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June 7, 2005
A Newspaper Finally Gets It Right
A few weeks ago I wrote about a local Marine veteran picking a fight with his condo association over the right to fly a Marine Corps flag. A few days ago I ran across the following editorial from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Editorial: Flag day / Marine vet deserves sympathy, not a law
Thursday, June 02, 2005
As George M. Cohan's patriotic old song reminds us, it's a grand old flag, it's a high-flying flag. But that was easy for George M. Cohan to say -- he never had to deal with a condo association. Even in the home of the free and the brave, condo owners must follow the rules.These rules are in place across the land we love and they can be irritating -- ask Marine Corps veteran Clifford G. Hughes. He wants to fly the American flag outside his condominium in Moon, but the Forest Glenn condo association says on most days of the year he can't.
As PG writer Bill Toland reported Monday, Mr. Hughes, 81, has requested state Rep. Mark Mustio, a Republican from Moon, to pass a law to allow him to fly the flag more often. Mr. Mustio has obliged with House Bill 759, which would prohibit a condo association from preventing a condo owner from flying an American flag, Commonwealth flag or military flag outdoors on his property, as long as the flag was smaller than 5 feet by 3 feet.
Being obviously sincere in his patriotism, Mr. Hughes deserves respect and understanding, but he doesn't deserve a law addressing his particular problem. Although condo associations are notorious for sometimes enforcing petty restrictions in a tyrannical way, the restrictions set by Forest Glenn seem reasonable. In short, they are about tasteful uniformity, not unpatriotic whim.
Indeed, its bylaws allow condo owners to fly the flag on six holidays, including Memorial Day. The condo association also flies the American flag in the courtyard area.
What is more, Mr. Hughes agreed to the rules when he signed the dotted line for condo ownership, as everybody does, and if he had an objection then he should have decided to live somewhere else.
It's not just condo associations who try to keep some order: If he had wanted to fly his own personal flag on his own tent in the Marines, a not-so-friendly sergeant might have pointed out the need for conformity.
Mr. Mustio's bill is a slippery slope, inviting someone to insist, despite the law's intent, that he or she has the right to fly other types of flag as well, perhaps the flag of another nation. Rather than inviting legal challenges, Mr. Mustio would better serve the public by not interfering with contract law. It's a grand old flag, to be sure, but in the land of the free people make their own choices about where to live and under what restrictions.
This is the first time in a long time that I've seen a newspaper, much less any news media, actually consider the association's side of an issue. I really can't add much to what they wrote, only that it was nice to see, and that's why I'm mentioning it in the blog as well as in the News.
Posted by joewest at June 7, 2005 10:58 AM