The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
By Bill Connell.
Democracy was at work Saturday, April 5, at the Municipal Gazebo with the “Hands Off” rally. They had a fairly decent attendance despite the yucky weather. We are in truly unusual times. I also know after last week’s stock market performance, I will be working till I’m 90 years old.
While watching the rally, a thought crossed my mind: Political Parties are like people who are standing around waiting for AAA to change a flat tire, instead of just doing it themselves, maybe getting greasy, and saving time. In this metaphor, AAA is elections. Could you imagine if state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen asked for a meeting with the President of the United States and maybe get a seat at the table and control the outcome that way? He would be tarred and feathered by his own Party. This image amuses me and I would pay money to see it, but I would rather him take a unique approach and be successful, not just be a Party hack.
That was a tangent. The real reason I am writing is about our American flag. If you stop watching cable news and get out and live life, you may notice Franklin is great, and America is great.
At the rally I saw an upside-down flag and it bothered me. I know it’s a form of protest, but it’s not right. The flag is not for political ideologies, for me it represents all the people who made a sacrifice to make my life possible. It’s for the right to taunt our Mayor and not mysteriously wind up floating face-down in the D&R Canal. It’s for Steven Koch and many others who lost their lives in defense of this country. Please don’t use it as a prop. I know a thing or two about props and being antagonistic, I can surely help you use something better than our flag.
The flag in front of my house has been there since the day I bought it. My wife and I are sort of bothered that some people think we are members of the Ku Klux Klan by having it. Once someone canvassing for elected office said they were only going to houses with flags. This might be the dumbest thing I’ve heard a politician say, and I have a lot of samples. We refuse to take it down because of what someone else may think. We recently installed a sign derivative of the Mayor’s anti-hate message to counter-balance short-sighted people. Discontent of the current situation should never make us lose sight of what got us here. My flag represents respect. One simple tasteful flag. More than one is over-compensating for something and should only be done for parades.
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