Submitted by Chris
The Ellipse has about as much historical significance as our White House, and is also termed officially “President’s Park South”. Freedom of Speech, for U.S. citizens, of course must be protected. However, the Department of Interior has an obligation and stated mission to protect our cultural and historic sites. Flying the communist flag within the same President’s Park South (Ellipse), to me, is a great dishonor to the 7000 combat deaths of 2nd Infantry Division soldiers memorialized right there in the park, and same for the 50,000 U.S. total lives lost during the Korean conflict and to all Veteran’s of the Korean Conflict, many of whom came back permanently injured. If it were “just a public park” and our own flag is also hoisted, since Hu Jintao has a much different communism than that of the 50’s and of the “Cold War” (just ask the Uyghurs)…. However, the Ellipse contains such great significance within our own nation’s history (direct center of our nation from which all distances were measured, union troop encampment, emergency barracks constructed here during WWII not torn down until 1954, our First and Second Infantry Divisions active since 1917 memorialized here, Prime Meridien of our nation mandated by Thomas Jefferson to run from the President’s House front door to through the middle of the Ellipse, etc), that I believe the sacred integrity of our own culture and history must be preserved and given the true respect it so deserves-especially at a time when we are watching our Constitutional rights eroded. Sacred are the lives of each and every patriot who formed and maintained our Constitutional Republic. It is a dishonor on whomever permits a celebration of an idealogy differing from our founding fathers’-especially within our national historic sites. Exposure to and respecting another culture is usually beneficial to all. However, celebrating 60 years of the living entity of PRC communism (since hoisting a national flag represents a living entity), in my opinion, is not appropriate within such a United States’ significant historical (and yes, public) site. We do want alliances around the world-but we do not want our own historical heritage mocked within our own historical sites, particularly sites containing memorials to our patriots. And in this case, patriots who died to stop the spread of communism. Perhaps Hu Jintao’s government will reciprocate next July 4th, by issuing a permit to celebrate our culture of 200 years a Constitutional Republic, hoisting the flag of the United States in front of The Monument to the People’s Hero’s in Beijing, or perhaps hoisting our flag on Tiananman Square.