Bob Collins
There’s a little something in this story out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin for everybody. A couple has been forced to take down the American flag they’ve put in their window.
The building’s management company says it has a policy against putting things in the window, according to WTMJ in Milwaukee.
“We just don’t allow people to stick things in their window,” Midwest Realty Management president Rodney Oschleger explained. “Instead of drapes or blinds, for example, we don’t allow them to put sheets. We don’t allow them to put flags or banners or religious or political things.”
But it’s the flag, counters the apartment renter:
“We’re talking about the American flag, we’re talking about what this country was founded on,” she said. “I believe that people have the freedom of speech that my husband fought for and they can portray that all they want, but we are in America right now and I think we should be able to hang the flag with dignity and with pride.”
The apartment complex owner denies he’s unpatriotic — pointing to four American flags on the property. He is, however, guilty of some ridiculously terrible timing.
For the record, the flag in Oshkosh is displayed improperly, according to the U.S. flag code:
(i) When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right, that is, to the observer’s left. When displayed in a window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street.
If you’re going to make an issue out of the display of the American flag, at least understand the proper way to display it.
