by Laura Pinfield

[This letter appeared in Florida Today on April 20, 1998]

In any totalitarian society, the function of the controlled press is to ridicule and discredit those who sound the alarms. The April 14 Florida Today editorial about the "golden fringed" flags fits the bill.

The editorial begged two questions: First, why was it so important to government officials and military veterans to return the "decorated flags" to official buildings, when they had already been replaced with American flags? Second, what does the golden fringe and eagle mean?

While some may claim that the presence of the fringe and eagle flags is just for decoration and the technicality of their meaning is ignored by those in power, that in and of itself is cause for alarm.

Aren't we citizens expected to follow every detail of every law, ludicrous though some may be? And if we don't, we pay dearly with money and/or our freedom.

Our lawmakers and enforcers should not be above the law. Without adherence to the technicalities of law, our public servants can, and do, run all over the citizens.

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