag have had the US flag as well. Also from what my cousin tells me, and I have seen this first hand myself, when Portugal or Brazil won a match people would usually drive around with the flag drapped on their car. Several resident complained about that as well. Like I stated the thing that really bothered me was the fact that people where specifically pointing out the displaying of three flags Portugese, Spanish, and Brazilian, but had no problem, so it seemed because they did not mention them, with the Italian flag or the fact that people display the Irish flag around St. Patrick's Day. Those two flags where mentioned by those in support of the display of foreign flags but the oppostion had nothing to say. I really felt bad for the Portugese, they are the majority in the town, people of that community because they have done so much for the town. They have brought life back to a dying main street by opening resturants and other businesses and the construction of new homes and the remodeling of old run down homes which once where eye sores to anyone who saw them. There efforts have really brought life back to a town that was bankrupt and had to attraction to anyone. For other residents who have benefited from these hard working people to slap them in the face in such a manner is classless.

fife

Do you remember a story from a couple of years ago that talked about how some americans were putting canadian flags on their backpack so that people would think that they were canadian.

fife

mammasan wrote:

I couldn't have said it any better. There sense of uber-nationalism is basically against the founding ideals of this country, yet these people are either too stupid or ignorant to actually see that. Several houses that I have noticed flying another nation's flag have had the US flag as well. Also from what my cousin tells me, and I have seen this first hand myself, when Portugal or Brazil won a match people would usually drive around with the flag drapped on their car. Several resident complained about that as well. Like I stated the thing that really bothered me was the fact that people where specifically pointing out the displaying of three flags Portugese, Spanish, and Brazilian, but had no problem, so it seemed because they did not mention them, with the Italian flag or the fact that people display the Irish flag around St. Patrick's Day. Those two flags where mentioned by those in support of the display of foreign flags but the oppostion had nothing to say. I really felt bad for the Portugese, they are the majority in the town, people of that community because they have done so much for the town. They have brought life back to a dying main street by opening resturants and other businesses and the construction of new homes and the remodeling of old run down homes which once where eye sores to anyone who saw them. There efforts have really brought life back to a town that was bankrupt and had to attraction to anyone. For other residents who have benefited from these hard working people to slap them in the face in such a manner is classless.

you have to love Portugal. that is unless you are in canada and they are deported them. all people have to know about teh portugese is that all we want is work, football on thrusdays and we love to play cards. we really don't wan tto start fights.

mammasan

fife wrote:

Do you remember a story from a couple of years ago that talked about how some americans were putting canadian flags on their backpack so that people would think that they were canadian.

I remember hearing about that. That US citizens who where in Europe would put Canadian flags on their backpacks because of the wide spread anti-US sentiment.

fife

mammasan wrote:

I remember hearing about that. That US citizens who where in Europe would put Canadian flags on their backpacks because of the wide spread anti-US sentiment.

maybe that should be the issue instead of other countries flags being flown.

mammasan

fife wrote:

you have to love Portugal. that is unless you are in canada and they are deported them. all people have to know about teh portugese is that all we want is work, football on thrusdays and we love to play cards. we really don't wan tto start fights.

I grew up in a large Portugese community and let me tell you the Portugese are some of the nicest people you can ever meet. My best friend is from Murtosa and his family always treated me like a son.

Skitch Patterson

all national flags should be taken down and replaced with detroit tigers flags.