So this is the America I live in now? How far have we fallen?
It's not how far we've fallen; it's how low we've sunk.
It's one thing if the guy was being a bigot and waving his flag around telling people to go back home. By all accounts, that's not what happened. If that was the case, it should be 'get out and take your flag with you.' The guy just hung up a flag in his cubicle in honor of his kids.
It'll seem like Im supporting the company, but it's not the case. One thing was missing...
In a way I can see why the company asked him to take it down. I can't remember what company it was, but it was a national company. They were afraid of a lawsuit. They were afraid of the negative publicity. They were afraid people were going to say they created a hostile environment. They were afraid of racist allegations.
We as a society (not individuals) have created that fear. Everyone sues for everything. Rather than try to fight it and win, yet lose money and public opinion, companies are used to settling and making things go away.
I guess the guy's immediate supervisor supported him, but his supervisor (who was American) made him take it down. A corporate memo went out telling everyone to take them down if there's any complaints. What they didn't count on was employees and administrators going to the media. The media had a field day with it for a day until the company reversed its decision.
What was lacking in the whole thing, above anything else, was common sense. And for the people who were offended, they forgot two things: They most likely didn't have the freedom to complain about ridiculousness where they came from; the guy who "offended" them's kids were fighting to protect their right to complain about ridiculousness.
I used to work at a college where the students were some of the most outspoken young idiots I've ever seen (actually they were extremely intelligent, but very naive). Back when it was somehow cool to turn your back to the flag when the anthem was played, the administration decided to remove the flag and not play the anthem. They did it in a shady way and most didn't notice. Their rationale was they didn't want ESPN and the mass media attention if it happened there, as 2 or 3 schools got some bad publicity for students doing this. I get it, but they didn't take my advice - when it happens (not if), you state that while you don't agree with their actions, you do however respect their freedom to do this. That's part of what makes this country great; being able to disrespect the people that gave you the freedom to do as you wish. They'd have been shot in a lot of other countries for this. Remember Tiananmen Square?
Why do they call it common sense if it's very uncommon?
Patriotic rant over.