Almost got those apostrophes right.. Keep trying!

Might as well give the indians back what's theirs too then! And how about them Romans? Oh, I'm sorry... they're white. Give it to the blacks then.

The Romans got back what was their's (suck it, Tyson) in the 1800s and the blacks run Africa. Kill whitey.

"Theirs," Roachbud.

"Theirs."

Aren't you a reporter? Your editors must have fun with you.

I spend a little more time editing and reviewing when I'm writing for publication as opposed to posting comments about evil videos from the internets. Plus "theirs" is not a word I have ever written in hundreds of articles.

Wait... which Indians? There were at least three distinct waves of Indian migrations into North America, each one seeing successive groups of loosely related tribes pushing out previous inhabitants. Nevermind the fact that Mexicans are usually descended from both white AND native stock (hell, the Meixcan is this video looks whiter than me), which "Indians" are we talking about, and by what criteria do we know what's "theirs" and what isn't?

First of all, "their's" is a contraction of "their" and "is," and is also not really a word. "Theirs" is the possessive form of "their," and actually is a word.

Before you start making any racist bullshit remarks about "Whitey", you want want to figure out third grade grammar first. Finally, you say you're too busy writing and editing "hundreds of articles," (which I'm sure appear in the finest of publications), but you find the time to respond TWICE to separate comments on Poetv.com. Hmm...

The 'Veteran' is upset because he fought hard in those Mexican wars.

Right, he was just blatantly disrespecting our country, not disgracing it.

Sure, because the fact that this guy chose to display an American flag in front of his store reveals, not that he's proud of his new home that he chose to live and build a family in, but deep seeded hatred and a desire to provoke a conflict.

Honestly, I don't know why we're bothering with Al-Qaeda. Its clear that St Patrick's Day parades and IHOP are the real threats to America.

But it makes for great TV. Which is usually the same thing.

It's technically illegal as per US Code Title 4, Chapter 1, § 7(c). But making something illegal and actually enforcing those laws aren't always the same thing.

US Code Title 4, Chapter 1 is a protocol, not a legal statute. As of right now, the government of the United States cannot compel or prevent the citizenry from honoring or dishonoring the flag in any manner. As many of the mouth breathers here helpfully point out this can be seen as a political statement, thus it is protected political speech, speech protected by the first amendment.

It is not illegal to fly the flag in any manner you choose.

It may not be illegal, but as Thoreau pointed out, civil disobedience is not only an option but it is one's DUTY when confronted with a situation where lawful injustice goes against one's conscience.

Funny how civil disobedience is celebrated all over the internet, but yet when this man sees a symbol of something he loves being disrespected and actually does something about it, he's vilified.

We don't celebrate disobedience because it's disobedience or because it's in defense of things that people feel strongly about - we celebrate civil disobedience which furthers the cause of justice. There is nothing just about this kind of vandalism and intimidation.

civil disobedience =/= vandalism and death threats

Doesn't 'civil' disobedience imply some sort of government institution is involved? That is not present in this case. The flags that were vandalized both belong to the store owner.

Civil Disobedience is where you break unjust laws to protest injustice, not where you break laws because someone with absolutely no goddamned authority over you expresses a differing opinion. And it sure as hell isn't knife-wielding vigilante violence used to coerce an individual into complying with imaginary, arbitrary, fake, bullshit, make-believe rules.

My, you're a cynical one, aren't you? I'd hardly call this "knife-wielding vigilante violence"... maybe "offended beardo making an aggressive public statement", but he doesn't actually threaten anyone, and he's not trying to force the Mexicans into complying with existent imaginary flag codes; he's simply stealing their US flag until they learn to be better patriots and/or beat the shit out of him.

4 U.S.C. 1 is a statute enacted by the Congress and signed into law by President Roosevelt, not a "protocol." That's why it's in the U.S. Code. It is not imaginary, make-believe or fake, although arbitrary and bullshit are different considerations.

More uses of the "grizzled" tag, please.

cornflakes-

That's the first time I've seen vandalising and stealing private property called civil disobedience.

It's a "law" with no penalty for breaking it, so I don't really see the point of quibbling about its legality. By the same standard, this gentleman was in violation of the flag code for balling it up in his hand. Also -stealing- a flag (along with any other piece of personal property) is a real law.

...I'm sure Mexican Immigrant guy wasn't thinking "I'm going to make this outrageous statement about America! Mexico is way better!" I mean, did you see his response?
If he was really making a statement, maybe he would've said something to that haggard old veteran - you know, the one who was shouting about "coming out to fight us" while wielding a knife?
It was probably just one of those mornings; had to quick raise the flag and wasn't thinking about it right. I mean, they didn't even say whether anybody contacted the owner to say, "Hey, man. Just so you know. Flag over flag. Illegal." Just vigilantism on behalf of some scraggly old veteran with a weapon and a cameraman. Seems pathetic.
That being said, a million stars!

