Rot. In. Hell.
You and I have the right to free speech because fellow Americans throughout the history of this nation have secured that right with their very lifeblood. Which is why this is so upsetting.
ORCAS ISLAND, Wash. – Vandals burned dozens of small American flags that decorated veterans' graves for Memorial Day and replaced many of them with hand-drawn swastikas, authorities said Monday.
Forty-six flag standards were found empty and another 33 flags were in charred tatters Sunday in the cemetery, authorities said. Swastikas drawn on paper appeared where 14 of the flags had been.
Members of the American Legion on this island off Washington's northwest coast replaced the burned flags with new ones Sunday afternoon.
The vandals struck again on Memorial Day after a guard left at dawn, the San Juan County sheriff's office said. This time, the vandals left 33 of the hand-drawn swastikas.
"This is not an act of free speech. This is a crime," Sheriff Bill Cumming said in a statement released Monday afternoon.
No, it is not free speech. It is an abuse of what better people than the perpetrators of this crime secured for us all. I'd like to ask a favor here. Could the leftwing folks, bloggers or readers, please join in condemning this hideous desecration?
Please?
Personal Thoughts | Gaius May 28, 2007
By Donna, May 29, 2007 @ 12:10 am
I just found out today that the veterans cemetery where my dad is buried had its grave flags stolen sometime Saturday night, but the woman there who told me of the theft did not say anything beyond that they were found missing Sunday am. But, the VFW was able to get all the flags replaced on all the soldiers’s graves by working at it all day yesterday. You used the right word, Gaius. Desecration.
By Judith, May 29, 2007 @ 4:24 am
Same thing happened here in Mass., and I’m not surprised. Our officials are “looking” for the perpetrators (I’m not holding my breath). This state is truly represented by our military-loathing senators, kennedy and kerry, and the populace follow that mindset (much to my humiliation).
By jpe, May 29, 2007 @ 5:32 am
If you’re looking for lefty condemnation, a good place to look is likely Dave Neiwart’s blog Orcinus; his hobbyhorse is righty fascism (largely on the west coast where he resides), so I’d be surprised if he hasn’t already posted on it.
By Jess, May 29, 2007 @ 11:00 am
How do people sympathize at all with the left wing agenda when things like this happen with such regularity?
BTW, I checked out the blog mentioned in the previous comment… and not one word was devoted to this topic. Maybe he is working on a post as he tends to be a bit long winded. He does, however, go to great pains to point out the “domestic terrorists”, like the “terrorist” who killed his wife and a sheriffs deputy in Moscow, Idaho. The perpetrator was a member of the Aryan Nation, so therefore he did this as a part of terrorist agenda. I argue that is was a case of domestic violence. He does make a few good cases, to be fair, such as the group that was planning on killing as many Mexicans in the neighboring town, but this guy needs to brush up on his definition of terrorism.
By Bleepless, May 29, 2007 @ 7:18 pm
Once again, Orcinus is silent about it. Why not? He’s a liberal, after all and, therefore, agrees with the sentiment, if not the manner of expression.