Confederate flag goes to war abroad.

[Bailey]

I feel the same way about marriage. People hostile to the concept shouldn't get to redefine it.

Sometimes, a symbol or word becomes corrupted or acquires a meaning that was not originally intended, such as "liberal". The best example of this, the Swastika, was originally a Hindu symbol of good luck, but the Nazis adopted it and turned it into a symbol of evil. The Confederate flag was a symbol of rebellion. This isn't open to debate. It didn't necessarily stand for racism at the time, but the Confederacy's secession was instigated by the election of an abolitionist to the presidency, and it will always be associated with a nation that sought to keep slaves. If one of my troopies allowed himself to be photographed with a Confederate flag, I'd have to sit down with him and determine whether or not he held views which were antithetical to good order and discipline.

That will leave a mark on Nova.

[Novaheart]

Google's not broken but your "credible source" ability died a long time ago.

Besides the fact that raising that flag would be...if that really happened...an EO complaint waiting to happen...there is the little pesky fact that the credibility of that being an actual photo as opposed to photo shop is still in doubt.

Sorry Nova...you fail again.

I didn't "fail" (seriously, could you be more adolescent?) because I never addressed whether it was actually a rainbow flag, actually in Afghanistan, or whatever your childish brain has in mind. I was addressing the anticipated reaction to the photo of the Rainbow Flag being raised in Afghanistan.

[Novaheart]

I feel the same way about marriage. People hostile to the concept shouldn't get to redefine it.

Sometimes, a symbol or word becomes corrupted or acquires a meaning that was not originally intended, such as "liberal". The best example of this, the Swastika, was originally a Hindu symbol of good luck, but the Nazis adopted it and turned it into a symbol of evil. The Confederate flag was a symbol of rebellion. This isn't open to debate. It didn't necessarily stand for racism at the time, but the Confederacy's secession was instigated by the election of an abolitionist to the presidency, and it will always be associated with a nation that sought to keep slaves. If one of my troopies allowed himself to be photographed with a Confederate flag, I'd have to sit down with him and determine whether or not he held views which were antithetical to good order and discipline.

None of which alters the fact that a variety of flags are displayed at one time or another in military enclosures.

As for your opinion of the Confederate flag, I find that completely consistent with other people whose communist grandparents were given refuge in this country. I don't know what it is about Eastern Europeans coming to the US and feeling entitled to piss on American culture, I suspect it's their inherent feelings of inferiority as people who abandoned their own countries. There is a "liberal" Czech on another board who sounds exactly like you.

[Odysseus]

None of which alters the fact that a variety of flags are displayed at one time or another in military enclosures.

Yes, and we crack down on those that are going to have a negative impact on good order and discipline.

As for your opinion of the Confederate flag, I find that completely consistent with other people whose communist grandparents were given refuge in this country. I don't know what it is about Eastern Europeans coming to the US and feeling entitled to piss on American culture, I suspect it's their inherent feelings of inferiority as people who abandoned their own countries. There is a "liberal" Czech on another board who sounds exactly like you.

So, when you cannot argue the facts, you resort to this? Pathetic. My grandfather was a store owner, and hardly a communist. His brothers were a doctor and a judge. They came here because they wanted the opportunities that America offered and embraced the culture wholeheartedly.

My comments on the Confederate flag don't involve my "pissing on American culture" so much as recognizing that some parts of it are going to be controversial. I personally am not offended by that flag, but I do know that many people are, and that some persons who fly it do so in order to be offensive, rather than to show pride in their ancestry. Note that I didn't say that I'd punish the troopie who flew that flag, but that I would ask him his intent, and I'd probably tell him to take it down so as to avoid an EO complaint, because in our PC culture, which liberals like you have imposed, his intent doesn't matter so much as the perception of insult by those who view it, and I'd personally like to make it to retirement without incident.

But, while we're talking about pissing on cultures, you are aware that there is a culture to the military that you've never hesitated to moisten, right? I guess that the culture that protects you isn't worth as much as the culture that you pretend to embrace when it's convenient for you.

[Odysseus]

I didn't "fail" (seriously, could you be more adolescent?) because I never addressed whether it was actually a rainbow flag, actually in Afghanistan, or whatever your childish brain has in mind. I was addressing the anticipated reaction to the photo of the Rainbow Flag being raised in Afghanistan.

I thought that you didn't like to deal with hypotheticals.

[Novaheart]

I thought that you didn't like to deal with hypotheticals.

Predicting rain in Florida is not engaging in hypothesis. Neither is closing the car window.

[Novaheart]

......that you've never hesitated to moisten, right?

Supporting equal rights for gay people is not pissing on the military. Feel free to consult the life of Uriah Levy and Hyman Rickover for perspective.

[Bailey]

Supporting equal rights for gay people is not pissing on the military. Feel free to consult the life of Uriah Levy and Hyman Rickover for perspective.

They have equal rights as anyone else, you mean they want special rights.

[Novaheart]

They have equal rights as anyone else, you mean they want special rights.

Just in case you are being a semantics ninny, or just plain ignorant, Gay military personnel are not treated equally under military policy even though DADT has ended. Their legally married spouses are not recognized for the purpose of family benefits. But they will be.

[Bailey]

Just in case you are being a semantics ninny, or just plain ignorant, Gay military personnel are not treated equally under military policy even though DADT has ended. Their legally married spouses are not recognized for the purpose of family benefits. But they will be.

Nope I am being what they call right. You can marry the same people i can, you just want to change the rules to marry members of your own sex.