Editor:

I wish people, including your columnist (Djurdjulov, March 21) , would shut the hell up about the flag. The Constitution guarantees individuals the right to quietly refuse to participate in the pledge of allegiance and/or the national anthem for whatever reason he/she wishes. Be it public opinion, the NBA or whatever, no one can legally force another to participate. If it pisses people off, too bad. Get over it. Patriotism (whatever that means) cannot be forced and attempting to do so would violate the very spirit for which the flag allegedly stands. If we do this, we might as well replace the field of stars with a swastika.

John Middleton
teaching and teaching education MA student