Brickbat: Honoring Those Who Serve

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Jacksonville, Florida, code enforcement officer Melinda Power posted an apology on Facebook for being "unprofessional and disrespectful" while issuing a warning to a local business for flying military flags. According to staff at Jaguar Power Sports, Power issued the firm a warning for flying the flags of the different branches of the U.S. military on the roof and told them they could be prosecuted if the flags weren't removed. A customer who is a veteran overheard her remarks and told her he almost lost his life serving in the military. "She gets in his face this close and says, 'You did nothing for this country,'" store employee Katie Klasse said. Power said she remembered the incident differently but apologized. She later removed the apology.

Comments

[Illocust]

So anon clerk is the true hero america needs. Code enforcement being unreasonable, rat them out where everyone can see how petty they're being.

[Cyto]

Oh, I think they'll find out how petty they can be soon enough....

[John C. Randolph]

She should not be fired for being a snotty little twat to the gentleman she berated. She should be fired because the community has no need to employ anyone in her so-called job at all.

-jcr

[Chipper Jones]

Of course, in the end she'll be fired only for having posted the apology.

[Cynical Asshole]

She should be fired because the community has no need to employ anyone in her so-called job at all.

^This^

[Fist of Etiquette]

Power said she remembered the incident differently...

That can happen when what we call the bureaucrat's fever takes over a government functionary. The smell of fresh citation in the air and the adrenaline rush of supreme power over trivialities can be too much for even the most disciplined inspector.

[SIV]

Brickbat & Friends

[SIV]

"You didn't fight that"

[Shirley Knott]

Was her statement wrong?

[Crusty Juggler]

Most likely.

[Rossami]

Yes, utterly wrong. The First Amendment protects your right to fly any flag you like* on the roof of your building or anywhere else. Despite many myths to the contrary, the Flag Code is the only law addressing the flying of US government flags and it is enforceable by tradition and courtesy only. The services do have specific regulations about the flying of their colors but service regulations only have jurisdiction over their respective branches. As a civilian, you are under no risk whatsoever for violating a Department of the Army regulation on flag flying.

So in addition to being fireable for being "a snotty little twat" and for doing a job that doesn't need to be done, she should also be fireable for being incompetently wrong about the very code that she's supposed to enforce.

* Except perhaps a quarantine flag - that one might violate a public health or unnecessary incitement of panic law.

[Kyfho Myoba]

She was right when she told the veteran that he "did nothing for this country". Every war since the Revolutionary has done nothing for Liberty except diminish it via taxes and debts and, of course, loss of civil liberties.

Of course the dear veteran I'm sure doesn't know this, (and I'd be amazed if the code enforcement officer does either) I'm sure he served with the most honorable intentions. But in the end, results count, and I can't live off your intentions.

[Libertarian]

Brickbat . . . Brickbaaaat! I got your brickbat right here.

"Largo, Florida police detectives entered a funeral home in Clearwater and attempted to unlock the phone of a man killed in March by another officer at a traffic stop using the deceased man's hands, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Victoria Armstrong, the fiance of late Linus F. Phillip, told the paper she felt "so disrespected and violated" after police entered the funeral home she was present at and attempted to use Phillip's corpse to unlock the device."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/p....._167262017

[Inigo Montoya]

So that's what they mean when you hear about how someone gave the finger to the cops!

But seriously, crass and horrible as that is, I'm surprised others haven't thought of it sooner.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Phillip was shot and killed March 23 at a Wawa gas station after police said he tried to drive away when an officer was about to search him.

They feared for their lives as he drove away. And they definitely needed evidence of drugs hopefully on that phone to bolster the absolute unqualified immunity from any bad shoot they already have anyway.

[Cynical Asshole]

Not to worry, I'm sure the Largo PD will be updating their training to make sure that in the future officers know to cut the fingers off anyone they've shot.

[Inigo Montoya]

Her last name is really Power? Could that be any more appropriate a name?

[wingnutx]

I bet she's fun to get drunk with.

