Burning the Flag
My representative in Congress, Mike Doyle, sent
me a letter trying to justify his vote in favor of the Flag Desecration Act. He
closes by saying, "While we disagree on this subject, I hope that you will
continue to share your views with me on issues of importance." I consider the
freedom of political dissent pretty high on my list of important
issues.
He says, "In my view, this measure [...] does
[not] contain any language which limits the freedom of speech." I fail to see
how limiting the manner in which someone expresses their opinion is not a limit
on their freedom of speech. Traditionally, burning the flag has been a powerful
and graphic means of expressing ones disapproval of the U.S.
government.
He says, "[B]y honoring and
respecting our flag, we in turn honor and respect those who gave their lives and
lost loved ones in the fight to protect this important American symbol." Many
people have been willing to die for the Constitutional freedoms that Americans
enjoy, but few, if any, have died merely to protect a symbol of those freedoms,
and if they did, they died confused about our Constitutional
freedoms.
The text of H.J. Res. 10, the
Flag Desecration Act, reads as
follows:
Proposing an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States authorizing the Congress to prohibit the
physical desecration of the flag of the United
States.
Resolved by the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring
therein), That the following article is
proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall
be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified
by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years
after the date of its submission for
ratification:
`Article
--
`The Congress shall have power to
prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United
States.'.
This resolution passed the
House of Representatives June 22, 2005, by a vote of 286 to
130.
Posted: Sunday - December 18, 2005 at 12:56 AM