Big flap over a big flag

Re “Stern agency meets unflappable mogul,” Feb. 7

Apparently, hypocrisy is alive and well in Rancho Palos Verdes regarding the American flag that Donald Trump is flying at his golf course. I contend that these people’s homes are the eyesore, not the flag. The California Coastal Commission allows homes to be built on the coast, but it hassles Trump about flying the flag on his own property. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t need a permit to fly the flag on your own property, and I hope Trump sticks to his guns.

Mark Muckenthaler

Norco

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Trump has threatened to go all the way to the Supreme Court if the Coastal Commission requires him to abide by zoning laws and, perhaps, trim the 70-foot flagpole he erected on his property. This appears to be less a dispute over Trump’s right to display an enormous flag than his insatiable hunger to display his enormous ego. His blog trumpets, “It’s a great day for the American flag and what it represents.” I guess to him, it represents the right of an obnoxious rich guy to trump the rights of his neighbors.

But Donald, a 70-foot pole? You may want to consider a Freudian therapist.

Herb L. Weinberg

Los Angeles

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Trump may be obnoxious, but certainly a $10,000 fee so the Coastal Commission can evaluate a flagpole’s effect on the coast is ludicrous. Since 9/11, the flag has become, and should always have been, a welcome sight. We have American troops in faraway countries fighting and dying for the flag; this is even an election year, for crying out loud. The controversy is over Trump thinking that rules don’t apply to him. The flag is on a 300-acre site. Whose view is being ruined? Since when does the flag of our country ruin a view?

Christie Cluff

Rancho Palos Verdes