Martin Bashir’s Sarah Palin “Flag Code” Bruhaha…
I’m late getting to this as it transpired on Tuesday while I was in transit home. NewsBusters’ Alex Fitzsimmons wrote about Martin Bashir making a claim on his show’s “Clearing the Air” segment that Sarah Palin using the American Flag on her bus tour “could be a breach of Federal law” citing the US Flag Code rules for the use of the flag. Ignoring Fitzsimmons’ erection of a straw man in citing the 1989 Supreme Court flag burning decision – which centered on a Texas state law not the code Bashir referenced – Fitzsimmons does correctly zero in on the notion that the Code is purely advisory in nature.
Well as one would expect in such matters, Bashir’s statement did cause something of a ruckus. Fitzsimmons followed up yesterday by noting Bashir’s response to his self-inflicted controversy and his apparent dodging of the relevant issue at hand…
On Tuesday, Bashir questioned Palin’s patriotism and suggested she’s a criminal: “In fact, the whole thing could be in breach of a federal law because the United States Flag Code establishes important rules for the use and display of the stars and stripes, the flag of the United States.”
But on Thursday, Bashir pretended to have never uttered such offensive bile, even though it was those comments that were the most controversial.
Still waiting for you to “Clear the Air,” Martin.
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June 3, 2011 at 8:34 am
OK, so why was 0bama’s flag logo OK?
http://www.modeproject.com/work/obama-logo/
Neither his nor Sarah’s are exact representations of the flag, so that’s not it.
Maybe Mr. BASHir can enlighten us as to why the double standard, again?
June 3, 2011 at 8:37 am
The most likely scenario is that somebody posted about this controversy at a blog site & Bashir picked it up & ran with it. Happens a lot over there.
It is pretty amazing though. It sounds too stupid to even be an Onion parody. Just shows the level of PDS out there.
June 3, 2011 at 8:41 am
I have a thoery: Martin Bashir is a huge idiot. That’s a clinical diagnosis. Count on it.
June 3, 2011 at 8:43 am
My favorite response to Bashir’s nonsense.
June 3, 2011 at 8:53 am
I don’t see how someone could come up with that story angle and there’s no one around to basically say, “if you run that, you’re going to look like a fool”.
Or, maybe Bashir’s point was lost in translation. I don’t speak the Queen’s english.
June 3, 2011 at 9:03 am
Mr. Bashir should learn to just let others shoot from the hip. Seems whenever he does it’s his own foot that takes the hit.
June 3, 2011 at 9:07 am
It didn’t help that Bashir chose “Palin is super nice” week to accuse her of breaking the law. When a liberal bashes Sarah Palin and I feel bad for her, that liberal is having a bad week..
June 3, 2011 at 9:15 am
For someone who is supposed to be smart, Bashir sure did make himself look like a complete fool
June 3, 2011 at 9:20 am
I don’t feel the least bit bad for her over that. Whenever a liberal is bashing Sarah Palin, she’s having a good week. It’s not such a bad deal for FNC, either.
June 3, 2011 at 9:37 am
Joe, that’s how it started with me, too! Now I’m possibly even a Sarah supporter!
June 3, 2011 at 9:45 am
As long as she’s “makin’ stuff up” about history – not to mention being a little unclear on what the Dream Act is – she won’t be getting any support from me, but this “nice” thing, well…that’s just irritating.
June 3, 2011 at 9:55 am
^You said it yourself, you can’t be mean and stupid. Palin must be reading your stuff joe.
June 3, 2011 at 10:08 am
I’m tellin ya, Jacky, I could make that girl President. Fortunately, she hasn’t called..
June 3, 2011 at 10:23 am
Give her some time, she still needs to learn that not everyone is out to destroy her and she needs other help besides her current inner circle.
June 3, 2011 at 10:31 am
She needs to stop winging it before Greta snaps.
June 3, 2011 at 10:53 am
I would have personally snapped long ago. She is making it more and more impossible to defend her. She can think on her feet on some things, but clearly not on everything and it is showing in a very bad way.
June 3, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Oh hell, I’ll post it here, too.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/06/03/palin_explains_paul_reveres_midnight_ride.html
June 3, 2011 at 5:03 pm
I had read the Paul Revere comments, but hadn’t seen the video. It’s WAY better on the video. I’m gonna make “warning shots and bells” my ringtone..that’s the funniest damn thing I’ve ever seen. Love the blank stare.. #andarmed
June 3, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Once again the amount of hate the Left have for this woman is something….but if their willing to go after her kids then accusing her of being a criminal for using the flag hardly surprises me…..
But I guess bashing Palin is a good distraction from the Weainer roast and the Edwards indictment….remember Edwards the guy of lot of you Libs wanted as President……Ill take a Palin screwing up the Paul Revere story over a scumbag like Edwards anyday.
June 3, 2011 at 5:38 pm
Dude, one guy doesn’t constitute “the left”. Would it kill you to be specific once in a while? Or should I conclude that your post represents “the right”.
June 4, 2011 at 11:11 am
Sorry folks, but Sarah is right. Paul Revere DID warn the Brits the militia was coming…to the tune of 500 militia.
