This guy reminds me of Jayne Cobb

This guy:

That’s Andy McDonel, who lives near Phoenix. He’s in trouble with his homeowner’s association for mounting that flag – “debris,” they call it – on his house.

The headline:

Homeowner’s Fight Involves Flag Tied to Tea Party

Quibble! Remember, this is a New York Times story. To the New York Times, the Tea Parties are bad. Describing the flag thusly, therefore, is to inject a negative connotation to it right away.

Unfortunately, from my quibble’s point of view, the lede paragraph states:

This year, Mr. McDonel began flying a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag on his roof in this unincorporated area just outside Phoenix. The historic banner — which dates to 1775, when it was hoisted aboard ships during the initial days of the Revolutionary War — has been adopted by the Tea Party movement. But Mr. McDonel said that he had unfurled the flag for its historical significance and nothing else.

A much more historically respectful and contextual description.

Here’s the problem:

This month, he received a letter from the homeowners’ association ordering him to remove “the debris” from his roof. It threatened fines if the debris (i.e., the flag) did not go within 10 days. But Mr. McDonel, 32, a logistics operation manager, has vowed to fight the order.

The story indicates that displaying the flag might violate his homeowner’s agreement, but only via interpretation. While we should defend our First Amendment rights zealously and wholeheartedly, we also must abide our individual agreements.

On the other hand:

The Avalon Village Community Association, which sent the letter, takes a strict interpretation of the state statute that allows Arizonans the right to fly a variety of flags — the Stars and Stripes, the state flag, flags representing Indian nations as well as the official flags of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.

The Arizona law, says the homeowners’ association butting heads with Mr. McDonel, does not give residents authorization to fly anything else on their properties.

What kind of pinko-Commie logic is that?

Oh, fine. In fact, the Founding Fathers argued over exactly the same thing while debating the Bill of Rights, or so I’ve read. The fear was that, by specifically listing certain rights, they were implying that no other rights existed, when in fact our rights aren’t supposed to depend on what the government says.

The government doesn’t give us our rights. Just because Arizona statute doesn’t specifically list the Gadsden Flag doesn’t mean Arizonans can’t fly it.

Unless, that is, McDonel signed an agreement specifically agreeing not to.

The ACLU has become involved on McDonel’s side. So let’s all spend a moment thinking less poorly of them. Oh, don’t whine. I only said one.

Via Memeorandum.

Picture credit: Joshua Lott for the New York Times