On Fox News, the American flag is right up there with the cross of Jesus as the ultimate American totemic object of worship. Any perceived disrespect to the flag is met with righteous indignation. In September 2012, Megyn Kelly was chagrined and appalled that the Obama campaign had an American flag visual which replaced the flag's stars with the campaign's logo. Meanwhile, nobody on Fox seemed concerned about images of the American flag that were similarly altered, only with Tea Party iconography. Yesterday, alleged "news" anchor Martha MacCallum showed us, once again, that not all American flags are created equal.
MacCallum started with "a confrontation that is getting a lot of attention" which occurred during recent demonstrations in Albuquerque NM "between protesters, an American flag, and two US service members. The chyron read "US Marine and Soldier Chase Down Hippie Protesters and Take Flag Back."She tossed to Trace Gallagher who provided the back story for his story.
He described how protests,against a police shooting of a homeless man, turned violent. Video was then played, showing the reaction of two US Marines to the sight of an American flag held upside down, on the back of a protester's motor scooter. Trace noted that an upside down flag is a sign of distress; but the two soldiers saw it as a sign of disrespect. As accompanying video was rolling, Gallagher described how the soldiers chased the scooter, grabbed the flag, and rolled it up. Audio, of what the soldiers yelled at the protesters, was played. When confronted by an African-American bystander, they yelled something about how they still have their (Bleeping) country.
Gallagher said that this has started a debate about whether "the military men" violated the protesters right to free speech "with some saying the protesters have the right to carry the flag any way they want but this apparently became the theme of the protest." He showed a photo of other protestors, some with raised middle fingers, in front of an upside down American flag. He added "some believe that the military men said "enough is enough and went after that flag." MacCallum quipped, "a lot of free speech flying around there."
That's right folks, those dirty fucking hippies are at it again. (Seriously, who knows what hippies are, let along use the word as an insult, in 2014 - oh, right, it strikes a chord with Fox's key demographics) But it's funny, when teabaggers flew the American flag upside down during their demonstrations against that Kenyan, Marxist president, Fox didn't seem to have a problem with it. Guess it not all protesters are created equal?
Hell — sometimes, if they don’t agree with them politically, they’ll insult someone who DID serve:
- Delegates at the ’04 RNC wore small bandages with tiny purple hearts on them to mock John Kerry
- Ann Coulter once claimed triple-amputee Max Cleland lost his limbs in Vietnam because he accidentally dropped his own grenade
- Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), running against challenger Tammy Duckworth in 2012, claimed Duckworth’s service in the Iraq War (where she lost both legs) was “all she ever talked about”
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“Or you may have asked and somehow received 5 deferments because you had “better things to do.” (Cheney)”
One of which was BANGING HIS WIFE! That accounted for one of “Five Deferment” Dick’s draft deferments (his wife Lynne got pregnant).
And not just because they’d quote Rush doing it.
Or you may have a “boil” on your ass that prevents you from serving. (Rush)
Or you may have shit and pissed your pants for a month so the draft board thinks you’re nuts. (Nuge)
Or you may have asked and somehow received 5 deferments because you had “better things to do.” (Cheney)
Or you may have gone to college to become a “History” teacher, thus avoiding the draft, only to quit teaching when the “draft” was no-longer a threat. (Billdo)
Nobody believes in the flag more than those who preach military intervention, but when they themselves had the opportunity to put there money where there mouth is, did everything humanly possible to avoid risking their lives for freedom.
Why some actual service members worship these guys is beyond reason.
I posted about this video several times, on social media, and as comments on stories about it, saying that the marines showed more disrespect to the flag by getting it dropped, and wadding it up when they took it. I then linked it to a google search of the Tea Party flying the flag upside down, writing on it, and burning it- All their own search- And asked where the marines going that overboard about it where, and why conservatives weren’t applauding the hell out of that when (if) they were like this for them.
The reply? “We served our country, so that your coward liberal ass can talk shit about these fine men, who defended the flag from these liberal losers. Have some respect for the people who defended your freedom to hate what we’ve done for you.”
1) Not everyone can serve- They might have a mental disorder that makes them a liability, they could be a suicide risk, they might be handicapped… Go tell an autistic kid that you’re a better person than they are, because you served. Go tell that to someone who was crippled during the enlistment process, and didn’t make the cut for a position they could still do in a chair. Or someone with a disorder that made them a suicide waiting to happen if they were let in. I dare you.
2) There is no doubt in my mind that the marines in the video just wanted an excuse to assault protesters. It was almost like they went after the people on the moped, and the flag was an impromptu excuse after he noticed people recording the protest were eyes on him.
3) Answer my question, conservatives- If these marines went this overboard with Tea Partiers, instead of trying any civil method of peacefully removing the display… Would you still be telling people who said the marines were out of line (and kind of psycho) to “show respect to those who served?” I know the answer to this one, I just wanna hear you say it.
OK, done. Be back after I’m done, whenever that is.
Boggles the mind to see how mindless some outrages are on Fox.
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