This we'll defend- including the assholes

DC firefighters and Soldiers hanging our flag at the Pentagon on Sept. 12, 2001

I got this via email today- don't know if it's true, and quite frankly, I don't really care. It's just THAT good.

The anonymous gentleman wrote:

One of my sons serves in the military. He is still stateside, here in California. He called me yesterday to let me know how warm and welcoming people were to him, and his troops, everywhere he goes, telling me how people shake their hands, and thank them for being willing to serve, and fight, for not only our own freedoms but so that
others may have them also.

But he also told me about an incident in the grocery store he stopped at yesterday, on his way home from the base. He said that ahead of several people in front of him stood a woman dressed in a burkha. He said that when she got to the cashier, she loudly remarked about the US flag lapel pin the cashier wore on her smock.

The cashier reached up and touched the pin, and said proudly, "Yes, I always wear it and I probably always will."

The woman in the burkha then asked the cashier when she was going to stop bombing her countrymen, explaining that she was Iraqi.

A gentleman standing behind my son stepped forward, putting his arm around my son's shoulders, and nodding towards my son, said in a calm and gentle voice to the Iraqi woman:

"Lady, hundreds of thousands of men and women like this young man have fought and died so that YOU could stand here, in MY country and accuse a check-out cashier of bombing YOUR countrymen. It is my belief that had you been this outspoken in YOUR own country, we wouldn't need to be there today. But, hey, if you have now learned how to speak out so loudly and clearly, I'll gladly buy you a ticket and pay your way back to Iraq so you can straighten out the mess in YOUR country that you are
obviously here in MY country to avoid."

AMEN TO THAT!!!! See ya- bu-bye....

And you know what else our men and women are fighting and dying for? The right for Americans to burn our own flag in protest. In this country, you have to take the good with the bad. Freedom comes at a cost, in many ways. Sometimes it's paid for with American blood. Sometimes it's paid for in hard, cold cash- wars aren't cheap, you know. And sometimes, it's paid for by biting your tongue.

Flag burning is NOT the proper way to protest. If you disagree with our government- FINE. Disagree. But DO NOT desecrate our national symbol of freedom in your pursuit of anger. When you burn Old Glory, you are diminishing the sacrifices made by our forefathers who fought and died to form this country. More than anything, you are showing the world (especially our enemies) that American's don't support America, our President, or our troops. I liken it to dear ol' Senator (for now) Durbin's remarks. Shame on him- and shame on you.

That being said... I also think that flag burning should be allowed as a freedom in this country. Every time you burn a flag- we'll put up 10 more. Every time you burn a flag- I strengthen my resolve to support our troops and our President. Every time you burn a flag- you prove to the world how great our country really is.

Where else could you burn your own country's flag, and not be jailed? Now THAT'S freedom. And if it costs watching a few assholes burn our flag- I guess I can live with that.