Upside Down Take

Here's some food for thought...apparently a Wisconsin man began flying his flag upside down in protest of the local city government's decision to turn down his liquor license. He had been trying to open a new Italian supper club and had invested a lot of money. He thought he would excercise his First Amendment rights to express his dismay. During the 4th of July weekend, the police confiscated his flag as they felt it was "causing a disturbance" during the national holiday. Check out the story here http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,531525,00.html.

Now this man served in Iraq, so he is a veteran who understands and respects and loves the freedom America provides. It's ironic for this man to fight in such a place full of oppression where people are dying for the simple right to vote or speak their mind, only to face it on his home soil. While his reasons may seem trivial, I wonder if the police went too far in taking his flag away from him. This is one of those controversial stories that doesn't really have a right or wrong answer. He does have the right to express himself, according to the First Amendment. There was no flag-burning, so it's hard to see why flying his flag upside caused any major problems, outside of pissing off a few locals here and there. It's almost like that neighbor with a rusty, rundown car up on cement blocks...it's an eyesore, but not much you can do about it because its on his property. Not the best analogy, but I think you get the point. I also see why the police felt it was disruptive of the 4th of July celebration. They did give his flag back the next day. An interesting debate is sure to follow on this one as the ACLU gets involved.