In Paul Reveres own letters located at:
http://www.masshist.org/database/img-viewer.php?item_id=99&img_step=1&tpc=&pid=&mode=transcript&tpc=&pid=#page1
Scroll to page 4 you will find he was captured by the British and warned them the militia was coming. The pertinent paragraph states:
“When I got there, out Started Six officers, on Horse back,
and orderd me to dismount;-one of them, who appeared
to have the command, examined me, where I came from,
& what my Name Was? I told him. it was Revere, he as-
ked if it was Paul? I told him yes He asked me if
I was an express? I answered in the afirmative. He
demanded what time I left Boston? I told him; and
aded, that their troops had catched aground in passing the River,
and that There would be five hundred Americans there
in a short time, for I had alarmed the Country all the way up.
He imediately rode towards those who stoppd us,
when all five of them came down upon a full gallop;
one of them, whom I afterwards found to be Major
Mitchel, of the 5th Regiment, Clapped his pistol to my head, called me by name,
& told me he was going to ask me some questions, & if I
did not give him true answers, he would blow my
brains out.”
June 4, 2011 at 11:51 am
Look at the timeline, Bricko. This letter is after-the-fact. He’s clearly telling the British about the ride he just took, “for I had alarmed the Country all the way up.”
It’s pretty obvious what happened: Palin took the tour, then relayed a mashup of phrases she had just heard. Which is exactly what it sounds like.
June 4, 2011 at 12:01 pm
The letter is an after the fact, but it tells of what happened during the ride. …he told them he had already told the country that the Brits were coming…the Brits caught him After he warned the citizens. And then he told the Brits the militia were coming.
So, in otherwords he did both.
June 4, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Again, he was captured DURING the ride, after he warned the citizens, the told the Brits what was coming.
June 4, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Yes, son, I’m not saying it’s not technically correct, but if the brothas on my street are having a block party and smoking weed, and I charge thru, yelling, “The cops are coming!”..that’s the story. Getting pulled over later and fessing up that I warned them is an afterthought.
Sarah Palin told the “pulled over” part of the story as if that was the whole reason Revere was riding. With his warning shots and bells..
June 4, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Long story short, regardless if she was right or wrong she should have been much more coherent in her statement. Even if it was wrong if she would have said it like it was right it would not be such a news story.
June 4, 2011 at 1:56 pm
You know, I really don’t give a crap anymore. Maybe the point is, when Sarah Palin speaks, she makes George W. Bush sound like William F. Buckley. Maybe the point is, in two-and-a-half years, she hasn’t learned anything, doesn’t say anything, and has a voice that could be used to resurface your driveway.
June 4, 2011 at 2:56 pm
…and has a voice that could be used to resurface your driveway.
That’s a great line, I don’t care who ya are..
June 4, 2011 at 4:16 pm
I’m not talking about anyone here because all of the criticisms of Palin here are valid and it’s relatively civil.
The hatred towards Palin from the left is completely irrational. It’s one thing to criticize her for not being presidential material but the personal attacks and attacks on her family are getting really irritating. Not a fan of her’s but some civility would be nice. These immature attacks are getting old and isn’t getting America anywhere.
Let’s face it, these people in the media who despise her will never like her even if she literally becomes Obama in every single way. Their hatred is beyond reason. It’s a shame that sites like Mediaite are constantly giving these people publicity.
June 4, 2011 at 5:26 pm
What are these attacks on her family you’re talking about? It’s 2011, mate..that stuff is pretty far behind us. Sarah Palin is a celebrity being fairly assessed at this point. The criticism of her is not because of “the establishment”, or because she is “too pretty”, or any of that hoo ha. She is being fairly judged on merit. And she can handle it.
June 4, 2011 at 6:45 pm
joe not on everything. There are situations where the criticism of Palin is completely true but there are instances where the criticism of her either is completely stupid or it crosses the line (case in point the feature story).
It is one thing to not like her politics or her impact in national politics, it’s another for some people who have made it their mission to destroy her and anyone who affiliates themselves with her in any way. Palin is no where near perfect but for someone who is not elected into any kind of public office or who in meantime has made no aspirations for it the barrage of irrational criticism is insane.
June 4, 2011 at 8:59 pm
It’s a lot less now but you still get that kind of crap periodically from certain people. Someone here mentioned a pretty disgusting comment made towards her youngest son last week I think. I’m pretty sure Mediaite has posted some other incidents on their site from this year.
June 4, 2011 at 9:45 pm
^ It was Jack Stuef of Wonkette who had a thoroughly disgusting thing to say about Trig Palin.
June 4, 2011 at 10:44 pm
^ And hasn’t been seen, nor heard from since. The site is a shell of it’s former self.
June 5, 2011 at 9:59 am
A few misplaced comments here and there is commonplace in public life. It’s ridiculous to continue this charade that “everyone is so mean to poor Sarah”. She’s being crticized for her Paul Revere comment because it was hysterical.
July 11, 2011 at 3:20 pm
[...] my count this at least the second time Bashir has been caught playing fast and loose with the facts. Bashir never directly respondnd to criticism of that other gaffe, instead opting to [...]