Yet Another Asshole Who Can't Live With Others

Right on cue, the media gives us another "outrageous" Memorial Day story about people who hate America and the proud American who just loves this country so much he has to put a flag in his yard to prove it.

A Central Florida war veteran faces a lawsuit for flying the American flag in his front yard.

"I don't understand why it would bring down the values of our homes by flying the American flag from a pole in my front yard," homeowner Jimmie Watkins said.

Watkins and his wife, Ria, received a final notices [sic] from the Sussex homeowners' association in Clermont that they must remove the flag or else face legal action.

This is clearly another story where someone moved into an area without bothering to find out if that area was governed by the rules of a "homeowners association." In an era where personal responsibility is a quaint and distant cousin of accountability and common sense, and none of them live around here anymore, there are countless examples where someones "lifestyle" has a conflict with the rules set by the people who got together and agreed upon them.

The former retired U.S. Navy communications officer said he refuses to back down for the American flag.

"Our people are serving today to give us freedom," Watkins said. "To do as we like here within the law of America. It is my right to fly my flag from my pole and until a court of law tells me to haul that down. I will not haul it down. I think about all of the people who have served our nation and all of the lives that it's costs and all of the friends that I've lost."

Actually, the "people who served this nation" also served the people who set the rules for the subdivision. Someone needs to sit down with Watkins and encourage him to grow up and live in the adult world. The explanation would probably go like this:

Your rights don't take precedence over the rights of someone else. They made a rule, and you accepted that rule along with many others when you freely moved in to that subdivision. Where the conflict happened is when you decided to do whatever you wanted to do. You went and bought a flagpole, a shovel, and a bag of quick-setting concrete. You threw your back out putting up a flagpole one day. And then you got a letter telling you to take it down. That's when you dug out that pile of papers that you never read in the first place and had your "oh shit!" moment.

The result was a temper tantrum over the rules. But because you didn't find out what those rules were, you're not expressing your freedom--you're showing everyone how ignorant you are. And when you get caught looking stupid, the easiest thing in the world to do is to pretend to be super-patriotic and indignant and talk about dead Veterans. Well, there isn't a single dead Veteran who died so you could get away with not understanding what your homeowners association rules state with regards to flagpoles and the like.

This association sent Watkins numerous notices and probably tried to work with him. But because Watkins can't live with other human beings, he is using patriotism to win an argument that he lost when he signed the papers accepting the rules of his subdivision.

The homeowners association is not commenting about their rules. But state law said anyone can display a flag in a "respectful manner" as long as it is removable, Local 6 reported.

Watkins, however, has a permanent flagpole in his front yard. So Watkins is not in going to find a solution to the problem by citing the Florida state law, either. The media, of course, loves non-stories like this. It drums up misplaced outrage and allows the mob to rule. The end result is that a hypocritical, immature asshole who can't understand the rules will probably get to keep his flagpole in his yard. And he gets away with it by throwing down the dead Veteran trump card, one that should never get played in the first place.

ABC's comment line is still overloaded

I just called the ABC switchboard again, and the comment line is still busy. The harried receptionist I spoke with told me that I am "not alone" in calling the network to voice my displeasure with last night's debate performance by Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopolous.

Keep calling people - the switchboard number is 212-456-7777. Keep 'em hopping - but be nice to the receptionists answering the phones. They aren't the ones we are mad at...

UPDATE by Blue Girl at 3:30 p.m. central

I just called again, and had a pleasant chat with the receptionist who answered the phone - she had fielded over 200 calls today, all of them from people who are pissed off about the debate last night. I was sympathetic and that seemed to bowl her over. Apparently many of the callers think that the folks who answer the phone have the power to fire the anchor of the Nightly News. After talking to her, I put down the phone and sent the following email to ABC News:

That "debate" was the most embarrassing spectacle I have ever witnessed. What was up with that ignoramus and her "flag" question? Why was the war glossed over? Why weren't serious issues addressed? It was humiliating for your news organization.

If George and Charlie are not fired for that patently un-serious display and assault on the public discourse, then would you be so kind as to email me the information about the impending funeral services for ABC's journalistic integrity?

