Thread: billboards feature upside down U.S. flag

Originally Posted by 5

Originally Posted by greyparrot

Oh, now that is rich! Who hung that upside down U.S. flag in the first place, eh? The only folks that have a right and reason to be scared of that image are AMERICAN CITIZENS!

The actual flag picture was snapped at Los Angeles high school on one of the student walkout protest days I want to say May 1. I'll check the sources and get back to you on that but the picture is real and it came from a high school.

Hell yea it is real. The story and the photo are in our archives.

Someone should post the link.

W

This is from Michelle Malkins page:

Whittier area students from Pioneer, California and Whittier high schools walked out of classes to protest the proposed federal immigration bill March 27, 2006. The protestors put up the Mexican flag over the American flag flying upside down at Montebello High. (Leo Jarzomb/Staff photo)

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/004869.htm

Originally Posted by 5

Originally Posted by greyparrot

Oh, now that is rich! Who hung that upside down U.S. flag in the first place, eh? The only folks that have a right and reason to be scared of that image are AMERICAN CITIZENS!

The actual flag picture was snapped at Los Angeles high school on one of the student walkout protest days I want to say May 1. I'll check the sources and get back to you on that but the picture is real and it came from a high school.

I know where the image came from, thats why I wrote what I did..LOL! In the OP one of the pro-illegals is saying that they were afraid the billboards might frighten "immigrants" which I thought was ironic considering that the image is the result of their own handiwork.

Didn't take long. Ironic if you ask me. IMO it drives home the point even more.







http://www.theactionclub.com/weblog.htm

Boy that didn't take too long for someone to "modify".

Here's my solution. Deport all the illegal aliens, then the supposed "racism" will be deported along with them.

Problem solved. No more racism, no more xenophobia, and all the other labels immigrants have slapped on Americans.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs. ... 31026/1194

‘Action’ billboard meant to spark serious discussion


Kathie Lack, Guest Opinion
August 1, 2006 12:15 am
The Buncombe County Republican Action Club put up two billboards in Asheville to draw attention to the problem of illegal immigration and to educate the citizens about the issue. On these billboards we placed an image that we find very offensive and we asked the question, “Had Enough?”

The image which we chose is a photograph of an actual event which occurred earlier this year in California, where Hispanic high school students and their supporters took down the American flag flying on their campus, turned it upside down, put the Mexican national flag over it, and then hoisted both flags up the flagpole to the cheers of the riotous crowd. This belligerent and disrespectful desecration of the American flag was photographed by a bystander and this is the offensive image that is reproduced on our billboards. The disrespect for America and the failure of anyone to adequately address the issue motivated the Action Club to put up the billboards and to create a website where people can learn the facts about illegal immigration. We also offer tools for citizens to become part of the solution.

In an interesting turn of events, the Action Club has now been labeled the villain. We have been chastised by the Asheville Citizen-Times and by May Day Demonstration organizer Edna Campos for using an inflammatory image on our billboard. Why were they not outraged about the inflammatory message when the Hispanic students actually created the event in March? If it is an unacceptable symbol now, why was it not considered an unacceptable symbol when the event occurred? Where were the Asheville Citizen-Times and Edna Campos then?

The Asheville Citizen-Times headline said, “Billboards inflame, but don’t inform, immigration issue.” Don’t inform? We have a phone number and a Web site listed on the billboard. Every person who has called has had an opportunity to speak to a live person, if they left a phone number. Our Web site is fairly bulging with information. What more would you expect on a billboard? Billboards are not well suited to long dissertations to be read at 55 m.p.h.

There is a pattern of behavior that occurs when some folks don’t like your message, but have no facts to back up their position.

The tactic is to divert attention from your message and make you out to be the bad guy. If they can silence you with this method, then they don’t have to debate the issue and risk losing the argument. We in the Action Club understand this diversionary tactic and actually expected it. We were not at all surprised to find one of our billboards defaced with our contact information blacked out. We are not deterred by this tactic.

Those of us in the Action Club are operating from a thoughtful, fact-based position on the illegal immigration issue. The purpose of our billboards is to inform.

They encourage discussion and debate on the issue. Notice which side started the conversation and which side is trying to shut it down.

Remember that he who shuts down the free exchange of ideas is usually the one with the weakest argument.

The article in question being rebutted by Kathie Lack.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs. ... 26041/1194

Billboards inflame, but don’t inform, immigration issue


It’s hard to imagine how emotion-laden billboards that encourage hostility are a helpful addition to the illegal immigration debate.

The Buncombe County Republican Action Club paid to have two billboards posted July 13, one on Swannanoa River Road and the other on Patton Avenue, depicting a Mexican flag flying above an inverted American flag, with the words “Had Enough?” The billboard includes a Web site and an telephone number.

“We’ve got this group of people who are all hot to do something, and we were all very upset about the illegal immigration situation,” said Kathie Lack, club president. “We wanted something that would grab their attention and direct them to our Web site or telephone number so we can give them more information.”

Any informed, thinking person realizes that something must be done to stem the tide of people who enter the United States illegally. But there’s great disagreement about what that something should be, and the matter is complicated by the fact that there are already 10 million to 11 million people in the country illegally. The vast majority of them wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t a demand for the work they perform.

Our approach should be one of trying to find a solution that honors the laws of our nation and the hard-working people who have been driven by desperation to leave their homeland in search of a better life for themselves and their families.

To be successful, the solution must be national, but so far the U.S. House and Senate have been unable to agree on what should be done. The Senate earlier this year passed a bipartisan immigration bill offering a chance at citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. That bill included measures to secure the nation’s borders and imposed tougher penalties on employers that hire undocumented workers – a critical element in any effort to control illegal immigration. The House passed a far more restrictive bill that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally.

One thing is certain, any bill that disregards the contribution people who come here illegally make to our economy and the need to provide a legal framework for that to continue – or that does not provide a path to legal residency for the millions of people already here illegally – will be nothing more than a politically motivated short-term fix doomed to ultimate failure.

“What we need right now is rational, intelligent dialogue about this issue,” Asheville-based Hispanic advocate Edna Campos said. Campos is right. And there’s no place in rational intelligent dialogue for billboards that use powerful symbolism to encourage negatively charged reactions based on emotion instead of reason.