Posted on 05/31/2011 8:43:16 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
MSNBC's Martin Bashir on May 31 insisted that Sarah Palin's bus tour amounts to a "breach of a federal law."
Anchoring his eponymous program, Bashir scolded, "In fact, the whole thing could be in breach of a federal law because the United States Flag Code establishes important rules for the use and display of the stars and stripes, the flag of the United States."
(VIDEO AT LINK)
In his accusatory "Clear the Air" segment, the former ABC Nightline anchor lectured Palin that "standards of respect and etiquette" discourage using the American flag for "any advertising purpose whatsoever."
"She drapes herself in the stars and stripes and makes millions of dollars in the process," chided Bashir. "This has got nothing to do with the presidency and everything to do with filling her pockets."
The only problem: the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment. If flag burning is protected speech, certainly displaying the flag on a tour bus is legal. Or do the rules not apply to Sarah Palin? In Bashir's warped sense of reality, conservatives like Palin would be arrested for flying the American flag at rallies in which they promote causes that Bashir does not support.
Where was Bashir's patriotic tongue-lashing for any Democratic politician who has ever flown the American flag at campaign rallies and in political advertisements?
Even if Bashir wasn't aware of the landmark Supreme Court decision that settled flag-desecration issues, he is still misunderstanding the section of U.S. code from which he cited as evidence of Palin's crimes.
The Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan organization that provides legal analysis to members of Congress, clarified that observance of the Flag Code is "purely voluntary" in a 2008 congressional report: "While wearing the colors may be in poor taste and offensive to many, it is important to remember that the Flag Code is intended as a guide to be followed on a purely voluntary basis to insure proper respect for the flag."
By doubting another citizen's patriotism and labeling her a criminal, the man who lambasted Palin for exploiting the American flag for political purposes committed the same sin he ostensibly loathes.
A transcript of the segment can be found below:
MSNBC Martin Bashir May 31, 2011
3:57 p.m. EDT
MARTIN BASHIR: It's time now to Clear the Air and to ask a question: what is the purpose behind Sarah Palin's current bus tour? It's difficult to ask that question directly because Sarah Palin specializes in checkbook journalism. That is, she only gives interviews to a network that pays her in excess of $1 million a year. So we're forced to make judgements from the outside and it all looks like the precursor to a presidential campaign. The vehicle itself reminds us of all those campaign buses that crisscross the nation at election time. The media are ever-present, catching her every handshake and every book signing. And the journey itself – visiting locations of national importance along the East Coast and proclaiming once again as the most patriotic American that ever lived.
And yet, even in her paid-for interview, she seems coy and almost confused about what she's doing. "This is not a campaign bus," she said on Fox News. "This is a bus to express to American how much we appreciate our foundation and to invite more people to be interested about all that is good about America." It all sounds like a wonderful commitment to American values and American history, but it's nothing of the kind. In fact, the whole thing could be in breach of a federal law because the United States Flag Code establishes important rules for the use and display of the stars and stripes, the flag of the United States. Under standards of respect and etiquette, it's made clear that the flag of the United States should never be used for any advertising purpose whatsoever. Yet that's precisely what Sarah Palin is doing. She's using the flag of the United States for her own financial purposes. She drapes herself in the stars and stripes and makes millions of dollars in the process. This has got nothing to do with the presidency and everything to do with filling her pockets. And by raising her profile, she raises her income. It is as simple as that. So she was right when she said that hers is not a campaign bus. It's a cash bus and she'll keep it rolling for as long as she can. Thanks so much for watching.
Agree with your sentiment, but it's Mrs. Palin. Carry on!
Wow, I was just debating with a liberal friend today and I said that Palin drives the Left so nuts that everything she does leads them to prove that it is they who are ignorant and opportunistic. If this doesn’t just prove it...
Indeed. 50 years ago I was a young child. That half century has seen a lot of change with respect to the flag. I remember my older brother, now deceased, warning me to be oh so careful not to let my toy flag touch the ground, else it had to be destroyed. He was deadly serious. It was a profound, pervasive respect, the very air we breathed, and young people alive now do not really understand what it was like before the war protest years. Such respect does not come cheap, and if it is ever restored, it will be through the the relentless commitment and sacrifice of both our men and women at arms, and patriotic civilians like Sarah Palin.
He is a tabloid clown with no viewership. He has no idea what he is babbling about.
I wonder if he’s as concerned about the War Powers Act.
Hey I used to work at a newspaper with that guy! He’s now a aid/sycophant for a Dem state pol in Penn. ;)
Why in the world would a company like Comcast allow this MSLSD thing to go on like this??
Bashir is good for a laugh, I guess.
That is great!!! Made my day.
What a doofus!
Yet another bloviating 'elite' sounds off. Mr. Bashir, go jump into the La Brea tar pits, with the rest of the dinosaurs...
the infowarrior
But she’s collecting money for her PAC. If she decides not to run, she will be accused of leading her supporters on for money and it will stick. A lot of people are going to feel used and angry at her if she doesn’t run after all this.
The Muslim Brit jumped the gun here since she has not decided yet.
Martin may be a robot. He seldom blinks, never strays from the script, and he has a wall-socket on the back of his neck.
Palin is up with me 300% just because she is tweaking the media establishment and they are eating it up
While I doubt that this is the main reason, believing that showing Bristol, Willow, and Piper these important historical places is the main reason, the fact that, in the process, she is showing the world what buffoons these folks are simultaneously, is just gravy...
the infowarrior
Then Bill had the snide and snarky Sourkraut on to dinigrate Palin. If for no other reason, I hope Sarah runs just to drive them all insane.
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