DON'T YOU JUST LOVE STUFF LIKE THIS? - AT 5:26 P.M. ET:  From KATU, Portland, Oregon:

ALBANY, Ore. - At the Oaks Apartments in Albany, the management can fly their own flag advertising one and two bedroom apartments - but residents have been told they can't fly any flags at all.

Jim Clausen flies the American flag from the back of his motorcycle. He has a son in the military heading back to Iraq, and the flag - he said - is his way of showing support.

"This flag stands for all those people," said Clausen, an Oaks Apartment resident. "It stands for the people that can no longer stand - who died in wars. That's why I fly this flag."

But to Oaks Apartment management, Clausen said, the American flag symbolizes problems.

He was told to remove the red, white and blue from both of his rides, or face eviction.

"It floored me," he said. "I can't believe she was saying what she was saying."

Even long-time residents like Sharron White, who has flown a flag on her car for eight years, has been told to take it down.

White said management told her that "someone might get offended."

COMMENT:  Yeah, someone might get offended.  We had the same problem after the 9-11 attacks, when some students tried to fly American flags from dorm windows on college campuses.  Heavens.  Someone might be offended, they were told, and were often ordered to take the flags down.

Many Americans need a refresher course in the First Amendment.  They also need a refresher course in common sense.  They might also look at a map, and notice that they're living in the United States, although some might regret it.

October 13, 2009