Given the choice, flag or Constitution, I will stand for the latter. Judge Beth Dobson in her opinion said as much: That James Roux III did not overstep his rights in protesting the flag waving in Freeport. I say that it is only a flag, one of many that represents a nation, as all nations have one.
I am a veteran and proudly served my country as a U.S. Marine, as my brother served two tours in Vietnam as a Marine and our father gave his full measure for Okinawa in World War II – not for the flag alone, but for what it stands for, our Constitution. Mr. Roux is well within his rights to protest his dissatisfaction with the flag waving. I have never dishonored the flag or defiled it, but those who do as a protest against their government, who feel that an injustice against them has been done, have that right under the Constitution.
The flag ladies do a great service, but they must remember that not all Americans feel that this country is without faults. I would stand with Mr. Roux on this issue while remembering this statement summarizing the beliefs of the great French writer Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
David S. Kaler
Bath
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