for my country.

At midnight I lowered my United States flag, re-hung it upside down and raised it to half staff.
When the chosen one takes the oath today, I will lower the flag, fold it, and store it until he is no longer president

I didn't vote for him, but he IS our president, and I wish him well. Ultimately we are in this together.

Good luck and best wishes, President Obama.

Ray

p.s. The vitriol shown by many in postings on this site leaves me sadly disappointed. What happened to reasoned dialog?

Same for me Ray. And Jordan, I think that's being disrespectful to the flag and our country. Believe me, I'm not happy either but I hold out hope that I'm wrong.

I do not wish him well. I am only concerned about my country.

Strange way to demonstrate a love for the country. If a President fails our country also fails with him. History holds too many examples of that.

So you curse not a President since he has yet to do anything in office good or bad, you curse our country.

:lol:

When Bush took office and people starting saying how he wasn't *really* the President (due to the Supreme Court challenges to the recount or losing the Popular vote), I didn't agree with them. Once an election is over an decided it doesn't matter who you voted for. The person who won *IS* the President. It doesn't matter if you liked him during the campaign or thought he was the worst candidate possible. In a few hours, Barack Obama *WILL* be the President of the United States.

You said that you are concerned for our country. Which would be better for the US: 1) For Barack Obama to wind up being a good President, proving you wrong or 2) For Barack Obama to be an awful President, proving you right. I would think that this is one of those situations where you would hope to have been wrong about someone. It would be far better for our country if Obama winds up being a good President than if he winds up being a bad one.

In addition, I would hope that your patriotism (as evidenced by your displaying the American flag) wouldn't be affected by who resides in the White House. Just because the person you voted for didn't get in is no reason to take down your American flag or to mistreat the flag by flying it upside down.

It is long past the time to stop the campaign squabbling and get behind the winner of the election. If that winner was John McCain, I would be wishing him well and hoping that he would prove my opinion of him to be wrong. The winner is Barack Obama, however, so you should wish him well and hope that he proves you wrong about him.

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for my country.

At midnight I lowered my United States flag, re-hung it upside down and raised it to half staff.
When the chosen one takes the oath today, I will lower the flag, fold it, and store it until he is no longer president

I am so sorry you feel that way. No need to disrepsect our FLAG because we did'nt get our way. I too fly our Flag and will continue to do so in the manner for which it deserves.

As a vetran I feel it is our duty to honor the New president and to hope it is the best for our country. We served to give all within the borders of this great nation the right to vote and they have voted.

Voice your opinon strongly, your right. But to disrespect our Flag does nothing but lower the respect you deserve for your service to this country.

EDIT: I did'nt vote for him either, but he is our POTUS and I do wish him well for all our sakes.

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But to disrespect our Flag.....

See bullet point 1: "The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal."

http://www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html

There is no disrespect in folding and storing the flag,

Exactly what is your distress signal? "Help, my candidate lost the election and I don't want to support the person who won?" You weren't sending a distress signal by flying the flag upside down. You were disrespecting it.

And Barack Obama is your President (well, will be in an hour and a half). He was elected and soon will be sworn in as President of the United States following the rules set down by our Constitution. You are more than free to disagree with his policies and say that you hope that he is voted out of office in 4 years. (Although the latter would be a bit premature, I think.) However, the only way that Barack Obama wouldn't be your President would be if you weren't a US citizen. So unless you're prepared to pack up, move to Canada for the next 4 years and renounce your US citizenship, he is your President.

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So unless you're prepared to pack up, move to Canada for the next 4 years...

Whoa! Thanks, but no thanks.

Anyhow, Jordan would be even less content here. We have laws against hate speech, and a person has to jump through hoops to own anything more lethal than a peashooter.

Somalia, maybe? Independent operators are welcomed there -- the more pissed off and hostile the better.

Why is the US Flag diplayed Upside Down?

The upside down U.S. flag is an official signal of distress. It is not meant to be, and is not officially recognized as any type of disrespect when so displayed for the right reasons. To the contrary, here is the relevant part of the US Code of Laws regarding how to fly the flag when in distress:

THE FLAG CODE
Title 36, U.S.C., Chapter 10
As amended by P.L. 344, 94th Congress
Approved July 7, 1976

§ 176. Respect for flag: No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
Most individuals who have served in the military service of our nation will (or should) recognize this signal.