Another Reason to Despise the Useless Media

First of all, I'd like to point out that there are two things that an American President should never do while standing in Saudi Arabia, the holy land of the Islamic faith:

1. Use medieval terms like "crusade"
2. Wave around medieval weapons like "swords"

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This little piece is a classic example of a member of the media making their own experiences larger than the story they are covering and humiliating themselves, unknowingly, of course, in the process:

By MARTHA RADDATZ
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 14, 2008

The Bush administration announced Monday that it intended to sell 900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions -- or JDAMs those big, precise GPS-controlled bombs -- to Saudi Arabia, a country that won't even let me go to the hotel gym because I am a woman.

The announcement that the JDAMS would be added to a $20 billion weapons package for the region came at almost the precise time I walked into the Marriott hotel gym in Riyadh, to inquire how late it would be open.

A hotel, by the way, that is an American-owned Marriott.

"Sorry, ma'am, but ladies are not allowed in here," the man at the reception desk told me.

Her experience was so important--sooooo important--she put it in the lede! Granted, this is from the ABC "Reporters Notebook" section and is NOT an actual news story per se. It is an item you can find on their website. It is an item about the experiences of Raddatz covering Bush's trip overseas. And you better believe that she is more important than those pesky JDAMs.

As you might imagine, this did not sit well with me.

I'm in Saudi Arabia covering the president's trip across the Middle East. After eight brutal days on the road, hopping from country to country, you need to grab a workout whenever you can.

So I offered what I thought was a reasonable compromise. Let the men work out for a few hours, then let the ladies work out.

"Let me check," the man at reception offered.

I knew it wouldn't happen, but I had to try. After a few minutes, I received the answer I expected. "Sorry, ma'am, but that is not possible."

Now, don't get me wrong.

I respect other cultures and am a seasoned traveler in the Mideast. I know in some places they separate women and men, hence my attempt at offering the compromise.

But this is the first time in decades I was made to feel like a second-class citizen, and it is not a pleasant feeling.

Being denied access to an exclusive gym in an expensive hotel makes YOU feel like a second class citizen? Wow. Here's what makes ME feel like a second class citizen: knowing there is no Habeus Corpus, knowing my government won't protect my city from standing water, knowing this is a war in Iraq without end and we're not being given candidates for the Presidency that the media likes who will end the war, knowing the right to privacy is now gone and the Director of National Intelligence insists on being able to read this blog post as I publish it and send it to Blogger, knowing there is no legitimate right to strike in this country because unions and union organization is a thing of the past, knowing this country can't stop spending money like it's going out of style, knowing there is no competence left in government and knowing my grandchildren are going to be paying for this bullshit for most of their natural lives.

Raddatz has to quantify her delusional ranting about gym access--the horror of it all!--and bring up a topic that she pretends to care about:

Of course, my experience of being turned away at the hotel gym pales in comparison to the suffering of many Saudi women. The country has an abysmal record when it comes to women's rights.

Recently, a woman who was gang raped was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes by the Saudi legal system.

That's a great story, Martha. How many Saudi officials have you spoken to about this topic? Did you ask the man standing next to Bush and holding his hand about it? Did you ask Bush to take the comical sword off his shoulder and speak to the issue? Or were you sidetracked by complaining about not being able to futz about on the elliptical machine?

Here's the kicker:

But I wondered how President Bush, a self-avowed exercise fanatic, would feel if he were turned away from a gym.

That's right--because you're just as important as the President of the United States of America, aren't you? You're still living under the illusion that the working press serves as some sort of "check and balance" on the Executive Branch of government, aren't you? It must have been exciting that first day at Journalism School, knowing that you were going into an honored profession that included the likes of Murrow, Brinkley, Woodward, Bernstein and Cronkite. And you must have harbored that feeling that, one day, you'd uncover and unravel a huge story and make a politician resign and change things for the better. What happened? Did someone forget to send you an invite to a cocktail party somewhere down the line and now you just want to complain about things that don't matter? Oh, I get it. The call of the village was too great. You decided to conform rather than stick out. How could you turn on "your own kind" and report the news that would make people "uncomfortable?" After all, you're just as important as the President of the United States of America, right? Because you and he are the same high class of people, aren't you?

And we wonder why bloggers are so unhinged these days. I know, I know--more pictures of bears fighting!

[Special Bonus Action Underwater Polar Bear Happy Fight!]