Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Flag Burning

If forced to choose between protecting the flag and protecting the Constitution, I’d choose the latter. I'm not a flag burner. I don't plan to burn the flag. I view flag desecration as a harmless, if obnoxious, form of protest. I even agree with people who say that flag burning is ineffective, misdirected, or "improper."

The problem is that we can't pass and enforce laws against flag burning unless we modify the US Constitution and remove an important part of the First Amendment. Supreme Court rulings have upheld that flag desecration is a form of political speech that should be protected by our Constitution. I agree. We do not need to amend the Bill of Rights to show our respect for the flag. Simply put, flag burning may destroy the flag, but an amendment to protect it would forever damage what it stands for.

1 comment:

Jim Wetzel said...

Hurrah! She's back!

Isn't it amazing how the GOP gets suddenly interested in flag burning and sodomatrimony, at just about the same time their polls are in the dumper --owing mostly to the glorious war they bought, which turned out not so gloriously -- and there's elections coming up in the fall? Quite a coincidence ...