[loveconstitution1789]

I remember the Great War of Code Enforcement. Those code enforcement officers risked their lives for the freedom to demand businesses take down flags. It was glorious!

[Jerryskids]

I doubt very seriously there's a Jax ordinance specifically against flying military flags, or flying flags at all, but I suspect there's a very detailed code section dealing with commercial signage and displays. It's a "quality of life" thing, they don't want the place looking trashy. Which is a subjective thing, of course. Then too, if you can afford big displays at your business you can afford to fork over some cash to the city, you greedy bastard. But they can sell it as a safety issue - suppose there's a hurricane that tears the flags off the roof and there's a mother pushing a stroller down the sidewalk with her sweet little crippled baby in it and the flag hits her in the head and kills her? Are you going to take responsibility for that sweet little crippled orphan baby whose mother you just killed, you monster?

[John C. Randolph]

Even if such an ordinance existed, it would be unconstitutional on its face.

-jcr

[Jerryskids]

You ever been to Sanibel Captiva Island? They've got a commercial signage and display ordinance the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica. You can't find any damn business because they're only allowed a sign the size of a postcard, it has to be brown letters on a brown background and it has to have a cabbage palm planted in front of it. God help you if you put a spotlight on the sign, too. And don't even get me started on Seaside, down near Panama City Beach.

[loveconstitution1789]

The courts should have never deferred to local jurisdictions giving those cities and counties nearly unlimited power.

[Jerryskids]

Reminds me of the Trump flag flap at Mar-a-Lago, when he put up a big-ass American flag that violated the signage and display ordinance. He might claim he put it up as a patriotic show of how much he loves America, he really put it up because he knew how bad it looks when the city tells somebody they have to take down The Flag Our Brave Heroes Died To Defend and he could use it as a bargaining chip - I'll put up a smaller flag if you'll grant me a waiver on the set-back requirement on the parking lot. Same here where people are outraged specifically because it's a military flag - would they be as outraged if it were a Mexican flag being ordered to be taken down? I don't think so, but free speech and equality under the law issues require content neutrality - if he can fly a flag his neighbor can fly a flag and what's on the flag shouldn't matter.

[loveconstitution1789]

This petty local code enforcement nonsense is out of control with its pettiness.

That and you have to be a fool to buy into a subdivision with a housing association. At least there its a covenant you have to agree to when you buy- therefore a contract. Some HOAs are out of control with their pettiness too.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

Well, see, that's the flip side of proliferating petty rules. Someone can use them to make you look like the bunch of small minded stooges that you are, and use that for leverage to get you to give them a pass on another petty rule. So creeping bureaucratic rules can make you and those like you look superficially powerful, but they also gove people like Trump - Players - ways to manipulate you.

[Conchfritters]

Oh, the "sorry, not sorry" treatment.

[PaulTheBeav]

Everyone has freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean you have the right to say dumb things at work.

[Cynical Asshole]

A customer who is a veteran overheard her remarks and told her he almost lost his life serving in the military. "She gets in his face this close and says, 'You did nothing for this country,'" store employee Katie Klasse said. Power said she remembered the incident differently but apologized. She later removed the apology.

I'm sure she really is sorry. Sorry that someone overheard her being a power tripping bitchy cunt.

Christ, what an asshole.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

I would love to have been in that store when it happened. I was a mere supply clerk on a ship for four years, no danger, paid vacation actually. But it would have been so much fun to get her name, tell her I'd done for more for the country in four years than she would in a full civil servant career, and go down to city hall and file a complaint.

Would have made my day, week, month.

[Kyfho Myoba]

How much did your military pay increase the national debt? Have you even read the Federalist Papers?

You, sir/ma'am, have not by your military "service" contributed one iota to the Liberty of Americans. In fact, you have saddled us with increased debts and taxes, created enemies all over the world by your criminal behavior, and help create an infrastructure of tyranny.

I'm sure you think that you did something noble, and I honor your intentions, and your intentions, ONLY. The results of your behavior have been catastrophic. Please repent, and turn away from military worship.

War, and standing armies, are the health of the State.