As we come off of a long Memorial Day weekend, where we honored the sacrifices of great Americans, stories like this from North Carolina make me proud.  

A city filed a lawsuit against an RV retailer for violating a city ordinance by flying a gigantic American flag.  Just how big is it? It comes in at 3,200-square-feet.  Previously, the business got a permit for an ordinance-compliant 1,000-square-foot flag, buy this is more than three times the size.

Ordinance or not, Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis will not let his patriotism be hampered by arbitrary city ordinances and big government bureaucrats.  

“I don’t normally advocate for violating ordinances and things of that nature,” he explained.  “But we have 14,000 employees and several millions customers and I have a fiduciary responsibility to follow their edict as well.” In fact, over 150,000 people have signed a petition in support of the patriotic display.

A court ordered him to remove the flag, but he’s still not budging.

 “The flag isn’t coming down. It’s the only thing I know for certain,” he said. “I know I’m going to die. I know I’m going to pay taxes. And I know I’m not taking the flag down. We have flown this flag for a long time,” he said. “As I told the city…it’s not coming down under any circumstance.”

Here’s his logic, according to USA Today:

Lemonis’ position is simple, he said: As long as the American flag isn’t creating a safety hazard or interfering with airspace, there shouldn’t be a limit on its display size. He says that position is specific to the American flag. He said a flag of the same size is flying in more than 180 different cities across the country.

And it looks like he’s serious.  The city is seeking a fine of $50 for every day the flag has been displayed since the October 2018 notice.  That means his fine is now in excess of $10,000. 

It’s inspiring to see a man stand by his principles.  I, for one, don’t believe that an excessive display of patriotism is the biggest problem facing our nation.  I think Lemonis and his flag are great – and I love to see all of these Americans rallying in support.

Image Credit: akahawkeyefan on Flickr

Hat Tip: USA TODAY

About The Author

Mark was a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, and served as the national coordinator. He left the organization to work more broadly on expanding the self-governance movement beyond the partisan divide. Mark appears regularly on television in outlets as diverse as MSNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox Business and the BBC. He’s highly sought after for the tea party perspective from print and electronic media outlets, from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, L.A. Times, Washington Examiner, Politico and the The Hill. Mark blogs at MarkMeckler.com, and his opinion editorials regularly run in many of the leading political newspapers both on and offline. Mark has a BA in English from San Diego State University and graduated with honors from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1988. He practiced real estate and business law for almost a decade. For the last eleven years of his legal career he specialized in Internet advertising law. When not fighting for the future of our nation, Mark is an avid horseman, and lives in rural northern California with his wife Patty and two children.

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