Why are you so sure of that?

Flying another countries flag of the American flag is an insult (in America), so I can see why they got upset. However, their reaction was totally unreasonable as I'm sure actually talking to the guy would have had a much better resolution.

^^^his reaction, I meant

Fuck America

Just guessing. I think the reporters, cameraman, and veteran seemed very sure that the Mexican guy was deliberately defiling freedom with his flaggish display.

A flag is not a symbol of some objective thing. Flying one flag above another does not symbolize some objective thing. It makes no objective statements or provocations. Maybe you don't "blame" the guy who brings it down, but I should hope that you care enough about the rule of law to understand that VIGILANTE JUSTICE IS STUPID.

A flag is most certainly symbolic of the ideals and heritage that is a nation's identity. Before anyone goes off of the "GO 'MERKA USA" tangent, I believe that showing reverence to a flag does not mean that you revere it's leaders or policies and indeed I do not.

Anyways, if you believe that people don't attach meanings to these symbols, go burn a rainbow flag on the corner of Market and Castro in San Fransico. Go burn a Union Jack in front of Parliament. Burn a picture of Mohammed in Mecca. I guarantee that you'll find out just how much value people attach to these symbols.

Vigilante justice is stupid, but I guarantee that the Mexican flag didn't suffer or feel any pain. I think the statement he made was just as valid as the statement the shopkeeper made by flying another flag above the U.S. flag, be it intentional or not. I can see your point on how it's considered vandalism, I think the only hatred and intimidation there was the hatred that someone would openly disrespect the flag that way.

But then again, that's just my opinion and I could be wrong.

One of the meanings attached to the American flag is freedom of thought, expression, and action. You do far more justice to the flag -- or at least, the concepts behind it -- if you allow someone else to do as they wish with it rather than rob someone of it and cart it off in a wadded ball under your sweaty armpits in some half-baked attempt to restore its honor. What that man did is the exact opposite of the ideals the flag embodies.

Also, I'm pretty sure Muslims would be the first in line to burn a picture of Mohamed.

I'm pretty sure you would get congratulated for burning a picture of Muhammed in Mecca, since making images of the prophet is sacreligious to Muslims. That's why they got so pissed off about the Danish cartoons.

But then again unless you are a Muslim you can't even get into Mecca

Bad example, but you get my point.

I guess it just boils down to a guy who took this as an affront to his land and did something about it. I'm less certain about the appropriateness of what exactly he did, but I do stand behind his reasoning on being offended.

I remember another group of brave of men willing to stand up and do something about what they considered an insult to the great country of the United States of America:

http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0700/media/0701_013001.jpg

Cornflakes, I am offended by YOUR views.

However, if I expressed this by coming to your house, fertilizer burning "FASCIST" into your lawn, and taking a massive dump on your front step, I would expect niether sympathy for exercising my freedom of expression, nor would anyone be retarded enough to call it civil disobedience.

It turns out that my freedom of expression ends somewhere around the point that it takes the form of vandalizing and stealing your property. Who would have thought it?

I can see why you're called 'merkins' now.

Yes the world hates us because of our flag laws

It helps.

Mexico hates us now, too?

Yes, because the more videos you submit kids, the more your opinion matters!

I'm not an American, so I couldn't give a fuck about your flag, but Operation Cornflakes does have a point, flying another country's flag above the US flag while in the US is disrespectful, regardless of the legality of the matter. Still, It would have also been nicer to give the poor beaner the benefit of the doubt and say "hey Pedro, you know, in Mexico it's alright to have your flag above ours, but could you please invert them while in our country, Muchas Gracias!". Rather than go out with a bowie knife.

Well, I was trying to illustrate that opening registration has exponentially increased the number of YouTube-quality bitchfests without resulting in more, better videos. But that too.

Oh come on! Can't you see we're trying to change the world through our opinions here?

Snap: "Me thinks the mexican was reclaiming his land"

Crackle: "No, mexican is rude"

Pop: "Yeah he was rude but then the American was stoopid"

Guys like him who call themselves "veterans" are usually the type who pealed potatoes and never made it past the rank of corporal during their brief tenure in the military.

Do I get a knife?

What if we're a quarter defending it? Are we disgracing only those free societies in the Western Hemisphere?

"Skinnies"?

Ill take it, you have never seen Black Hawk Down.