For the record, I believe that those who want to make burning the U.S. flag illegal are as emotionally immature as the ragtag bands of fanatical Muslims who run around screaming and rioting when they hear someone might have desecrated the Koran.
My advice to Orrin Hatch and cronies – grow up, you’re wasting time on bullshit that does nothing to actually advance the cause of America. In case you’ve forgotten, we used to advertise ourselves as the land of the free and the home of the brave, so please stop trying to make us the land of the regulated and the home of the legislative. It’s gotten fairly idiotic.
I am a member of the armed forces of this proud nation, and I would like to say that I support everyone’s right to burn flags, books and bras, or whatever else suits your fancy as long as you didn’t steal whatever it is you’re burning, and as long as you control the fire.
Being able to burn something in protest is an exercise of political free speech, and should be tolerated by a nation of free people, even when we disagree with the motivations behind the actions. You can no more desecrate a flag than you can desecrate a book.
How about spending the time you spent worrying about the flag possibly being burned working on ways to support the troops in Iraq and bring them home as quickly as possible? That would be a nice change.
The clearest indicator of a nation leaning towards facism authoritarianism is when it starts to imprison those engaged in peaceful dissent. An authoritarian government is incompatible with a nation of free people.
Visit the Flag Burning Page.