Please read the bold areas and see where your ideas of distress are wrong for you show no instances of extreme danger or loss of life.

If burning the flag is considered free speech, then certainly flying it upside down can also be considered as form of free speech which is Jordan;s right.
I do disagree with his thought though, Folding a storing the Flag until Barack Hussein Obama is no longer President is not disrespect of the flag

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Hussein Obama is no longer President is not disrespect of the flag

I do not say that part is disrespect to the FLAG. His flying it upside down does because of the rules for such.

Read the Rules for.

Jordan still has a right to fly the flag upside down as an expression of free speech, just as Davy Wavy has the right to burn it. You may not like it and totally disagree with his expression of speech and that is your right. However you must accept his right to express himself in this manner. As a retired military member I do not agree with Jordan's use of the flag nor Davy Wavy's right to burn it, I however will defend their right to express themselves in this manner as a form of free speech.

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However you must accept his right

Like hell I do. Sorry not in this case. And if I was his neighbor I would of called the cops and tried to have him arrestted. If nothing more to draw attention to his stupidity.

You would have had to call the police beginning almost eight years ago when my leftie neighbors made a practice of hanging their flags upside down and driving around with bumper stickers proudly procliming 'He's Not My President' and other derogatory insults to the President and indirectly to the United States.
After a few calls the police would have begun to believe you were a nut case.

No there you are wrong.
Because some type civil action would have solved this problem by now. Just because some fool does something wrong and no action is taken does'nt give the nexy guy the right to think he can get away with same thing.

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You would have had to call the police beginning almost eight years ago when my leftie neighbors made a practice of hanging their flags upside down and driving around with bumper stickers proudly procliming 'He's Not My President' and other derogatory insults to the President and indirectly to the United States.
After a few calls the police would have begun to believe you were a nut case.

Question: When they were doing that, were you thinking that they were disrespecting the flag and the Office of the President? Or were you thinking that President Bush shouldn't have to be their President because they don't agree with him? I'm guessing the former in which case it would be hypocritical to do the same thing that your "leftie neighbors" did.

In my opinion, both you and your neighbors are/were wrong. President Bush was the president of all American's regardless of how they votes. President Obama is now the president of all American's regardless of how they votes. You can disagree with him left and right (no pun intended). That is your First Amendment right, but you can't simply deny that Obama is the President of the United States.

I am not sure but those are codes for the flags and rules on how to fly it the flag. I do not think they are laws as such, so I am not sure you could have him arrested.

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tried to have him arrestted. If nothing more to draw attention to his stupidity.

READ IT ALL.

As I stated before the

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upside down U.S. flag is an official signal of distress. for the right reasons. The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
Most individuals who have served in the military service of our nation will (or should) recognize this signal.

and without the dire distress and absense of extreme danger to life or property it is not or should not be condoned.

In no way were his rights violated nor is he personnally in danger so he has no right to do to our FLAG as he sees fit.

Trolling again I see.:lol:

Yes, and it f'n well worked! x(

If I had your flag here I would burn it...

I wish our first Bi-Racial President good luck, it is no longer about his words, I will judge him on his actions.I respect the office he holds, he must now earn my respect as an individual in that office. I did not vote for him. I certainly hope that his policies will work and that he can curb the far left of his party. I do not want to see Jimmy Carter type numbers on unemployment or interest rates. IMHO I do not think you can spend and tax this country into prosperity.

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I wish our first Bi-Racial President good luck, it is no longer about his words, I will judge him on his actions.I respect the office he holds, he must now earn my respect as an individual in that office. I did not vote for him. I certainly hope that his policies will work and that he can curb the far left of his party. I do not want to see Jimmy Carter type numbers on unemployment or interest rates. IMHO I do not think you can spend and tax this country into prosperity.

Well said.:clap:

He made some big big statements in his campaign and some of recent comments make me think he is backing down. He is the President and I hopes he does us good. Let's hope his actions are good. As for any of the past president's I think very few people could say they agreed 100% of everything they did.

Can you elaborate in detail why you feel he is not your president?

As you have always been aware of, all opinions on this forum are always welcomed here.

What happens to them after that is another thing! :rolleyes:

He is antithetical to almost all my beliefs.

