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Democratic freedoms or fascist oppression? Too much for me


Of patriotism Mark Twain wrote, “Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn’t.

You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let me label you as they may.”

I think we all know what you have decided is wrong.

You call flag-burning “a sign of…treason,” a crime punishable by death in the United States if convicted.

One who found this argument valid would probably approve the deaths of four students and wounding of nine in 1970, during protests held in Ohio.

You give “citizen” an arbitrary meaning that applies only if you don’t exercise your civil rights. By the same standard should those who choose not to vote also be stripped of their citizenship status?

Of course not! This is a country that will not “deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.” It’s the Fourteenth Amendment.

Need I remind you the MILITARY’S standard procedure for disposing of an old tattered flag is by burning it?

My father, a Desert Storm veteran, would consider it a grave injustice to leave our national symbol in such a dilapidated state.

I think it is more disgraceful for individuals to leave our flag in such a sad manner, yet you see these flying in the front yards of those claiming to be more patriotic.

This “hunger” for patriotism seemed to require the crashing of four planes and toppling of two buildings to fuel it.

How many individuals sported the United States flag on their bumper or waving gallantly in the wind outside the windows before this happened?

No, I don’t agree with the burning of our flag (except for disposal purposes), but I disagree more with the idea that people who engage in this Constitutionally-preserved right should be deported.

As for your talk of controversial essays, I hardly need to introduce to you, an English major, to the writings of our founding fathers.

These men were branded traitors by the British when they spoke of dissent, and we call them heroes.

These men and countless others fought for our freedoms which INCLUDE the right to peaceably protest any thing we feel necessary, be it through petitions, rallies or even burning flags.

Do you condemn the acts of these influential people? Henry David Thoreau wrote a piece in Walden stating that it is a DUTY for us to be disobedient as a society! How else are changes incurred?

“Such men characteristically grow their hair out long and produce long shaggy beards as though in rebellion of the very image of Americans.” What is your image of an American? A skinhead?

I’m sad to see this stereotype ascribed to those who feel the government needs improvement.

Is this not the stereotyped image of Jesus Christ, perhaps the greatest protester of the social establishment in religion during his time, now worshipped by billions of followers worldwide?

“Most come from middle class homes and have never tasted the harshness of poverty.” What poor person has time to write essays or rally demonstrations!

They’re too busy trying to lovingly provide for their family! You relish the thought of these self-christened “unpatriotic” people being confined to countries that kill them for speaking against their decisions? Ever hear of Fascism?

That dangerous thought, propagated by someone who apparently would condone exporting someone to a country to endure such an activity.

If we banished people from this country because of how they thought, we wouldn’t be America!

“I say the government should get you.” Maybe we should establish a Gestapo-like department to inhibit dissent?

I love this nation and am very glad to be a part of it. I am thankful that, if I chose to do so, I could burn a flag I bought with my own money and not fear being executed for it.

I am thankful I can tune in and watch the image of our President be ridiculed with impunity.

Furthermore, I am thankful the freedom to write this without fear of being expelled to some Siberia-like wasteland.

Finally, you speak lightly, in a vicious scenario, of the Government traveling to “little Podunk Martin, Tenn. … to kidnap their family and loved ones and detain them for ransom.”

Do you realize what happened to Japanese-Americans during World War II? They were kidnapped and detained in small camps for they were Japanese!

These were American citizens, not the pilots that attacked Pearl Harbor!

Perhaps you are content with the way things are. I am glad you have the right to voice your thoughts on the topic, and I think it is a right you deserve as a United States citizen.

God bless this nation for granting you the inborn privilege to write such things and think the way you want!

Such impudence is your right, and flag-burning and “tree-hugging” is our right.

To close: if you find “The Back Row,” inadequate, why do YOU read it?

Bryan Sandor is a senior computer science major from Milan.