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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank Griffin who wrote (17714)	4/27/2000 9:15:00 PM
From: haqihana	Respond to of 769670

Frank, May I add a query to yours? I wonder if TP is self-employed. If not, I find it disturbing that many of his posts are sent during regular working hours. His profile says that he lives in Texas so, if you look at his posts and convert the time to central daylight time, it would appear that his posts are being, unknowingly, paid for by his employer. What would you call that? What would he call that? Doesn't sound Kosher to me. BTW, I am partially retired and partially self employed. I'm sure that question will come up, so might as well answer it now. ~H~

To: Frank Griffin who wrote (17714)	4/27/2000 9:34:00 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769670

Frank, a friend emailed this to me today, I thought you would enjoy it. _________________________________________________________ Does the First Amendment give us the right to desecrate the American flag? Or is the flag a sacred symbol of our nation, deserving protection by law? Tough call? "The Solution": For those who want to light Old Glory on fire, stomp all over it, or spit on it to make some sort of "statement," I say let them do it. But under one condition: they MUST get permission from three sponsors. First, you need permission of a war veteran. Perhaps a Marine who fought at Iwo Jima? The American flag was raised over Mount Surabachi upon the bodies of thousands of dead buddies. Each night spent on Iwo Jima meant half of everyone you knew would be dead tomorrow, a coin flip away from a bloody end upon a patch of sand your mother couldn'tfind on a map. Or maybe ask a Vietnam vet who spent years tortured in a small, filthy cell unfit for a dog. Or a Korean War soldier who helped rescue half a nation from Communism, or a Desert Storm warrior who repulsed a bloody dictator from raping and pillaging an innocent country. That flag represented your mother and father, your sister and brother, your friends, neighbors, and everyone at home. I wonder what they would say if someone asked them permission to burn the American flag? Second, you need a signature from an immigrant. Their brothers and sisters may still languish in their native land, often under tyranny, poverty and misery. Or maybe they died on the way here, never to touch our shores. Some have seen friends and family get tortured and murdered by their own government for daring to do things we take for granted every day. For those who risked everything simply for the chance to become an American, what kind of feelings do they have for the flag when they Pledge Allegiance the first time? Go to a naturalization ceremony and see for yourself, the tears of pride, the thanks, the love and respect of this nation, as they finally embrace the American flag as their own. Ask one of them if it would be OK to burn the flag or spit on it. Third, you should get the signature of a mother. Not just any mother. You need a mother of someone who gave their life for America. It doesn't even have to be from a war. It could be a cop. Or a fireman. Maybe a Secret Service agent or NASA astronaut. Then again, it could be a common foot soldier as well. When that son or daughter is laid to rest, their family is given one gift by the American people - an American flag. Go on, I dare you. Ask that mother if you can spit on her flag. Away from family, away from the precious shores of home, in the face of oerwhelming odds and often in the face of death, the American flag inspires those who believe in the American dream, the American promise, the American Vision ............. Americans who don't appreciate the flag don't appreciate this nation. And those who appreciate this nation appreciate the American flag. So if you want to desecrate the American flag, before you spit on it or before you burn it, I have a simple request. Just ask permission. Not from the Constitution. Not from some obscure law. Not from the politicians or the pundits. Instead, ask those who have defended our nation so that we may be free today. Ask those who struggled to reach our shores so that they may join us in the American dream. And ask those who clutch a flag in place of their sacrificed sons and daughters, given to this nation so that others may be free. For we cannot ask permission from those who died wishing they could, just once ... or once again ... see, touch or kiss the flag that stands for our nation, the United States of America ... the greatest nation on earth. Go ahead. Ask. I dare you!

To: Frank Griffin who wrote (17714)	4/28/2000 9:27:00 AM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

receiving some of our tax dollars in some way Actually I pay way more in taxes than the cost of services to me. (My tax bill this year was higher than the medium income for the U.S.) I support the government because it is the best in the world. You can't have a big, powerful, important country with a weak government, but I don't want a dictatorship, I want the fragmented power structure we have which means that everyone needs to look out for each others rights. There's room for improvement, but this idea that if the federal government is drasticly weakened that somehow the states will do a better job, is foolish and dangerous. We could easily be a bickering mess like Europe (which is a nice place but can't get it's act together so long as they are a dozen or more separate governing entities). TP