Well, can you at least admit that you hope you're wrong about him? For America's sake?

If not I can only deduce that you wish ill will amongst Americans and the world - and this is nothing but a hate thread.

I will reconsider my position when I observe that he has changed his beliefs. I hope he will.

ok then. You are sane. Thank you.

There you go - jumping to conclusions again.

Jim.

:7

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I will reconsider my position when I observe that he has changed his beliefs. I hope he will.

Don't you really mean that you will reconsider when he turns white? Too bad you lack the courage to admit it.

Shelly he does not have to turn white he is bi-racial he already is white.

And how were visibly dark bi-racials classified during the time of segregation?

---

Paul D

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QUOTE:I will reconsider my position when I observe that he has changed his beliefs. I hope he will
Don't you really mean that you will reconsider when he turns white? Too bad you lack the courage to admit it.

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Shelly he does not have to turn white he is bi-racial he already is white.

I sure hope we don't have to keep getting comments like that everytime somebody agrees or disagrees with what the POTUS does from now on. There are so many things to agree and disagree to, that I hope we can leave color out the majority of our posts.

I sure hope that the new POTUS has a lot more and serious things to deal with other than the color of his skin.

EDIT: Just found this on-line

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_analysis

I agree but then have all the Political pundits stop calling him the first black president

why???? that is what he is.

No he is bi racial he is Ebony and Ivory and that is fact. He is also the President for all of the US and now he has to have more than words. He can only show world and US what kind of President he is going to be by his actions policies and stewardship of the office he now holds. This is how I will determine whether he deserves respect. We have to and must respect the office of the Presidency however the individual occupying that office then must earn the respect of the people of the United States.

I live in the south, and I have no illusions about attitudes toward race here. I have some very good and intelligent neighbors that refer to Obama as a N----. Sadly, that is what they were taught when they grew up in their society. The country is changing, Obama won strong support from white voters all over this country, but far less so in the old Confederate states of the deep south.

Fortunately, the poison of racial bigotry has not transferred well to the latest generation even in the south, but I hear it from earlier generations every day. It will continue to fade even here but only as the bigots die off. A successful Obama Presidency will go a long way in helping attitudes change for most Americans, but not for those deeply infected with racial hate.

Only forty years ago our president could not have stayed in a white hotel, or eaten in a white restaurant in this city. He could not have sat in the front of a bus, drunk from a White drinking fountain, used a white public restroom, and would have been required to sit in the upper balcony of a movie theater. The slightest social transgression would have landed him in jail, and probably beaten or worse.

These things I saw with my own eyes when I visited the south, so do not try to tell me that in the eyes of such bigots Obama is anything but a N----. I know a bigot when I see one, and I stand by my post above.

I see in Obama the chance to be one of our great Presidents. he possesses the intellect, attitude, and ability to do so. Like anyone I would respect as an American, I wish and hope for his success, because our county will prosper or fail as a result. No sane patriotic American would wish Obama to fail.

For the first decade of my life Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the only President I had ever seen or heard, and he was one of our greatest. I'm thankful I have now lived long enough to perhaps have the chance to watch greatness once again.

Hey Jason, please don't tell him to move to Canada!

That's a rather broad generalization about the South. I grew up in Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, and lived all over the U.S. as an adult.

There certainly were, and are, bigots in my generation (both Southerners and Yankees). However, I think that most of we Southerners grew up ignorant or oblivious, rather than overtly racist. Many, perhaps most of us, have learned a little better.

As I've previously stated, I wish President Obama well. I disagree with his politics, not with the man.

We could have a long discussion about the factors impeding a "color-blind" society, but we likely would just argue about the importance of each of those factors.

Ray

Some racism is born out of ignorance and some is born out of hate. My father once told me a story of his army days. He was with someone from the south and they kept staring at his head. He asked what they were staring at and they asked where his horns were. "They shaved them off with my hair," my father quipped. The person in this case wasn't intending to be antisemitic. They were just ignorant of the fact that Jews don't have horns. A little education and this kind of racism tends to fade.

On the other side, you have groups like the KKK who thrive on hatred of all things not like them. Education might help in these circumstances, but the individuals/groups usually block their ears to it. Like conspiracy theorists, they think that any evidence showing their views to be wrong is simply the work of the evil "others" trying to dissuade them from their rightful mission.

