Vets Rip Flag With Obama's Face

Removed flag available for purchase online
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 16, 2012 1:26 AM CDT
Vets Rip Flag With Obama's Face
Fans hold an Obama flag in Mount Holly, NC, earlier this month.   (AP Photo/The Gaston Gazette,Mike Hensdill)

O say can you see ... Barack Obama? A local Florida Democratic Party office has removed an American flag that replaced Old Glory's stars with President Obama's face after a handful of angry veterans turned up to call it disrespectful. “What really upsets me is that the flag had apparently been flying for months and no one had done anything about it," vet Jim Bradford told Fox News. The flag had been flying beneath a standard flag outside the offices of the Lake County Democratic Party northwest of Orlando.

The flag was removed later in the day. "We're proud of our president, and we didn't realize it was in violation," said a spokeswoman. In fact, while federal law encourages respect for the stars and stripes, and sets standards for use of the flag, altering the flag doesn't carry any criminal penalties, notes the New York Daily News—though Fox News has a different interpretation of Florida laws. Similar flags can be purchased on eBay. (More Barack Obama stories.)

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