Oh, For Pete's Sake...

I, like many people, have often resorted to making jokes about how few clues politicians seem to possess. And sometimes I only wish they were jokes. But politicians ain't got nothin' on homeowners' associations, who never seem to pick up on the idea that asking someone to remove a powerful symbol like the flag will never turn out well for them.

A couple of years ago, it was a Virginia group telling a 90-year-old Congressional Medal of Honor winner he couldn't have a free-standing flagpole in his front yard. Now a similar association in Coral Springs, FL, is arguing against the display of a special commemorative flag featuring the names of the 9/11 victims written in blue and red and organized in striped patterns like an American flag. Owned by a retired New York City Police officer. Who ran into World Trade Center Tower 1 and pulled people to safety before it collapsed. Who has cancer.

The association's guides are clear -- only one flag displayed per house, and the former NYPD officer already flies an American flag. So he is technically outside the association rules, and the property management company president said there had been complaints. But even if you're the kind of person who just can't live if someone else is "getting away with" something you're not, surely, surely a neuron or two will fire in your head and tell you that no matter what happens in this fight, you'll lose. Even if you win, you lose, because then you become the city that won't let a retired NYPD hero battling cancer fly a banner with the names of people he didn't get to save, including members of his own department.

Just the thought of that kind of publicity sends Chamber of Commerce directors straight to the liquor cabinet. Realtors listing property in that area are trying to get as many deals closed as possible, because however tight the market is now, it's going to get worse in a neighborhood that told a retired NYPD hero battling cancer he couldn't fly his commemorative banner. No matter how many people might like the idea of living next to him, who wants to live next to cowards who hide behind property managers and homeowners' associations instead of doing a retired NYPD hero battling cancer the courtesy of speaking to him directly.

Anybody care to bet this ends well for the homeowners' association? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?