Yeah, Right, Whatever

How in the world do you get from a discussion of patriotism and flag-flying to hurling racial slurs? Evidently, there's a short-cut straight through the Pennsylvania House.

A Pennsylvania House session was suspended for more than an hour Wednesday after a black lawmaker, upset by a white colleague's comments about ethnic groups, referred to him as a "cracker."

The comments came during debate on a bill that would allow residents of communities governed by homeowners' associations to fly the American flag on their property, even if association rules prohibited them from doing so.

Do I really need to explain my views on home owners associations? I didn't think so. The idea that someone can't fly an American flag because they purchased the wrong flagpole is just a bit beyond me. But... unfortunately, on the other hand... when you buy a house, you know the rules. ( I just didn't know all the rules before we moved in... but that's another story... )

In this particular story, everything took a turn toward the ugly when Rep. Thomas Yewcic (who is white) said (my paraphrase) that if you don't like it (the American flag), you can go back to where-ever you came from and fly that flag. That didn't sit well with Rep. John Myers (who is not white).

Rep. Thomas Yewcic... said people shouldn't be ashamed to support the American flag. "If any ethnic group wants to fly ... a flag, and they're embarrassed to fly an American flag, they should go back to their ethnic origins and fly it there," he said.

In response, Rep. John Myers accused Yewcic of espousing "a belligerent, racist doctrine."

"I think that those type of remarks would come from a cracker," Myers said, using a derogatory term for a poor, white person.

The Speaker gave them both a time out and made them play nice. Wonder how Mr. Speaker feels playing Kindergarten Cop for these two?

Honestly, Rep. Myers, that wasn't a racist or ethnic slur. It was a commentary on multi-cultural inanity. What's wrong with being patriotic? Nationalistic, even? We live in an amazing, wonderful country. Why not show pride in it?

Besides, I'd like to think Rep. Yewcic was talking about another ethnic group- the Fwench.