The flag burning amendment.

Am I the only one horrified that the House approved a flag burning by 286-130 vote?


Although I dislike seeing flags being burnt (or neglected for that matter), I believe people have the right to burn one, (provided it belongs to them) if they choose.

Oh come on now, this is a very important issue that deserved the time and energy of Congress.

Seriously, it's not like we're at war or anything.

I dont know that I expect this one to survive long...

That said, I dunno. I hate to see flags burned, and a part of me wishes it were illegal... but at the same time, I really dont think it should be. The conflict between what I personally want and what I think is right (I'm not arrogant enought to think I always want the right thing)

Heh. I would be if I were surprised at all by it.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-flag23jun23,0,1634111.story?coll=la-home-headlines




We'll see if the Senate passes it. I think it's just a sign of our overpatriotic, zealot-based times.

I'm waiting for radical conservatives to try adding mandatory Bible-reading to the Constitution, myself. Beliefs aside, it's just waiting to happen before the pendulum swings the other way again.

Freedom of speech should include burning flags. I hate seeing our rights eroded because of patriotic bull chit.

I believe every American should be able to dress as the Dali Lama or a nun and shoot at the flag with their assault rifle while video taping it for public broadcast, without fear of soldiers living in their home, or the feds performing an illegal search to looks for bibles. If they are arrested then the accused Buddhist flag shooter should receive a free lawyer reasonable bail and a speedy trial.

This is the America I love. (and I would love it better if we could smoke pot.)

So the senate and the house passes it. Great.

Sadly for them, it then has to pass 3/4 of the houses/senates of the 50 states.

Which won't happen.

Not to mention it's unconstitutional.

PLUS.

The only "proper" way to get rid of a flag is to burn it -- in a proper way, of course (you can take your retired US flags to your local VFW hall for proper decomissioning).

SO nyah.

LF

I would LOVE to see this pass, and then see patriotic numbskulls who hang the flag without proper lighting / suspension above the ground be fined / thrown in jail.

Yeah, that means you, Mr. "Oh, I think I'm patriotic and supporting my troops by flying an American flag in the grill of my 10 mpg gas guzzling pick-up".

This means you, Mr. "Yeah, it's a great idea to hang a flag on an overpass above the highway where it gets dirty, ragged, and ripped."

If, in fact this amendment is passed, I will start contacting the FBI for each and every flag desecration I see.

What part of "constitutional amendment" don't you get?

That's the problem with amending the constitution, it gets around the whole unconstitutional thing.

Might as well exercise my right while I still can.

~Ulrika~

wouldn't that T.P. like...the dye rub off or something?

I had to look this up. Wikipedia on flag desecration.

It appears that I am allowed to do whatever I want to the Union Flag which is pretty cool. Unfortunately if you can do *anything* to it then there isn't much point.

Hiro, before Mr. Edison invented the lightbulb, how did we "properly light" a flag?

Would have been a lot of people in jail back then if you had your way.

I was at the Republican National Convention in 1984 and witnessed the flag burning done by Joey Johnson. Joey and I were sort of friends at the time, not close or anything but enough to know to call him Joey and not Gregory. After he was jailed by Dallas County for burning the flag, we had "Free Joey" benefits and whatnot. Its just sort of surreal that my close involvement with this issue was 21 years ago and the debate is still unsettled.

1. The magic of "fire".
2. You take it down at the end of the day and fold it up.

Lighting rules for the flag say that if the flag is flown and/or displayed at night, it must be properly illuminated.

Yes, I know the rules. One of my duties when I was stationed at Fort Bliss was taking care of our battalion HQ flag. I was being a bit of a smarty pants.

I wanna see the fire that illumnates a flag at the top of a 50 foot pole! And Rockets Red Glare doesn't count!

It's unsettling that so many in the US believe that handing a politician an envelope full of cash in exchange for influence is to be considered protected free speech, but making a statement about your government's policies should not be.

Hence, 2.

It's all in who has the cash.

I feel the exact same way Olympia.

I always loved Justice Brennan's statement at the Texas vs Johnson case



Flag worship is a sure sign that democracy as we know it is on a downward spiral. I would be far more offended by someone burning my constitution than burning a federal flag. The constitution was not intended to prohibit acts of protest commited by the populus, instead it was created to hold in check the government and ensure that we the citizens would remain free and independant.

I had a history proffessor once who stated that the most certain way to gain more control over the citizens of a country is to rally them around a flag. The flag does not belong to the federal government it is the property of the individual citizens and only symbolizes the unified forces of seperate and sovereign states each with their own constitutions. The flag is not a symbol of federal power and should never be used as such.

take a listen to this audio blog by Wil Wheaton!!!! YES THAT Wil Wheaton... it's VERY relavent to this discussion!

http://wwdnaudblog.blogspot.com/2004_05_01_wwdnaudblog_archive.html

:: wonders if burning political figures in effigy, or sticking their face on a dartboard and tossing darts at it will be soon to follow as a useless reason to be arrested ::

Ah, without listening to it (I have no sound card at work) I would guess that's Wil's commentary on flag doormats. Classic.

Anyway, I'm not worried about this amendment passing, I don't think it will. But it is entertaining to picture SWAT teams raiding 4th of July BBQs as grandma takes the first bite of a slice of flag-frosted cake

Holy shit Nolan, When were you at Bliss ? I was there Jun 00 - Jan 04 555th Maint under 2-43 ADA.

Though I do think you should be able to burn a flag...free speach and all...a question arose in my mind.

Q: How many people who are outraged by the (supposed) Koran mistreatment support flag burning?

To me the issue is one and the same, one is a belief symbol the other a national symbol. People will kill over either, and they represent the same degree of emotion from their respective followers and enemies...

well said Xtopherxaos, couldn't agree more. It's a friggin symbol for chrissake If we aren't free to protest something we don't like about what that symbol represents, what other alternative is there? Ohh YEAH!!! REVOLUTION!