MoH Recipient Wins Battle to Keep Flag Pole

  •  December 9, 2009

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A little good news for a change!

RICHMOND, Va. — A 90-year-old Medal of Honor recipient can keep his 21-foot flagpole in his front yard after a homeowner’s association dropped its request to remove it, a spokesman for Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday.
The Sussex Square homeowners’ association likewise has agreed to drop threats to take legal action against retired Army Col. Van T. Barfoot, Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said.

How any American could be against the flag is puzzling. How anyone with an ounce of sense would try to deny that privelege to a Medal of Honor recipient is just plain nuts! Congratulations, Col. Barfoot!
H/T Stop the ACLU
Cross Posted at Proof Positive

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  • http://Array sayanything-3417

    Point.

  • AKA WOOF

    Foreign car dealers across the USA breathe a sigh of relief.

  • http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

    You know, if after Col. Barfoot erected his flagpole, the HOA smacked themselves on the forehead and said, You know, I think those are ugly. Let’s make a bylaw that prohibits all future flag poles and stipulate that any in place now, be prohibited after a change of title, they’d have been okay.

    Or, they could pick a fight with a 90 yr. old genuine war hero. They did not choose wisely, Grasshopper!

  • http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

    it was his choice to move into a neighborhood with an HOA

    Yes. But their authority is not absolute. HOA’s cannot remove one’s civil rights.
    I heard of a HOA in California that tried to ban one man from flying the flag in front of his house because it wasn’t “earth toned” and thus violated the color scheme of the community!

    Now if this guy put up a fifty foot flag on a lighted flagpole, I can see where the neighbors might get upset. But, he was simply, quietly honoring the flag of the country he risked his life for on a daily basis. It was a matter of discretion whether the flag pole met “aesthetic guidelines”. Patriotism should be given at least the benefit of the doubt if not trumping arbitrary aestheticism.
    The Grinch who stole Christmas looks like Mother Theresa next to this bunch!

  • AKA WOOF

    He’s 90 , this is a war of attrition.

  • sayanything-2

    And there is chap8, crowing gleefully for the death of another American.

  • sayanything-3417

    It wasn’t an exception that was forced on the HOA… it was their choice. Besides, their regs didn’t prohibit it.

    I agree that if the vet knowingly and freely signed away his right to fly a flag then he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. But that is not the case here.

    And why anyone like that HOA would subjectively terrorize this hero is completely asinine. Maybe Dino sits on that HOA… ;-)

  • jimmypop

    “Yes. But their authority is not absolute. HOA’s cannot remove one’s civil rights.”

    the ACLU would agree with you…. however, if you knowingly and cheerfully give those rights up its not the fault of the courts. people should have the right to be stupid.

  • sayanything-2

    I have not found proof of that, Rob. These little nazi enclaves pop up without the consent of the people living in a lot of them. It is part of the whole Goals 2000 and Sustainable Communities crap that started in the ’90s. A small group of home owners in an area create a “home owner association” and next thing you know they are forcing all sorts of crap on people who were never given any notice or choice in the matter.

  • sayanything-2

    I have been trying to find out exactly how long this HOA has been in existence, and did the Col live there prior to it being formed. I have seen these nazis popping up in areas where homeowners already own their property and begin trying to force people to accept their sh*t. Municipalities are getting in on this scam, too, by putting in new, onerous regulations without the consent of the people living in the area.

  • http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

    Harry: There was nothing in the HOA regulations prohibiting a flag pole. He didn’t sign a contract not to have a flag pole. It was entirely a subjective call by the HOA and the wrong subjective call. It impinged upon his liberties, not as a homeowner, but as an American.
    I don’t fly the flag everyday, but if my HOA told me I could not put up the flag on patriotic holidays, (or whenever else I darn well pleased) I would tell them to stuff it.
    If the American flag offends the “aesthetic” sensibilities of the HOA, it may be not that they’re in the wrong community, but in the wrong country?

  • sayanything-4603

    mark levin was looking into this matter he had read the contract and had deterimined he was with in his right, like most contracts there was enough ambuguity,

  • sayanything-9974

    Evertime it snows i shovel the side walk for an elderly neighbor because he flies his flag EVERYDAY. It is my honor to do so. That man was willing to sacrifice his life to preserve thier rights as Americans. They should show some appreciation and grattitude for him and the USA. God bless America.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com robport

    I don’t think anyone disagrees that the hoa carried on like a bunch of idiots. Even so, he assented to living under one.

  • sayanything-693

    So now we make exceptions to freedom of contract for patriots? You guys really need to get your principles straight. Just saying…

    PS. I like how Fox calls it “the community’s aesthetic guidelines.” It’s a fricken contract, he signed it before he moved in!

  • sayanything-3444

    HOA’s are a touchy thing. Whether they are well run is largely a factor of the board, elected from the homeowners list by the homeowners themselves. I’ve been on HOA boards and have lived in places where they were well run, and fair. The thing is that if there are by-laws in the HOA agreement that you don’t like, you always have the ability to ask for a vote on whether to change it. You may not get what you want, but you do have the option to try. Where HOA’s are useful is in trying to get everyone in a community to cooperate for the specific purpose of protecting everyone’s property value. When they get too nosy and intrusive though it can be a real pain in the a$$ and frustrating beyond belief. Sounds like in this case the HOA realized they were being too intrusive and the right came out of it.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com robport

    Well he certainly agreed to live under the authority of a home owner’s association.

    As much as I think their decision in this instance was stupid, it was his choice to move into a neighborhood with an HOA. There are always these idiotic stories about HoA’s that won’t let an American flag up or won’t let a nativity scene in or whatever. I don’t feel sorry for any of the people. It was their choice to move there.

    HOA’s are idiotic thing, and usually the instrument of bossy, nosy neighbors who just can’t help but try to manage everyone else’s lives. They should be avoided like the plague.

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