Flag Flap
About Thomas (Ski) Demski, perpetrator of the pole and the flag in Long Beach (“Flag Man Picks Right Day for Court to Hear Flap Over Complaints,” Metro, June 15):
Demski has repeatedly intimidated city officials into letting him flaunt an ever-larger and louder snap-pop-crackle Stars and Stripes--and an ever more monstrous flagpole (now up to 132 feet!)--in a mostly residential neighborhood.
Opponents are stigmatized as “anti-patriotic.” Meanwhile, Yankee Doodle Demski has tried to appropriate Old Glory as a personal trademark and advertising gimmick.
What if some other misguided patriot (or opportunist, as the case may be) decided to demonstrate devotion to the national anthem? Suppose that this enthusiast insisted on playing recordings of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at constantly increasing volume, on ever-larger amplifiers. There would soon be a popular uprising against such tasteless (and deafening) exploitation.
It is past time for the city of Long Beach to enforce zoning height limits and anti-noise ordinances. We have had more than enough of this self-serving hyper-patriot.
DONALD DRURY
Long Beach
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