Okay, I know I pissed off a few of you with
my rant on September 11th, and it’s time to offend a few more of
you. Here is a quick disclaimer: If you don’t want to think about what I have
to say rationally, get the hell out of here.
You aren’t going to like it, anyway.
With that out of the way, let’s cut
to the chase. What is up with all of
the posers out there since September 11th? How many of these people with flags on their cars would have
laughed at those of us who had them up months before September 11th? Speaking of flags on cars… Have you noticed
how few there are now?
Before I hear from some smart ass,
yes, the flags I display at my house are less than a year old. The one in the office was purchased on June
23, 2001, and somebody asked me why I was buying it. My friends looked at me funny when I said I was buying it to put
on my truck. I specifically did not put
that flag on my truck after September 11th because I thought it was
ridiculous for patriotism to be a passing fad.
As for the other flag? I think
it was July or August when I bought it.
(My old ones were looking pretty sad.)
Let’s take this a step further. What is up with everyone saying that the New
York Police and Firefighters are heroes now?
How many of you would have said the same thing a year ago? Many of the firefighters had been running
into burning buildings for DECADES before this and nobody really gave them a
second thought. Not only do we take it
for granted that people are going to risk their lives to save us and our
possessions, we turn them into a trend.
The police have been persecuted by
the media then the public for nearly the last 10 years because of the actions
of a few bad apples. Nearly all of us
have had run-ins with a rude or patronizing cop, but the average police officer
is out busting his ass 40+ hours a week.
They are on hand all the time in case they need to respond to an
emergency like what happened on September 11th. They are the crazy bastards tasked with
running toward gunfire in our streets instead of away from it.
Now I’m not saying that I don’t
support the police, firefighters, or patriotism. I don’t support patronizing police, firefighters, and patriotism
for a trend. I’m asking people to take
a close look at themselves, especially people in the media, before they open
their mouths about these topics. I want
everyone to think about what side they will be on when the next police scandal
comes up. Will they be persecuting all
police for the actions of a few? Will
they be laughing at those of us with flags on our houses in early May? Will they go to their local firehouse and
show support for the men and women working there even today? These heroes are ordinary people doing their
jobs despite the risks in extraordinary circumstances, and they do it every
day. If you aren’t willing to back them
next year, in your town, then you should throw away that FDNY hat, take your
flag back to the capitalist you bought it from, and move your ass to another
country where nobody gives a flying &*%$ if your stuff is stolen or burned.
The people in
your home town are no less heroic than the people in New York. Show them some respect.