A Stitch in Haste

The proponents of a partial repeal of the First Amendment via a "Flag Protection Amendment" insist that the flag "stands for something." Something intrinsically and perhaps uniquely American.

Well, apparently that "something" doesn't include property rights or freedom of contract:

Also up for consideration in the House this week is the Freedom to Display the Flag Act, which would bar condominiums or other homeowner associations from restricting the size or placement of residents' flags. It's expected to pass today.

Of course, condominiums and homeowner associations are strictly voluntary multi-party contracts to guarantee property rights — the right to have your community, in which you have an ownership stake, operated the way you see fit. You know what the rules are going in, and if there is a rule you feel strongly about, such as "no pets" or "no flags in windows," then too bad so sad — live somewhere else.

These associations are also "mini-democracies" (or "mini-republics," if you prefer). The management boards are popularly elected and operate, with limited and pre-defined authority, under a set of by-laws — again as part of the voluntary (and dare we call it "social") contract that each resident enters into as a condition precedent of joining the community.

All this is, somehow, "un-American" and must be quashed by a far-off Congress, led by some hack politician* in Maryland.

Welcome to the New American Way™.

The bill is H.R. 42.

(Via To The People.)

*Oh, sorry, Representative Roscoe Bartlett, the bill's sponsor, insists that he is "a citizen-legislator, not a politician." Fine, he's not a hack politician, but rather a hack citizen-legislator. My bad.

More thoughts at Below the Beltway.

UPDATE: The law, H.R. 42, has been signed into law by President Bush.