Carol Bazemore
Leavenworth
To the editor:
Louis Klemp’s potential service in the Kansas House of Representatives concerns me. A July 14 article in the Leavenworth Times noted that Klemp, who is seeking election in the 41st district, is a Republican, a constitutionalist, a conservative and carries a book containing copies of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. I wish he also carried a copy of the National Flag Code. Mr. Klemp flies a U.S. flag at half-staff at his residence. As a Navy veteran, he surely realizes the Flag Code limits half-staffing of the U.S. flag to the authorities of the President of the United States and governors of states under specific conditions. The Flag Code establishes advisory rules for display and care of the flag of the United States and, though U.S. federal law, there is no provision for its enforcement - no penalty or fine for failing to comply with it. In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled that politically motivated violations of the Code are protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Mr. Klemp’s personal decision to fly his American flag at half-staff appears to indicate a preference for cheapening the intended value of symbolic honor in favor of individual self-expression. In short, it waves self and the freedom to choose as the more important meaning, the capitalization of individual freedom. When Mr. Klemp walks out his front door every day and sees his American flag at half-staff, where it has been positioned since 2001 because he wants it that way, he seems to be endorsing a world view that elevates self above higher purpose. This visible “me-first” thinking concerns me and doesn’t inspire confidence in him serving fellow Kansans in the 41st district.
Leavenworth, Kan. —
