EDITORIAL: Operation Flagpole

Thursday is Flag Day, a time to pay special tribute to the American flag and to the ideals and freedoms it symbolizes. While most Americans can freely display Old Glory, a few still run into small-minded opponents who don’t understand what our banner is all about.

In April, the Reverend Review blog reported on a case in Holmdel, N.J., in which homeowner William Lang was forced to remove two small flags he had placed at the entrance to his home to honor his daughter and grandson, who had died during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A representative of the Grace Wood Glen Community Homeowners Association removed the flags and told Mr. Lang, “You are not allowed to fly these flags. No ornaments are allowed on the property.” Mr. Lang responded, “The American Flag is not an ornament.” The association was unmoved.

Fox News Radio reported on 75-year-old Dawn Paulus, of Phillipsburg, N.J., who was ordered to remove some small flags from the balcony of her public-housing unit. She was informed there was a safety issue (the hand-held-sized flags might fall) and that there was an issue of fairness under the housing authority’s interpretation of the Fair Housing Act. “If I hung the American flag up and someone hung a Nazi flag up, they couldn’t tell them to take the Nazi flag down and still let me fly the American flag,” she said she was told. Mrs. Paulus was threatened with eviction.

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