Donald Trump has been cited in Palm Beach, Florida for hoisting a US flag at his Mar-a-Lago estate and club. The zoning code states that a flag pole cannot extend higher than 42 feet and that whoever is flying the US flag must have authorization from the landmarks board and must also have a building permit. The US flag alone on this massive 80 foot pole is 15 feet tall by 25 feet wide! The flag was first raised on Oct. 3 and officials say he has until November 27 to apply for approvals or he will face a code enforcement hearing on December 21. If he does not apply for approvals then he may face a $250 a day fine for keeping the flag raised.
First off, $250 a day for Donald Trump is nothing, but that is not the real issue here. The issue is that they would actually fine somebody for flying the US Flag. I understand that building permits and certain codes need to be implemented to help control what gets built, but a permit to fly the US Flag is just ridiculous. This statement by Donald Trump sums it up nicely: “The day you need a permit to put up the American flag, that will be a sad day for this country.” With the ongoing War on Terror and the War in Iraq, now is the time when we need to show support and pride for our country, not fine those who fly our US symbol of Freedom! I don’t care if he put a 60 feet tall by 100 feet wide flag on that pole, because it should do nothing more than give people a sense of pride and integrity towards the US. We are living in a time of constant criticism and attacks both verbally and physically towards the United States, and I think the US flag is what gives the American people hope and strength to keep fighting. Let us remember the National Anthem is based on the US flag.
O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen thro’ the mist of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep.
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream
‘Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation,
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto-“In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
It doesn’t say
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
(but it is too high and needs to be lowered because it is above 42 feet)
or
‘Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
(But they better have a permit or they will be fined)
No, it doesn’t! I know I am being a little over zealous with the use of the National Anthem, but I just wanted to make the point that the American Flag is not just a material item, because it is also a symbol of Freedom and no one in the US should be required to have a permit or need permission in order to let it “wave. We have more important issues that need to be addressed!
