Burning the flag is illegal: a constitutional amendment

POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Saturday, July 2, 2005 02:01
VIEWED: 16637
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CHRISISALL

Friday, June 24, 2005 12:01 AM

What? They were too busy to finish up the amendment on making it illegal to call someone 'stupid' on public playgrounds?
Can they find more ways to piss away money and time?
I know, stupid question.

Hey! I didn't say that word on a public playground, so back off Chrisisall

SIGNYM

Friday, June 24, 2005 12:33 AM

And the stoopid thing is, apparently, the proper way to dispose of the American flag is to....

(you guessed it)

....burn it.

Quote:
Legion gives tattered flags a proper disposal
By JOY LEIKER

MIDDLETOWN - {A} flag can only fly for so long, and last weekend Moore was part of a small crowd that gathered at the American Legion Post to retire hundreds of flags in a heap of flames including the three worn and ragged flags that had flown at his own home. Such ceremonies are common at American Legion posts around the country, and the veterans group even has a protocol for the event... Flags both big and small... were piled one-by-one on top of a metal, fire-safe base. Layers of flags were soaked in diesel fuel, ensuring a quick burn after the flame was lit.

There really DOES need to be a rolleyes emoticon!!

http://www.thestarpress.com/articles/9/041411-6029-004.html

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Friday, June 24, 2005 12:44 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Can they find more ways to piss away money and time?

Weldon putting the Congress on note that he didn't snub O'Reilly is a pretty good indication that they can and they will.

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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

ROCKETJOCK

Friday, June 24, 2005 1:00 AM

If such an amendment is ever passsed, I have sworn to immediately start a company that produces flags with forty-nine stars and twelve stripes. Since there has never been such a flag, it can't be illegal to burn it. Perhaps I'll design them with a built-in ignition strip.

Another question: If I take a photograph of an American flag, and then burn that, is it still a crime? Would it matter if I blew it up to life size? What if it was a black-and-white print? How about thirteen stripes, but a star field containing just one big star... What about the "Don't tread on me" rattlesnake flag? Does it count? It is a national ensign of some description...

I served eight years in the Navy for the sake of what that flag stands for. And that includes the freedom of a symbolic act that destroys a physical shell. Better that, than destroying the freedom that (wonderful, beautiful) piece of cloth symbolizes.

"Our problem was that burning the flag was the wrong message. We should have washed it." -- Abbie Hoffman

GINOBIFFARONI

Friday, June 24, 2005 1:25 AM

Check out this site

http://www.esquilax.com/flag/index2.html

And don't fret... You can always come North...

Perhaps there is some tourism dollars to be made in Canada by hosting US Flag burning events.

I can picture it now, a huge BBQ / Concert

I wonder if I could book the Blue Oyster Cult

Burn out the day
Burn out the night
I can't see no reason to put up a fight
I'm living for giving the devil his due

And I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for you
I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for you

THENEWESTFIREFLYFANATIC

Friday, June 24, 2005 1:30 AM

Actually the proper way to dispose of an American flag is to have it quartered (cut into 4 equal parts) and THEN burned...just to let y'all know.

Oh and by the way this is my first post here ever.

BRING BACK FIREFLY!

CHRISISALL

Friday, June 24, 2005 1:39 AM

I guess the next step is to ban movies in which the flag is treated badly.
Oops! The flag fell to the ground when Zod attacked the White House; no more Superman II!
And you can totally forget Independence Day, the flag was flyin' when the White House blew up!
This is ridiculous.

Our flag is a symbol of freedom and justice and the constant challenge to be the best America we can be. It doesn't need an amendment to 'protect' it. It's stronger than that.

Spidey threw his costume in a trash can, did that destroy the hero?
Okay, maybe it's a trite pop-culture reference, but you get my point.

Chrisisall

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Friday, June 24, 2005 1:56 AM

Of course, if we did burn the flag, then it might offend someone, and we know we can’t have that.

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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

GTMAN8503

Friday, June 24, 2005 2:07 AM

I guess my question would be...why would you want to burn an American flag in a disrespectful manner in the first place (If you're an American)?

My thing about flag burning is this: It's not protesting the government or the current administration...it's protesting America and the ideals that she stands for, regardless of the current administration. When someone disrespectfully burns a flag, I see it as them saying "I hate America. I hate everything this nation stands for. I want to destroy the United States." I don't see it as "I disagree with this administration's policies". The flag is bigger than any political party. The flag represents all that is good about America. When you destroy it, you're saying that you don't like the good things that America stands/has stood for.

IMO, protesters would gain a lot of credibility if they held the flag up high as the marched, as if to say, "I don't agree with what the government is doing now...I don't think it represents what America really is. I think my ideals better represent the true spirit of America." When protesters burn the flag and dance around it or what-not, it completely undermines their credibility. They aren't saying that the current administration is bad...they're saying that America itself is bad.

As an American, I can never forsee a situation where I would become so disgusted with this nation that I would destroy a flag in that manner. If I ever got that angry, it would be more fitting and respectful to just leave the country.

I don't think that making it a crime to disrespect the flag violates free speech. You can still say everything that you wanted to say...you just can't do it by burning the flag. You could write a letter to your congressmen, post an essay on a website, organize a protest and start chanting. True infringement on freedom of speech would be something that prohibited people from speaking out against the government at all, like in Cuba or China. As the son of a man who escaped Castro's regime, I believe I can safely say that this flag-burning thing is really just a trivial matter that in no way imperils freedom of speech.

I think that there are much more pressing issues than flag burning, like the Supreme Court decision today that drastically increased the power of "Eminent Domain". Now, a city government can take your land and give it to a private organization (like Wal-Mart) for "economic development". It used to be that they could only do that for direct public use, like a park or something. This is far more dangerous to individual rights than any amendment banning flag burning.

Back to flag-burning now. I don't actually think that we need a Constitutional Amendment to deal with flag burning. Couldn't current hate-speech legislation apply to this situation? As much as I hate hate-speech laws, they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. And, after all, it's illegal to say "I'm going to kill the President". To me, it's far more hateful and just as threatening to burn a flag. Presidents come and go...the values that America stands for, and the flag represents, will last for as long as there are people yearning to be free.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Friday, June 24, 2005 3:44 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by gtman8503:
Back to flag-burning now. I don't actually think that we need a Constitutional Amendment to deal with flag burning. Couldn't current hate-speech legislation could apply to this situation? As much as I hate hate-speech laws, they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. And, after all, it's illegal to say "I'm going to kill the President". To me, it's far more hateful and just as threatening to burn a flag. Presidents come and go...the values that America stands for, and the flag represents, will last for as long as there are people yearning to be free.

Yep. That’s how I see it too. If you’re going to have “hate speech,” it should be applied fairly. People who burn the flag should be prosecuted under “hate speech” laws.

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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

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