As a side note, this is why Mideast peace is so hard to achieve. The Arab world has, for few generations now, taught its populace hatred of all things Israeli/Jewish. When you frame the other side as the devil, how can you make peace with him?

I had to look up "antithetical". :blusher:

Going to have a really hard time trying to use that word as a word for the day. :rolleyes:

Please, I am not trying to insult but trying to make light of things.

In a great mood today.

Made some progress with a veteran at the VA this morning who sufferers badly from PTSD.

There is hope.

Even for our country.

Since when is it a requirement of the Office of President of the United States that the person must match the beliefs of all citizens? Of course, every person in office won't match the beliefs of some people. That's the way things are. Bush certainly didn't match my beliefs but he was my President. Even if Obama doesn't match a single one of your values, he was elected by the process specified by the Constitution and has been sworn in. Power has been transferred and Obama is the legal resident of the White House. He is the President of the United States. He is your President whether you like it or not.

I can only see one course of action for you. That course is leaving the United States of America. My feeling before the election was that I had no choice of candidate that would please me. But now that it is done,I and everyone else owe all the respect of the office of President of the United States to this man. At the very least he deserves a chance to make the country better. Do not condemn a man without just cause and without a trial.

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At the very least he deserves a chance to make the country better. Do not condemn a man without just cause and without a trial.

President George W. Bush has been condemned, insulted, slandered, maliciously attacked, and his character impugned by his haters since winning the Presidential election on November 7, 2000. He was not President nor had he done anything to deserve such abuse.
Any attempt to work with his opposition was immediately rebuffed, blocked, ridiculed and demeaned.
I don’t recall any demand for civility by those responsible.

On this happy day when the world celebrates a hope-filled sea change in American politics and policy, we here have wasted forty posts debating nonsense with a fascist loser.

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for my country.

At midnight I lowered my United States flag, re-hung it upside down and raised it to half staff.
When the chosen one takes the oath today, I will lower the flag, fold it, and store it until he is no longer president

Welcome to my world for the last 8 years.

Nancy (I'll take him for my President).

I didn't vote for Obama either, but the fact is, He IS our President. On election night, I, as an American Christian, prayed (as I am sure most of you do)for God to "HEAL OUR COUNTRY." I prayed for God to give the job to the right candidate and to guide him through the process of the healing.

I am sure God knows what He is doing. We have 4 years to see what Obama can do and will do. There are die hard Republicans and die hard Democrats out there who, no matter who the person is or their beliefs, they will only vote for their party of choice. One of the wonderful things of America is our "Freedom of Choice" and the "Freedom to Vote".

Those who refuse to accept Obama as their president will have to live with it regardless or move out of our wonderful country. We don't have to like what he does or who he is, but we, as Americans, have to stand together. UNITED WE STAND/DIVIDED WE FALL.

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We don't have to like what he does or who he is, but we, as Americans, have to stand together

Were you paying any attention to politics for the last eight years?
When did I miss the great outcry from the democrats for for commity, bipartisanship, and unity for the good of our country?

What can you do about it, Jordan? Run for president in 4 years and let's see what you can do.

Welcome, BayouLady, and kudos for jumping right into the fray!

Such silly symbolism doesn't matter. Actions are important, not icons. I couldn't care less what anybody does with a flag, or even if they play the national anthem backwards while holding an upside down crucifix and urinating. It changes nothing. Meaningless ceremony.

I'm actually glad that Obama got elected. Not only do I think that he'll make the World a better place, but it pleases me that it annoys the rabid, foaming at the mouth, ultra conservative nutbars. (Did I guess your shoe size correctly?)

OMFG! :lol:

Now that definitely looks like some one I woke up next to one morning back in the sixties. :rolleyes:

Looks like she never got that nose job. :lol:

nonsense!!!

Late to this discussion so it may have been stated before. If I did or did not vote for a candidate for President is not important. If the person I voted for is not the dude (or dudette) in the job, that person is still my president.

The flag flown outside of my house during Holidays is to show my pride in being a citizen of the USA! I don't display the flag because of who I did or did not vote for.

My husband Roy, dead now over three years, and I didn't not vote the same for the President. Our political differences did not affect our love for each other.